Cicatrices - How the tango “Cicatrices” was born

dolfo Avilés used to tell us: «I composed the music of this tango number on a lyric that Maroni gave to me. We were having lunch at a restaurant on Paraná and Sarmiento when he suddenly told me: “Look at this lyric, I wrote it last night and it came up all at once!”. I read it attentively and told him I liked it. Give it to me, I’m going to write its music and we shall name the tango piece: “Cicatrices” (Scars). There was no objection on his side, he trusted me, the times we worked together we had been successful.

«By that time I used to go on vacation out of town, to Morón. At that little leisure house, in the still of the night and with the emotion that Maroni’s heartfelt stanzas caused in me the bars of that tango sprung up. One evening that Julio Goosens —owner of the factory of the Pampa music rolls— and other friends, all of them composers, came to see me at the little house, I made them hear the tango for the first time. With his fine intuition he foresaw a great hit. Published by Alfredo Perrotti, it was released in 1925.

«I was in the staff of gym teachers of the Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes (Young Men’s Christian Association) and one morning I took a copy of the sheet music because I knew that Gardel would be there. He had finished his session and I found him in the dressing rooms area. Then I told him: “Carlos, would you like to record this tango? I have just published it”. While he was dressing up he looked at the copy. “I like the title. Let’s see it, please sing it”. I did my best to sing the aching, brave stanzas written by Maroni and Gardel felt the dramatic feeling of the tango. He asked me the copy. “Give it to me, this week I’ll commit it to record”. And so it happened. He had already recorded my numbers “Los rosales se han secao”, “Los ojazos de mi negra”, “Desolación” and “Tesorito”.

«“Cicatrices” was a boom, he recorded it in 1925. Thereafter he recorded my numbers “Micifuz” and “La borrachera del tango”».

«Possibly its lyrics were based on some personal story but the music full of manly spirit made that the people warmly accepted it. We had made something that talked about a deep, legitimate emotion. Then there is no legend or myth, due to some foolish thing that was said, connected with true facts apart from what I have just said».