A Media Luz (In Half Light) Lyrics by Carlos César Lenzi. Music by Edgardo Donato. You're listening to the orchestra of Edgardo Donato.

Excerpted from: "En un clavo están colgadas." History, parody, and identity formation in the Mexican American carpa. By Peter C. Haney, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. "A media luz," . . . is an intriguing example of the romantic tango . . . This song immerses the listener in the blissful, decadent opulence of an apartment rented by a wealthy man for a secret amorous liaison, celebrating exactly the sort of situation that the older, working-class tango condemns. It reveals the silent, enclosed space of this apartment to the listener through an enumeration of the luxury commodities that adorn that space. The "interior twilight" of the apartment forms a darkened reflection--in half-light--of the bourgeois home itself, an intimate space away from the intimate sphere, whose silence keeps secrets and nurtures inconspicuous consumption. Because it is an illicit affair that occurs in the apartment, "A media luz" retains a hint of the tango's old transgressive character. But this is a thoroughly bourgeoisified transgression in which the illicit love affair is reduced to one more piece in a collection, an item to be stashed away next to the piano and the cocaine, far from the prying eyes of competitors.

A Media Luz Corrientes, 3-4-8, segundo piso ascensor. No hay porteros, ni vecinos, adentro, cocktail y amor... Pisito que puso Maple, piano, estera y velador; un telefón que contesta, una fonola que llora viejos tangos de mi flor, y un gato de porcelana pa’ que no maúlle al amor. Y todo a media luz, que es un brujo el amor... a media luz los besos, a media luz los dos... Y todo a media luz, crepúsculo interior, que suave terciopelo la media luz de amor. Juncal 12-24. Telefoneá sin temor; de tarde, té con masitas, de noche, tango y amor; los domingos, té danzante, los lunes, desolación. Hay de todo en la casita: almohadones y divanes como en botica... cocó! Alfombras que no hacen ruido y mesa puesta al amor. In Half Light 3-4-8 Corrientes Street, second floor, elevator. There are no doormen or neighbors, inside, cocktails and love... A little flat furnished in maple, A piano, a mat and a nightstand; a telephone to answer, a victrola that cries old tangos of my youth, and a cat that's made of porcelain so it won't meow at love. And all in half light... For love is a wizard! In half light the kisses, In half light the two of us. And all in half light, twilight inside... What soft velvet, the half light of love! 12-24 Juncal Street, call without fear; In the afternoon, tea with pastries; at night, tango and song. On Sundays, a tea dance; on Mondays, desolation. The little house has everything: cushions and sofas; and like a drugstore... coke! Carpets that make no sound and a table set for love.

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