Ute Lemper y las esquinas del tango

The case continues (Joby Talbot, co-written with Neil Hannon for Ute Lemper's album 'The Punishing Kiss')

The victim was a woman a woman in her prime
The suspect was a lover he had no alibi
The weapon was a phone call in the dead of night
You know I never really thought you had it in you
The case continues

The suspect was a cruel self-motivated man
He held the victim's heart in the palm of his hand
The motive is a mystery I'll never understand
The final cut went deep down to the very sinew
The case continues

Why did the blood-stained sheets that burned turn quite so cold
My only crime was passion wild and uncontrolled
If sex were an Olympic sport we'd've won the gold
Oh tell me that there's still a little love left in you
The case continues

The final cut went deep down to the very sinew

The case continues

The victim is in shock there's not much more to say
The suspect made a smooth and silent get-away
The scars may slowly heal but they'll never go away
I only hope that one day you understand just what I've been through

The case continues

I only hope that one day you understand just what I've been though

Oh tell me that there's a little love left in you

The case continues


La primera vez que escuché a Ute Lemper coincidió con mi primera partida de Lima. Me había encargado la colección completa de Jacques Brel para practicar mi francés (sobre todo, mis "erres") y me hice muy aficionado de la canción Amsterdam. Buscando por el Kazaa (en esa época aún no usaba el emule) encontré varias versiones; una de ellas por David Bowie (el primero que la tradujo y la cantó en inglés) y una en la que Lmeper y Bowie la cantaban a dúo.
Su voz crispó mis sienes y supe que sería uno de los tantos ecos que no abandonarían mi mente ya.
Poco a poco, me fui haciendo de todos sus discos.
Hoy escojo una comparación. Se trata de Zuhälter-Ballade (traducida en inglés, modosamente, como Ballad of inmoral earnings, cuando en realidad "Zuhälter" en alemán, es 'proxeneta', 'cafiso', etc. vale decir, La Balada del Proxeneta) que se encuentra en La ópera de los tres centavos (Die Dreigroschenoper), compuesta por Kurt Weill en 1928 con libreto de Bertolt Brecht.
Nos encontramos en el segundo acto de la obra. Lemper hace el papel de Jenny y René Kollo el de Macheath.



In einer Zeit, die jetzt vergangen ist,
lebten wir schon zusammen er und ich.
Die Zeit liegt fern wie hinter einem Rauch:
Er schützte mich, und ich ernährte ihn.
Es geht auch anders, aber so geht es auch.
Und wenn ein Freier kam, kroch er aus unserm Bett
und drückte sich zu seinem Kirsch und war sehr nett,
und wenn der blechte, sprach er zu ihm: Herr,
wenn sie mal wieder wollen – bittesehr!
So hielten wir’s ein gutes halbes Jahr
in dem Bordell, wo unser Haushalt war.

In jener Zeit, die jetzt vergangen ist,
war er mein Freund, ich war ein junges Ding.
Und wenn kein Zaster war, hat er mich angehaucht;
da hieß es gleich: Du, ich versetz’ dir deinen Ring!
Ein Ring, ganz gut; aber ohne geht’s auch.
Da wurde ich aber tückisch, ja, na weißte!
Ich fragt’ ihn manchmal direkt, was er sich erdreiste!
Da hat er mir aber eins ins Zahnfleisch gelangt,
da bin ich manchmal direkt drauf erkrankt.
Das war so schön in diesem halben Jahr
in dem Bordell, wo unser Haushalt war.

En su álbum, Punishing kiss, Lemper nos ofrece una traducción al inglés bajo el nombre de Tango Ballad (si nos atenemos a la letra, sabremos el por qué de la elección, el cafiso o cafiolo, el aura maleva), interpretada a dúo con Neil Hannon del grupo The Divine Comedy.
Como apunta Lemper en la introducción del librito del disco, se trata de un homenaje personal para el 50 aniversario de la muerte de Weill (2000) y la primera vez que hacía una canción de este compositor con arreglos contemporáneos. ¡A disfrutar!





Tango Ballad

there was a time now very far away
when we set up together i and she
i got the brain and she supplied the breast
i saw her right and she looked after me
a way of life then if not quite the best

and when a client came i'd slide out of bed
and treat him nice and go and have a drink instead
and when he paid up i'd address him "sir
come any night you feel you fancy her"

that time's long past but what would i not give
to see the whore house where we used to live

there was a time now very far away
he was so sweet and bashed me where it hurt
and when the cash ran out the feathers really flew
he'd up and say i'm going to pawn your skirt
a skirt is nicer but no skirt will do

just like his cheek to have me fairly stewing
i'd ask him straight to say what he thought he was doing
then he'd lash out and knock me headlong down the stairs
i had the bruises off and on for years

that time's long past but what would i not give
to see the whore house where we used to live

there was a time now very far away
not that the bloody times have seemed to looked up
when afternoons were all i had for you
i told you she was generally booked up
the night's more normal in the day time will do

and when a client came he'd slide out of bed
and treat him nice and and have a drink instead
and when he paid up i'd address him "sir
come any night you feel you fancy her"

that time's long past but what would i not give
to see the whore house where we used to live