Mack the Knife
"Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", was composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, Threepenny Opera.
The Threepenny Opera
A moritat is a medieval version of the murder ballad performed by strolling minstrels, from mori meaning "deadly" and tat meaning "deed". In the Threepenny Opera, the moritat singer with his street organ introduces and closes the drama with the tale of the deadly Mackie Messer, or Mack the Knife, a character based on the dashing highwayman Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. The Brecht-Weill version was less dashing and much more cruel and sinister and has been transformed into a modern anti-hero.
The opera opens with the moritat singer comparing Macheath with a shark, and then telling tales of his robberies, murders, rapes, and arson:
The first verse in German:
- Und die Haifisch, der hat Zähne,
- Und die trägt er im Gesicht.
- Und Macheath, der hat ein Messer,
- Doch das Messer sieht man nicht.
Literal translation:
- And the shark, he has teeth,
- And he wears them in his face,
- And Macheath has a knife
- But the knife one does not see.
In the best known English translation, from the Marc Blitzstein version of Threepenny Opera, which introduced the song to English-speaking audiences, the words are:
- Oh the shark has pretty teeth dear,
- And he shows them pearly white
- Just a jacknife has Macheath dear
- And he keeps it out of sight.
This is the version performed on popular hits by Louis Armstrong (1954) and Bobby Darin (1959). Weill's widow, Lotte Lenya, the star of both the original German production and the modern Blitzstein version, was present in the studio during Armstrong's recording. He spontaneously added her name to the lyrics, which already named several of Macheath's female victims.
Another translation:
- See the shark with teeth like razors
- You can read his open face
- And Macheath, he's got a knife, and
- In such an obvious place
as performed by Lyle Lovett on the soundtrack of the film Quiz Show (1994).
The rarely heard final verse, which closes the opera, and expresses the theme, compares the glittering world of the rich and powerful with the dark world of the poor:
In German:
- Denn die einen, sind im Dunkel
- Und die andern sind im Licht
- Und man siehet die im Lichte
- Die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht
In English:
- There are some who are in darkness
- And the others are in light
- And you see the ones in brightness
- Those in darkness drop from sight
Crimes of Macheath
The song attributes many crimes to Macheath:
- a dead man on the beach
- a rich man, Schmul Meier, disappeared for good
- Jenny Towler, killed with a knife in the chest
- seven children and an old man killed in an arson fire
- rape of a child widow in her bed
The arson and rape were omitted from the Blitzstein version.
American popular song
In he United States, the song is most
most closely associated with Bobby Darin, who recorded his version in 1959. It was introduced to the hit parade by Louis Armstrong in 1954.
Darin's version was described by Frank Sinatra, who also recorded the song, as the "definitive" version. Ella Fitzgerald made a famous live recording in which she forgot the lyrics after the first verse and successfully improvised new lyrics in a performance that earned a Grammy. Robbie Williams also recorded the song, the latter in his 2001 Swing album, Swing When You're Winning. Another version was recorded by Texas singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
