Mack the Knife
Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAC : Mack the Knife
- For other uses, see Mack the Knife (disambiguation)}}}.
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 (unfavorably) with a shark, and then telling tales of his robberies, murders, rapes, and arson:
The first verse in German:
- Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne,
- Und die trägt er im Gesicht.
- Und Macheath, der hat ein Messer,
- Doch das Messer sieht man nicht.
- And the shark, he has teeth,
- And he wears them in his face,
- And MacHeath, he has a knife
- But the knife one does not see.
1954 Blitzstein translation
In the best known English translation, from the Marc Blitzstein 1954 version of The 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 jack-knife has MacHeath dear
- And he keeps it out of sight.
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 Dunkeln
- Und die andern sind im Licht
- Und man siehet die im Lichte
- Die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht
- 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
1976 Manheim-Willett translation
In 1976 the version translated by Ralph Manheim and John Willett opened on Broadway, a movie version was later made starring Raul Julia as Mackie. Here is an excerpt:
- See the shark with teeth like razors
- You can read his open face
- And Macheath, he's got a knife, but
- Not in such an obvious place
1994 translation
A much darker translation into English was used for the 1994 Donmar Warehouse production in London:
- Though the shark's teeth may be lethal
- Still you see them white and red
- But you won't see Mackie's flick knife
- Cause he's slashed you and you're dead
Crimes of Macheath
The song attributes many crimes to MacHeath:
- A dead man on the Strand
- 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 (minderjährige Witwe) in her bed
American popular song
"Mack the Knife" was introduced to the U.S. hit parade by Louis Armstrong in 1954, but the song is most closely associated with Bobby Darin, who recorded his version at Fulton Studios on West 40th Street, NYC, December 19, 1958 (with Tom Dowd engineering the recording). In 1959 Darin's version reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 and number six on the Black Singles chart, and was described by Frank Sinatra, who also recorded the song, as the "definitive" version.
Ella Fitzgerald made a famous live recording in 1960 (released on ) in which, after forgetting the lyrics after the first verse, she successfully improvised new lyrics in a performance that earned her a Grammy. Robbie Williams also recorded the song on his 2001 album Swing When You're Winning. Other notable versions of "Mack the Knife" include performances by Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nick Cave, Brian Setzer, Westlife and Michael Buble. Sonny Rollins recorded an instrumental version called simply "Moritat" in 1956.
UK Psychobilly band King Kurt recorded the song in 1983 for their album Ooowallahwallah!. It was a minor hit single in the UK Charts & in Europe, and was produced by Dave Edmunds.
Morgan Stanley CEO John J. Mack once put on a shark costume and sang Mack the Knife at a charity event, a feat that reportedly raised $75,000 alone.
Many versions of "Mack the Knife" pay homage to previous artists who have recorded the song by naming them towards the end.
The Capitol Steps used Armstrong's tune to the song "Pack the Knife" in their album "When Bush Comes to Shove".
Selective list of recorded versions
- 1930 "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" - Bertolt Brecht
- 1954 Gerald Price, Broadway cast recording of The Threepenny Opera
- 1956 Louis Armstrong
- 1956 "Moritat" - Dick Hyman, instrumental
- 1956 "Moritat" - Sonny Rollins, jazz saxophone instrumental
- 1958 Bobby Darin, U.S. #1
- 1960 Ella Fitzgerald on the album
- 1968 The Doors on the album "Live In Stockholm"
- 1980 The Psychedelic Furs on the rerelease of the self titled first album "The Psychedelic Furs" (2002)
- 1983 King Kurt on the album Ooowallahwallah!, psychobilly version
- 1985 Sting on the album Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill
- 1994 Lyle Lovett on the soundtrack to Quiz Show
- 1995 Nick Cave on the album September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill
- 2000 The Brian Setzer Orchestra on the album Vavoom!'
- 2001 Robbie Williams on the album Swing When You're Winning
|- style="text-align: center;"
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.