Nada más: one of the most passionate and desperate tango lyrics ever. We have the luxury of several interesting recordings, especially the immortal dance version (with limited singing, the second part) recorded by Juan D’Arienzo in 1938. This poem is so powerful that I wanted to translate the full text, as sung by the incredibly emphatic Ada Falcón, who was abandoned herself by Francisco Canaro. The first line of the second part is the best phrase I have ever heard in tango. Pure class!

Nada más (Nothing more), lyrics by Luis Rubistein

No quiero nada, nada más
que no me dejes
frente a frente con la vida.
Me moriré si me dejás
porque sin vos no he de saber vivir.
Y no te pido más que eso
que no me dejes sucumbir…
te lo suplico por Dios
no me quités el calor
de tu cariño y tus besos,
por si me falta la luz
de tu mirar que es mi sol
será mi vida una cruz.

All I ask you
is to not abandon me like this,
face to face with life.
I will die if you leave me,
because without you, I cannot live.
Please, that’s all I ask you,
don’t let me wither…
I beg you, for God’s sake,
don’t rob me of the warmth
of your affection, of your kisses,
because if I lack the light
of your look, which is my sun,
my life will be a suffering.*

¡Cuánta nieve habrá en mi vida!
sin el fuego de tus ojos
y mi alma ya perdida
sangrando por la herida
se dejará morir…
y en la cruz de mis anhelos
llenaré de brumas mi alma.
Nublará/morirá el azul del cielo
sobre mi desvelo
viéndote partir…

How much snow will there be in my life…
without the fire of your eyes!
And my soul, yet lost,
bleeding through this wound,
will lay down and die.
And on the cross of my yearning
I shall fill my soul with darkness.
The blue of the sky will cloud/die**
above my distress
of watching you depart.

No quiero nada, nada más
que la mentira de tu amor como limosna.
¿Qué voy a hacer si vos te vas
con el vacío de mi decepción?
No, no te vayas… te lo ruego…
no destrocés mi corazón…
si no lo hacés por amor,
hacélo por compasión,
pero, por Dios, no me dejes.
Jamás te molestaré
seré una sombra a tus pies
tirada en algún rincón…

I want nothing, nothing more
than the deceit of your love
out of pity***.
If you leave me, what am I going do
with the void of my disillusion?
No, don’t go… I beg you…
don’t ruin my heart…
If you won’t do it out of love,
do it out of compassion,
but, for God’s sake, don’t abandon me.
I won’t trouble you,
I will be a shadow at your feet,
thrown away into some corner.

YouTube link (Ada Falcón with Canaro)

YouTube link (D’Arienzo-Echagüe)

YouTube link (Canaro-Maida)

*Literally: ”my life will be a cross”, referring to Jesus’ suffering, a metaphor repeated in the second part.
**In the original poem, the intended word seems to have been ”cloud”, but Alberto Echagüe sings ”die” instead.
***More literally, ”your love as an alm”, a beggar’s alm.