Mack the Knife
Bertold Brecht & Kurt Weill
Mack the Knife is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama
Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English,
The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. The song has become a popular standard.
Both Weill & Brecht fled from Nazi Berlin to New York City as Jewish refugees from the Holocaust. In the early Fifties, they were targeted by right-wing Senator Joseph McCarthy as subversives during his witch hunt for communists.
The song was first introduced to American audiences in 1933 in the first English-language production of
The Threepenny Opera. That production, however, was not successful, closing after a run of only ten days.
It took 26 years for
Mack the Knife to become a popular music standard in the United States. In 1956 Louis Armstrong recorded a swing version of Mack the Knife that gained attention for the song. Kurt Weill's widow, Lotte Lenya, the star of both the original 1928 German production and the 1954 Broadway version, was present in the studio during Armstrong's recording. He spontaneously added her name to the lyrics, which already named several of gangster/serial killer Macheath's (aka Mack the Knife) female victims.
Two years later, in 1958, Bobby Darin recorded a version of
Mack the Knife that became a million selling #1 recording. The song remained Darin's signature song throughout his long and successful career as a performer.
Both versions of Mack the Knife are worth hearing. Armstong gets credit for his innovative swing arrangement which producer Tom Dowd imitated on the Darin recording... But Darin delivers the goods with his energetic, elegantly phrased vocal interpretation of the song.
Kurt Weill's deliciously dark lyrics are stunning. Music industry icon, Dick Clark originally advised Darin not record the song because of the savagery of Kurt Weill's lyrics.
Mack the Knife
Lyrics by Kurt Weill, Music by Bertold Brecht
Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it out of sight
You know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, though wears old MacHeath, babe
So there's never, never a trace of red, oh, let it swing, yeah
On a sidewalk, blue Sunday mornin'
Lies a body oozin' life
Some, someone's sneakin' 'round a corner
Tell me, could that someone be Old Mack the Knife?
There's a tugboat down by the river, don't you know?
Where a cement bag, just a'drooppin' on down
Yes, that cement is there strictly for the weight, dear
Five'll got to gift you ten Old Macky's back in town
D'ja hear 'bout Louie Miller? He got disappeared
After drawin' out all his hard earned cash
And now MacHeath will spend just like a sailor
Could it be our boy done somethin' rash?
Jenny Diver, yeah, yeah, Sukey Tawdry
Hello Miss Lotte Lenya, good evening Lucy Brown
You know that line forms, way on the right, babe
Now, that Macky's back in old biggest town
I said, "Jenny Diver, look out too", Sukey Tawdry
Sit back Miss Lotte Lenya and wait Old Lucy Brown
I mean, I tell you that line forms way on the right, babe
Now, that Macky's back in town
Look out, Old Macky is back