Dirk van Esbroek was a Flemish composer, guitarist, and poet. He was born in Argentina in 1946 and returned to Belgium in 1964. In the 1970s, he met the Argentinian guitarist Juan Masondo and began to focus on South American music. Together with the bandoneonist Alfredo Marcucci, they formed a trio that later evolved into Sexteto Tango al Sur. He also later performed in the production of Maria de Buenos Aires, a tango opera by Astor Piazzolla and Horacio Ferrer [1].
Van Esbroek is interesting because he played traditional tangos and his own compositions, some of which he sang in Flemish. Today I want to look at his milonga ‘Rookgordijnen,’ which is played at many milongas in Europe and America. The reason is that, as a German speaker, I understand some words of the lyrics superficially, but the complete lyrics have always eluded me and weren’t available online. Recently (when I was in the Netherlands), some Dutch and Flemish tango friends helped me write down the lyrics and translate the song into English (thanks and hugs to Marieke, Marynthe, and the two Flemish friends who engaged in a long conversation with me during the TABOE tango camp).
Here is the music from this extraordinary milonga:
The original Flemish text is as follows. All my friends from Flanders and the Netherlands told me that the text can be read the same in both languages. In the song, the first two verses are repeated at the end:
Grijze gordijnen, spiegels op een bol
rook aan de muur en de tierelantijnen
schimmen verdwijnen, draaien als een tol
over en weer door de rookgordijnen
de jagende wolf op zijn eigen terrein
zijn ogen gewend aan de magere schijn
in zijn vizier ‘n gewillige prooi
hij wacht om ‘n gooi, om ‘n gooi te wagen
Zij schiet met haar ogen de brand aan het vuur
ze vangt wie ze wil, wie komt haar stelen
zo brandt het maar door, ‘t is net een oude film
een oude film die ze nog altijd spelen
“wij zijn als de hoop die in leegte verzinkt
we leven gejaagd door de brandende wind”
de jagende wolf en het laaiende vuur
het laaiende vuur in rookgordijnen
Here is our English translation:
Gray curtains, mirrors on a sphere
smoke on the wall and the frills
shadows disappear, turning like a top
over and over again through the curtain of smoke
the wolf hunting on his own ground
his eyes accustomed to the dim light
in his sight a willing prey
he waits for one throw, to challenge his luck.
She shoots with her eyes the fire to the fire
she captures who she wants, who will steal her
so it continues burning in this way, it’s like an old movie
an old movie they still play
“We’re like the hope that sinks into emptiness
we live hunted by the scorching wind “
the hunting wolf and the blazing fire
the blazing fire in curtains of smoke
We interpret this as an allegory for the game of seduction. A man (the hunting wolf) pursues his prey (she), who is willing and whose eyes ignite desire (fire). But she catches whomever she wants, so the hunting wolf’s hope vanishes into nothingness. An age-old game, still played like a movie.
The song exhibits the characteristics of a typical tango lyric and describes deep emotions that can lead to either blazing passion or emptiness. Furthermore, the rhythm is a pure milonga, making it very danceable.
Dirk van Esbroek died in 2007.
Other beautiful songs in Flemish and Spanish are:
This is originally a song from Alfredo Zitarrosa.
Sources
1 https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Van_Esbroeck