[Tango-L] "Yira yira" report

[Jake Spatz (TangoDC.com)]

Dear list,

(Disclaimer: This is a long, detailed post for the genuinely curious.)

I'm happy to announce that the experiment I proposed last week has 
turned up very successful results. I had one (1) response, and it was 
quite informative.

But a few additional details first.

1. The song "Yira yira" comes from the 1930 musical revue "Que hacemos 
en el estadio?" (What are we doing onstage?-- please advise if you've 
got a better rendition). This I left out before, but if you're familiar 
enough with it to provide a summary, or can send me a copy of the text, 
please do.

2. I stated that most translators leave the title words untranslated, 
but Frank Sasson's version (posted at planet-tango.com), while using 
"Yira" in the English text, does offer "Cruisin' " in its title. R.F. 
Thompson in his "Tango," likewise seeing a connection to prostitution 
because of the word's street usage (rather than its use in Discepolo's 
song), gives "Hit the streets."

3. The link between the lunfardo word "yirar" and streetwalkers has been 
duly noted at planet-tango.com, in unsigned remarks I assume were 
authored by Alberto Paz. (The notes also mention that Discepolo 
"reflects upon the inevitable end of our lives" in the lyric, which I 
find completely untenable.) Thompson follows this suggestion 
hook-line-and-sinker, stating that the lyrics are addressed to a woman, 
and suggesting that the woman is a hooker. This remains the prevalent 
reading of the lyric in English, to my knowledge. It has no real 
grounds, if you look at any other line but the one (1) that goes 
"Yira... yira..." which is what prompted my research to begin with.

To recap: The song is from a theatrical revue, and while that revue's 
plot may be a contrivance, the song is nonetheless sung by a character 
(as are many tango songs). Moreover, since the lyric as a whole seems 
addressed by one male laborer to another during the depression (or at 
least puts the addressee in that position), it's probably foolish to 
over-emphasize the sexual connotation of the title word, especially in a 
way that scraps every other meaning.

My lone correspondent in this inquiry addressed the title word directly, 
both in its context in the song and by reference to a later remark of 
its author. First the in-song context.

The first half of the chorus as a whole goes like this:

    Veras que todo es mentira,
    veras que nada es amor,
    que al _mundo_ nada le importa--
    yira... yira...

    (You'll see it's all just a swindle,
    you'll see there ain't any love,
    'cause in the _world_ it means nothin'--
    yira... yira...)

Says my correspondent: >> In the song, the words Yira Yira appear after 
he talks about el "mundo."  El "mundo" would refer to "everybody."    
Referring to everybody, the meaning of Yira Yira would be Discepolo 
saying to the stupid world: "keep going everybody, keep doing what you 
have been doing all along, don't have agency, be idiots." <<

This essentially confirms my hunch that the words refer to the planet, 
and could be translated "round you go."

Discepolo's later remark about the lyric also argues against 
interpreting the words sexually (or in relation to prostitution, 
whatever). When the Argentine government proscribed the use of lunfardo 
in an effort to suppress lower-class energies and "clean up" the 
language, Discepolo sarcastically proposed changing the song's title to 
"Dad vuelta"-- which is pedantically correct Spanish (comically at odds 
with actual Argentine speech) and might be translated "Do go around" or 
"Do make a turn."

His own translation, from the idiomatic to the idiotic, seems to 
indicate the world turning.

Now, I'm not entirely against bringing all this hooker business into the 
lyric, but it seems to me that it's a secondary metaphor; i.e., that the 
whole world (the first object to establish verbally) would thus be 
characterized as a hooker making aimless, mindless rounds. Otherwise, 
the song as a whole appears predominantly concerned with a factory 
worker trying to stay off the breadlines.

In any case, them's the fruits of my inquiry, thanks to one Beatriz 
Dujovne who currently resides in Kansas. I'll make my translation 
available when it's ready (i.e., when I give up trying to rhyme every 
line in the chorus), for anyone else who's interested.

As for the experiment, I think this "take-out" format kept the list from 
getting bogged down in a discussion most wouldn't care for, and 
prevented repetitive in-fighting, and that's a good thing. If you have a 
different take on it, you know how to reach me.

Best,

Jake Spatz