Mack the Knife

"Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928.

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.

Related Topics:
Medieval - Murder ballad - Minstrel - Highwayman - John Gay - The Beggar's Opera - Anti-hero

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The opera opens with the moritat singer comparing Macheath with a shark, and then telling tales of his robberies, murders, rapes, and arson:

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The first verse in German:

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:Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne,

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:Und die trägt er im Gesicht.

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:Und Macheath, der hat ein Messer,

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:Doch das Messer sieht man nicht.

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Literal translation:

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:And the shark, he has teeth,

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:And he wears them in his face,

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:And Macheath, he has a knife

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:But the knife sees one not. (one does not see)

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In the best known English translation, from the Marc Blitzstein 1954 version of Threepenny Opera, which introduced the song to English-speaking audiences, the words are:

Related Topics:
Translation - Marc Blitzstein - 1954

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:Oh the shark has pretty teeth dear,

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:And he shows them pearly white

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:Just a jacknife has Macheath dear

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:And he keeps it out of sight.

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This is the version performed on popular hits by Louis Armstrong (1956) and Bobby Darin (1959) (Darin's lyrics differ here and there), and most subsequent 'swing' versions. Weill's widow, Lotte Lenya, the star of both the original 1928 German production and the 1954 Blitzstein Broadway 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.

Related Topics:
Louis Armstrong - Bobby Darin - Lotte Lenya - Broadway

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In 1976 the version translated by Ralph Manheim and John Willett opened on Broadway. Here is an excerpt:

Related Topics:
1976 - Ralph Manheim - John Willett

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:See the shark with teeth like razors

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:You can read his open face

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:And Macheath, he's got a knife, and

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:In such an obvious place

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This is the version later performed by Sting and Nick Cave. It is also the version performed by Lyle Lovett on the soundtrack of the film Quiz Show (1994).

Related Topics:
Sting - Nick Cave - Lyle Lovett - Film - Quiz Show

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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:

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In German:

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:Denn die einen sind im Dunkeln

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:Und die andern sind im Licht

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:Und man siehet die im Lichte

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:Die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht

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In English:

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:There are some who are in darkness

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:And the others are in light

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:And you see the ones in brightness

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:Those in darkness drop from sight

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