Up until the middle of the 19th century, Argentina was the land where the gauchos roamed freely, mainly living off cattle breeding in the vast lands of the Pampas. For the gaucho, living free meant living outdoors and only cattle breeding gave him the liberty he needed to live happily. The gauchos always sought the solitude and silence of wide open spaces. The noise and the city lights and life in the fast lane did not suit their nature. They seemed shy and introverted among strangers. However, they loved story-telling, chatting and laughing with friends.

Sometimes, the gaucho crossed paths with a payador. This last character is often described as being half way between a troubadour and a special correspondant. He travelled across the pampas with his guitar on his back, from one region to another, carrying news from the homeland which became lyrics for his milonga tunes.

The payador had the same instincts and passions as the gaucho: speaking out and taking a stand. He was an independent reporter of the pampa.

The gaucho was half-caste with mixed origins, Spanish, Indian and Afro-American. His rein on the Pampas lasted from the 18th century to the middle of the 19th.

In 1956, when the government decided to sell land to fill the coffers of the state, it was to be the beginning of the end for the traditional way of life of the gauchos. The enticing prospects drew not only Italian and Spanish peasants but also French, Russian, Turk and Slavic settlers from Central Europe lured by the promise of state lands at give away prices.

In 1880, the country's population was 2 000 000. By the time the First World War erupted, 5 000 000 immigrants had arrived in Buenos Aires. However, more than half of them would return to their native lands because the local land owners kept the good land for themselves. The immigrants, not satisfied with being mere farm workers or sharecroppers, headed for the city to try to find work in sales or industry. Consequently, the suburbs grew out of proportion.

With the land speculation of the Pampas, the gaucho and the payador lost their freedom. Living on a fenced-in territory and working for others was not in the nature of the gaucho. So, they too set off for the city. Yet, they did not blend easily with the other city dwellers; they did not choose their new lifestyle, they were forced into it, making them mistrustful, agressive and bitter citizens. The payador would follow the same path and leave the Pampas. Set up in the suburbs, he would continue chanting.

The payador was a free man speaking his mind regardless of political allegiances. At the turn of the century, he would become an anarchist, influenced by men like José Betinoti, a Buenos Aires worker who spoke out against corruption, putting his protest into lyrics which Gardel then sung in milonga themes.

During the second half of the 19th century, the payador was a skeptical witness to the changing times, watching his people fall under British supervision and thousands of immigrants being abused by the rich land owners. From then on, Tango will inherit the voice and the nature of the payador, telling the story of a man who has been uprooted, without a homeland, rejected and left behind.

During the colonial era, Africans were enslaved and brought to Argentina to work as servants for the Spanish. They sang acapella or to the sounds of a tambourine. The result was a new style nicknamed Candombe which had certain similarities to the famous work song of the Afro- American slaves. Although the Candombe had a happier feel and was often built on fast rhythms, it still had a touch of nostalgia. Carried through the Pampas, it was picked up by the payadors who were amongst the first to use it to back their storytelling. When it reached the suburbs, it became Milonga.

Specifically, milonga means "spoken word" in creole. Thus, at the root of tango, there is the willingness to speak one's mind.

Around 1860, milonga, as a form, developed under the influence of the Cuban Habanera and other musical styles brought in by the immigrants heading for the capital.
Slowly, the word milonga has come to express a sense of reunion, of gathering, involving music and dancing, as pointed out by José Hernandez in his famous book Martin Fierro, published in 1872:

There is no doubt, says Ventura Lynch in his book The province of Buenos Aires before the Capital Region, that milonga as a dance was set up as a way for compadritos to mock the dancing of the Afro-American immigrants. At first, the couples danced apart, much in the way of the candombe. Later on, up until it reached the brothels, it was danced by men only - although mixed couples were tolerated.

In his book entitled The Afro-Americans, Vincent Rossi tells of the birth of this dance: "the mixed couples danced cheek to cheek, what they called frenchy style because it was said that the french danced it that way. In high society, the couples danced apart, their bodies never touching. But the villagers, depending on their relationship with their partner, danced close to each other; the women stood straight, backing up, withstanding any figures, and any desire to improvise. They would also sing, or what went on to be known as "milonging", which meant dancing and singing.

Not all agree on the exact time and whereabouts that tango began. Historians believe that it was somewhere around Buenos Aires between 1860 and 1880 that tango was born. It is also important to specify that at that time, lyrics were not yet sung. Tango was more of a prayer, still without the bandoneon and the piano which came later on. The men danced alone or with other men while the immigrants were but bystanders. The true actors of the tango were the sons of the gauchos forced to leave their land by the rich "estancieros" who made their fortune on the resale of these very lands.

As for the people of Buenos Aires, tango emerged around 1880 and was danced by slaughterhouse workers, waiting for their turn at cards or during Sunday afternoons. The dancers mixed-in moves from Habanera with the leg crossings of milonga, the figures of fandango with the stomping of candombe. In general, nobody recalls having heard lyrics. This leaves us to believe that lyrics came later on in the evolution of tango. One thing is sure though, Tango is an urban phenomenon that came to life in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, home of all outcasts, feeding off their energy.