Understanding Uruguay

Tango offers some of the most beautiful but also the saddest lyrics in the world of music. Disenchantment, loneliness, nostalgia, all surrounded by a halo of melancholy that makes tango a pleasure, but a rather guilty one.

There are many voices of tango, but without a doubt the most famous, the ‘Elvis’ of tango, is Carlos Gardel. The impeccable look, the perfect hairstyle, the cross-lapel jacket, the polished shiny shoes, the bright eyes and his raspy but sweet voice, singing the classic tangos that made a generation of South Americans sigh.

Gardel was a naturalised citizen of Argentina, but he claimed to be Uruguayan by birth (although there is evidence to suggest that he was actually born in Toulouse, France). He