Nostalgias: A Tango of Drink and Longing

Some tangos capture a whole mood in a single word. "Nostalgias" — a song of drink, memory, and longing — is among the most beloved laments in the entire tango repertoire.^[1]

Cobián and Cadícamo

"Nostalgias" pairs the music of the pianist and composer Juan Carlos Cobián with lyrics by Enrique Cadícamo, two of the most important creative figures of the tango canción.^[1] The verses — originally written for, but cut from, a theatrical piece — tell of a man drowning his heartbreak in wine, asking the bartender for another drink to help him forget a love that has gone.^[1]

From nightclub to the world

The tango was first performed in 1936 by the singer Antonio Rodríguez Lesende with Cobián's ensemble at a Buenos Aires nightclub.^[1] The popular singer Charlo heard it, requested the score, and performed it on Radio Belgrano — and the song was a hit even before it was published; soon the major orchestras were recording it, and interest spread to London, Paris, and New York.^[1] After the Second World War, "Nostalgias" was among the tangos that carried the genre into European concert halls.^[2]

Why it matters

"Nostalgias" became one of the most recorded and most performed tangos ever written, sung by virtually every great tango vocalist who followed.^[1] Its blend of Cobián's elegant melody and Cadícamo's bittersweet poetry places it alongside classics like Caminito and Cambalache in the heart of the tango canon.^[2]