Within a Sky Full of Earth

Tango Environment

The tango is said to have been born in Buenos Aires, on the shores of the Riachuelo; in brothels and in impoverished neighborhood squats of southern Buenos Aires. The social class in which it developed was a mixture of regional people and immigrants made up by sailors, craftsmen and working class people.

They were mostly lonely men who had left their families at their natal countries and frequented clubs or dance ballrooms for fun. Many tango lyrics are inspired in these groups of men who became the "guapos", "malevos" and "compadritos". Some meeting places of these characters were the Café Sabatino, the Almacén de la Milonga and the Viejo Bailetín del Palomar. This portion of society felt identified with the tango lyrics because they talked about the "hard or bad life".
(from here)