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Mañanitas de Montmartre

Mañanitas de Montmartre is a Tango written by Lucio Demare and recorded by Osvaldo Fresedo in 1928. Osvaldo Fresedo has recorded Mañanitas de Montmartre as an instrumental Tango.
“Mañanitas de Montmartre,” or “Little Mornings of Montmartre,” evokes the gentle awakening of this bohemian Parisian neighborhood. The music captures the tranquil charm of dawn breaking over cobblestone streets, where artists and dreamers stir with the first light. As the melody unfolds, it paints the vibrant scenes of a city just beginning to stir, full of promise and inspiration.

Tango

Style

Osvaldo Fresedo

Orchestra

Instrumental

Singer

Roberto Fugazot, Agustín Irusta

Author

Lucio Demare

Composer

1928/7/3

Date

Instrumental
Instrumental
Osvaldo Fresedo
Osvaldo Fresedo

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Mañanitas de Montmartre recorded by other Orchestras

Mañanitas de Montmartre recorded by other Orchestras

Letra del Tango Mañanitas de Montmartre

Las grises mañanitas de Montmartre,
donde iluso derroché mi juventud,
serán eternas en mi triste vida,
porque las recuerdo para mi inquietud.
Al igual que un amor cicatrizado
e imborrable en un tierno corazón,
mis mañanitas de Montmartre tan queridas
son para mí un delirio y una gran pasión.

Pero sos, mujer,
pobre insensata que en el mundo triunfás;
la frágil barca de tu vida quizás
naufragará porque el timón de tu esperanza
se quebrará en la mar,
y humillada ya,
mis mañanitas de Montmartre verán
la fría nieve del destino caer
sobre tu almita acongojada
destruyendo aquellos sueños
que forjaste con afán.

Nuevamente volverás a ser aquella
que paseaba exenta de pudor
por esas calles en que todas las mujeres
pecadoras, guardaban su dolor.
Y en las tinieblas de tu pobre vida,
por ingrata nunca más encontrarás
quien te devuelva con un beso de cariño
la luz de tu esperanza, que se apaga ya.

English lyrics of the Tango "Mañanitas de Montmartre"

The gray mornings of Montmartre,
where foolishly I squandered my youth,
will be eternal in my sad life,
for I recall them in my restlessness.
Just like a healed love
and indelible in a tender heart,
my beloved Montmartre mornings
are for me a delusion and a great passion.

But you are, woman,
poor fool who triumphs in the world;
the fragile boat of your life perhaps
will wreck because the rudder of your hope
will break in the sea,
and humiliated then,
my Montmartre mornings will see
the cold snow of fate fall
upon your distressed little soul
destroying those dreams
you forged with eagerness.

Once again you will be the one
who walked without shame
through those streets where all the women
sinners, kept their pain.
And in the darkness of your poor life,
for being ungrateful you will never find again
someone who with a kiss of affection
returns the light of your hope, which now fades.

Mañanitas de Montmartre by Roberto Fugazot, Agustín Irusta

Mañanitas de Montmartre is a Tango written by Roberto Fugazot, Agustín Irusta and composed by Lucio Demare.



Story behind the Tango Mañanitas de Montmartre

The song recounts the melancholic and nostalgic reflections of a speaker reminiscing about the days spent in Montmartre, a notable artistic district in Paris. In these lyrics, the speaker narrates how youthful naivety led to wasted years amid the grey mornings of Montmartre, now a painful yet passionate memory. The song intertwines personal regret with a broader lament for a lost lover, personified as a woman whose life drifts towards inevitable despair and moral decline.



Symbolism of Mañanitas de Montmartre

The phrase “Las grises mañanitas de Montmartre” uses Montmartre as a symbol of youth and folly, with ‘grises’ (grey) alluding to the somber or melancholic tint of past experiences. The morning in Montmartre represents a formative period, charged with passion and emotion, yet ultimately fading into grey. The song also employs nautical imagery to describe the woman’s life as a “frágil barca” (fragile boat) subject to shipwreck, symbolizing vulnerability and life’s precariousness. Moreover, the recurrent snowfall in the narrative symbolizes coldness and the harsh consequences of life choices, falling on her “acongojada alma” (sorrowful soul).



Mañanitas de Montmartre in historic Context

Recorded in 1928, “Mañanitas de Montmartre” emerges during a vibrant period of Tango’s international reach and the blossoming of cultural exchanges between Paris and Buenos Aires. Montmartre, known for its bohemian lifestyle and as a haven for artists and writers, acts as a backdrop portraying the universal themes of youth’s frivolity and the inevitable passage to adulthood. This connects well with the 1920s societal context, a time marked by both the aftermath of World War I and the frivolity preceding the Great Depression. The coupling of these themes in the lyrics underscores a global resonance with emotional and cultural dislocation.



Roberto Fugazot, Agustín Irusta

Roberto Fugazot and Agustín Irusta were prominent figures in the golden era of Tango, contributing significantly as lyricists and musicians to the genre.