In 1928 in Berlin, on the day before the dress rehearsal of his new work, Die Dreigroschenoper, Kurt Weill became convinced that an additional song was needed to provide thematic unity to the story. Overnight he and collaborator Brecht devised a 64-bar piece consisting of two pitch-bar themes, each one repeated three times, in imitation of a ghoulish form of 17th-century ballad called a Moritat (literally, "murder deed"). Though the song became popular throughout Europe, it wasn't until 1952, in Marc Blitzstein's English version, that both The Threepenny Opera and its theme, "Mack the Knife," found a receptive public in the United States.
German words by Bert Brecht; Music by Kurt Weill; English lyrics by Marc Blitzstein.
Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear,
And he shows them pearly white.
Just a jackknife has MacHeath, dear.
And he keeps it out of sight.
When the shark bites with his teeth, dear,
Scarlet billows start to spread.
Fancy gloves, though, wears MacHeath, dear,
So there's not a trace of red.
From a tugboat by the river
A cement bag's dropping down;
The cement's just for the weight, dear,
Bet you Mackie's back in town.
On the sidewalk Sunday morning
Lies a body oozing life;
Someone's sneaking 'round the corner.
Is the someone Mack the Knife?
Louie Miller disappeared, dear,
After drawing out his cash;
And MacHeath spends like a sailor.
Did out boy do something rash?
Sukey Tawdry, Jenny Diver,
Polly Peachum, Lucy Brown,
Oh, the line forms on the right, dear,
Now that Mackie's back in town.
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