Volvés de tardecita,
al barrio lindo que te vio,
en otra tardecita,
irte siguiendo una ilusión...
Ves que todo está igualito,
nada cambió en el nidito,
que alegrabas con tu risa ayer...
Y aunque vuelvas derrotada,
sabrás que la muchachada
te sigue teniendo siempre fe...

La luz del centro te hizo creer,
que la alegría
que vos querías
estaba lejos de tu arrabal
y vestías sedas, y no percal...
Ir bien vestida, llevar gran lujo,
era el embrujo
de tu ambición...
¡Equivocando el camino,
vendiste tu corazón!...

Desde que vos te fuiste,
el barrio nunca más cantó...
Una pena muy triste,
todas las cosas envolvió...
Cuántas veces tu viejita,
al caer la tardecita,
creyó ver, temblando de emoción,
que daba vuelta la esquina,
la mimosa chiquilina,
que regresaba a pedir perdón...

English translation

You come back in the afternoon
to the beautiful neighborhood that saw you,
in another afternoon,
following an illusion...
You see that everything is the same,
nothing has changed in the little nest
that you cheered up with your laughter yesterday...
And even if you come back defeated,
you'll know that the crowd
will always have faith in you...

The light of the center made you believe
that the joy
that you wanted
was far from your suburb
and you wore silks, and not calico...
To be well dressed, to wear great luxury,
was the spell
of your ambition...
Wrong way, you sold your heart!
you sold your heart!...

Since you left,
the neighborhood never sang again...
A very sad sorrow,
all things were enveloped...
How many times your old lady,
at dusk,
thought she saw, trembling with emotion,
that she turned the corner,
the cuddly little girl,
returning to ask for forgiveness...