[Tango-L] Forum experiment: "Yira yira"

[Jake Spatz (TangoDC.com)]

Dear list,

Having asked this question a few times off-list, to no avail, I pose it 
here for what it's worth. I'd also like to test-drive a new method of 
exchange, so, if you would, please send me any replies privately, and 
I'll re-post a digest of the perceptive observations after a few days. 
(Please specify if you'd like your remarks to remain anonymous.)

In anticipation of objections that I'm quashing open exchange: I quite 
deliberately am. This particular topic is a matter of literary & 
cultural interest, which would benefit from some editorial organization, 
and which demands _informed_ speculation and comment; and it is, willy 
nilly, MY literary and cultural interest, and I therefore have no regard 
for absolute democracy in the handling of it. I'm asking for help with a 
translation, not instigating a discussion open at both ends.

That is the nature of the experiment.

This being the matter in question:

What do the words "Yira yira" actually _signify_ in the context of 
Discepolo's lyric? I am aware of the literal meaning; I am well aware of 
the streetwalking connotations of the word, whether used as a noun or a 
verb. I am not acquainted with the revue (a musical comedy?) of which 
this lyric was a part, and which perhaps lends it additional dramatic 
context. (Discepolo remarked in at least one interview that theatrical 
presentation was an important component of his songs.) I am not certain 
whether the word "yira" is, in the context of the song, being used as an 
imperative verb or a noun; or whether it refers to the speaker, the 
addressee, or the planet Earth. (I suspect it could well apply to each, 
but I'd like to hear any arguments for canceling out one or more 
options.) I am aware that R.F. Thompson in his "Tango" book has precious 
little understanding of the song's addressee (i.e., its context even as 
a detached monologue). Other translators inexplicably leave the word 
"yira" in lunfardo. My research has yielded some useful commentary, but 
not enough. I have not yet consulted any monograms on Discepolo or any 
studies of tango lyrics as literature. I have three copies of the song 
in book form (not translations), each of which has notes, none of which 
shed any light on my question.

Which question is, to reiterate: What do the words "Yira yira" MEAN _in 
the context_ of Discepolo's lyric?

If you would like to help me examine the matter, please write to me 
privately, and I will do my best to assemble a digest of replies as a 
responsible editor within a few days. If you're unclear about the nature 
of my inquiry, please re-read the above paragraph before asking me to 
clarify, because I probably cannot do better than that. If you would 
like to complain about either the proposed topic or the experimental 
method, please submit your junk mail directly to the List, so everyone 
can read all about it while wondering how the place became such a tarpit 
of discourse.

A lume non già spento,

Jake Spatz
spatz at tangoDC.com