El motivo [English translation]

A woman that, at former times,

Was the most attractive tango dancer,

And that, at those nights of tango,

Was the queen of the night,

Today, does not have a cent

To afford shoes or dresses.

She is ill and her lover from long times

Has never headed to her room again

She no longer has those large eyes of hers,

Those that were like resplendent stars.

The colors on her face

Are gradually turning pale.

She's ill, she's in pain and cries,

She feeds herself, taken by the feel that

No one will ever fall in love with her again,

Seeing her state, weak and hopeless

Poor lady - whom, yesterday,

The world oohed and whistled at,

And who, with her gaze, knew

How to earn the heart of a man

Today has no one that, in a kindly gesture,

Would warm her sheets

Poor unrefined lady -

Has lost her heart for ever

And now when the accordions

Entone the notes of a tango,

Poor little flower of the mud

Feels with her soul the vibration

Of nostalgia for the former times,

Times of pleasures and romances,

That now taste bittersweet,

Sending tears to her eyes

• Artist:Edmundo Rivero