"Por una cabeza"
Song by Carlos Gardel
Language	Spanish
Written	1935
Genre	Tango
Length	2:34
Label	RCA Victor
Composer	Carlos Gardel
Lyricist	Alfredo Le Pera

"Por una cabeza" (pronounced [poɾ ˈuna kaˈβesa]) is a tango song composed by Carlos Gardel with lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera^[1] for the film Tango Bar (1935).

The title of the song is a Spanish horse-racing phrase meaning "by a head", which refers to a horse winning (or losing) a race narrowly – by just the length of its head. The lyrics speak of a compulsive horse-track gambler who compares his addiction for horse racing with his attraction to women.^[2]

Versions

• Marcelo Ezquiaga and Kevin Johansen (2016).
• Andrea Bocelli on his album Cinema (2015).
• Il Divo, the male vocal quartet—along with multi-Latino Grammy Award-winning Colombian producer Julio Reyes Copello, recorded the song for Il Divo’s album Amor & Pasión (2015).
• Mauro Calderón’s 2018 album Entre Amigos.
• Diego el Cigala on his album Romance de la luna tucumana (2013).
• Aída Cuevas for the album De corazón a corazón... Mariachi Tango a fusion of mariachi and tango (2010).
• James Seymour Brett in the Spanish animated film Planet 51 (2009).
• Jerry Rivera on his compilation Caribe Gardel (2007).
• Andrés Calamaro on his album Tinta roja (2006).
• Itzhak Perlman and John Williams. Violin adaptation for the album Cinema Serenade (1997), used in the film Scent of a Woman (1992).
• The punk-rock argentine band Cadena Perpetua for their debut album Cadena Perpetua (1995).
• Los Pericos, on their album Yerba Buena (1996).
• Victor Hugo Díaz.
• Ricardo Iorio, of Almafuerte, recorded an acoustic version.
• Carlos Aguirre with the Alfredo De Angelis Orchestra (1976).
• Alejandro Cossavella has a version in the international language Esperanto, titled “Pro nur unu kapo”.
• Cazzu performed a live version on the argentine show La peña de Morfi on May 25, 2025.

Notable uses

"Por una cabeza" is featured in a famous tango scene in Martin Brest's film Scent of a Woman (1992), in the opening scene of Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993), and in James Cameron's True Lies (1994).^[3][4]

Copyright

Le Pera and Gardel died together in an aeroplane crash in Medellín, Colombia, on June 24, 1935.^[2] After the 70-year period required by Argentine law^[5] had elapsed, as of January 1, 2006, “Por una cabeza”—its music and lyrics—as well as all the joint works by both authors, entered the public domain.^[6]

See also

• Music of Argentina
• Public domain music

References

External links

• Por una cabeza: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Por una cabeza's Lyrics, music, scores, versions
• English translation
• Performed by Itzhak Perlman on YouTube
• Arranged and performed by Augustin Hadelich for violin on YouTube