3 December 1999(1999-12-03) (aged 99) Buenos Aires
Occupation
tango lyricist, poet and novelist
Nationality
Argentine arberesh
Notable works
Canciones Tristes, La Luna del Bajo Fondo, Viento que Lleva y Trae
Enrique Domingo Cadícamo (Luján, Buenos Aires province, July 15, 1900 – Buenos Aires, December 3, 1999) was a prolific Argentinetangolyricist, poet and novelist. From an initial Symbolist bent, he developed a distinctive, lunfardo-rich style from an early age, and by 1925 he had his first piece, Pompas de jabón, sung by Carlos Gardel. Other notable compositions include Madame Ivonne, Che, papusa, oí, Anclado en París, Muñeca brava, Al Mundo le falta un Tornillo, Pa' que bailen los muchachos and Los mareados ("The dizzy ones"), originally titled Los dopados ("The doped ones"), about a couple that vows to get drunk after realizing their love is over.
Career
Also prolific as a writer, he published three volumes of lyricalpoetry (Canciones grises, 1926; La luna del bajo fondo, 1940; and Viento que lleva y trae, 1945), three biographical and historical books (El debut de Gardel en París, La historia del tango en París and Mis memorias), some theatrical works (La epopeya del tango and La baba del diablo, both co-written with Félix Pelayo, and El romance de dos vagos in collaboration with Germán Ziclis) and the narrative pieces El cantor de Buenos Aires, with Alberto Ballerini, and Los cuentos de un príncipe with Martín Lemos. In 1936 he wrote and directed the film Noites Cariocas.
Another Cadícamo lyric, Por la vuelta ("[A toast] to [our] return") is a mirror image of Los mareados: two former lovers meet a year after splitting up, find that their mutual friendship has survived their estrangement, and agree to drink to that. Incidentally, the drink of choice in both stories is champagne.
