We study the evolution of a compressible fluid surrounded by vacuum and introduce a new symmetrization in Lagrangian coordinates that allows us to encompass both relativistic and non-relativistic fluid flows. The problem under consideration is a free boundary problem of central interest in compressible fluid dynamics and, from the mathematical standpoint, the main challenge to be overcome lies in the loss of regularity in the fluid variables near the free boundary. Based on our Lagrangian formulation, we establish the necessary a priori estimates in weighted Sobolev spaces which are adapted to this loss of regularity.