Mi barrio está de fiesta con su mejor sonrisa
y una ternura extraña me invade el corazón.
Parece que las horas corriesen más deprisa
y que del mismo barro brotase una canción.
La murga de purretes, desafinando un tango,
machuca los oídos con destemplada voz...
Gorriones de mi barrio que vuelcan en el fango,
puñados de alegría que les regala Dios.

Carnaval de mi barrio
donde todo es amor,
cascabeles de risas
matizando el dolor...,
Carnaval de mi barrio,
pedacito de sol,
con nostalgias de luna
y canción de farol.

La que volvió sin honra se disfrazó de apache
y el barrio en cada puerta comenta sin cesar,
su traje descarado, sus ojos azabache,
y su poca vergüenza que no sabe ocultar...
El tano verdulero, tirado en la vereda,
mastica su cachimbo, cansado de yugar;
y en su sonrisa amarga una nostalgia enreda;
también, allá en Italia, vivió su carnaval.

English translation

My neighborhood is celebrating with its best smile
and a strange tenderness invades my heart.
It seems as if the hours were running faster
and that from the same mud a song sprouts.
The murga de purretes, out of tune with a tango,
crushes the ears with intemperate voice...
Sparrows of my neighborhood that spill into the mud,
handfuls of joy that God gives them.

Carnival of my neighborhood
where everything is love,
bells of laughter
shading the pain....,
Carnival of my neighborhood,
little piece of sun,
with moonlit nostalgia
and lantern song.

The one who returned without honor disguised herself as an apache
and the neighborhood at every door comments incessantly,
her brazen costume, her jet-black eyes,
and her little shame that she doesn't know how to hide...
The greengrocer tano, lying on the sidewalk,
chewing his cachimbo, tired of playing;
and in his bitter smile a nostalgia entangles;
also, back in Italy, he lived his carnival.