Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear,
And it shows them pearly white.
Just a jackknife has old Macheath [ 3 ] , babe,
And he keeps it-a, out of sight.
Ya know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe,
Scarlet billows start to spread.
Fancy gloves, oh, wears old Macheath, babe,
So there's never, never a trace of red.
Now on the sidewalk, huh, huh, woo, sunny morning, un huh.
Lies a body just oozin' life, eek.
And someone's sneakin' ‘round the corner,
Could that someone be Mack the Knife?
There's a tugboat, huh, huh uh-hun,
Down by the river don'tcha know.
Where a cement bag's just a'drooppin' on down.
Oh, that cement is just, it's there for the weight, dear.
Five'll get ya ten old Mackheath's back in town.
Now d'ja hear ‘bout Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe,
After drawin' out all his hard-earned cash.
And now MacHeath spends just like a sailor,
Could it be our boy's done somethin' rash?
Now, Jenny Diver, ho, ho, yeah, Sukey Tawdry,
Ooo, Miss Lotte Lenya [ 4 ] and old Lucy Brown.
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe,
Now that Macheath's back in town.
[ Find more Lyrics at www.mp3lyrics.org/ack ]
I said Jenny Diver, whoa, Sukey Tawdry,
Look out a-Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown.
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe,
Now that Macheath's back in town.
Look out, old Mackheath is back!!
[ MACK THE KNIFE [ 1 ]
Written by: Originally, Bertolt Brecht (words-German) & Kurt Weil (music)-1928,
Marc Blitzstein (words-English)
Performed by: Bobby Darin [ 2 ] -1959
Appears on: That's All-1959, Darin at the Copa-1960, Live! At the Desert
Inn-1971, Greatest Hits-1985, The Ultimate Bobby Darin-1988, Mack the Knife
(1958-1961)-1991, Dream Lover-1997, Swing An' Slow-2006, et al.
[ 1 ] "Mack the Knife" was the opening number from the musical, "Three Penny
Opera," the English-language version of, "Die Dreigroschenoper," which premiered
in Berlin, Germany, in August of 1928. ]
[ 2 ] Other notable covers include: Louis Armstrong-1929, Ella Fitzgerald-1949, The
Dick Hayman Trio-1956, Frank Sinatra-1960, Marianne Faithfull-1997, Lisa
Stansfield-1999, Brian Setzer Orchestra-2000, Jimmy Dale Gilmore-2000, Michael
Bublé-2001, Robbie Williams-2001, Westlife-2004. ]
[ 3 ] Macheath and Mackie Messer are the names of the character in the play in both
English and German, respectively. It's evident where the "Mack" come from. In
the play, Macheath marries Polly Peachum. This displeases her father, who
controls the beggars of London, and he endeavours to have Macheath hanged. But
his moves are hindered by the fact that the chief of police, Tiger Brown, is
Macheath's childhood friend. Still, Peachum exerts his influence and eventually
gets Macheath arrested and sentenced to hang. Moments before the execution, a
hard-riding messenger from the "Queen" arrives to pardon Macheath and grant him
a baronetcy. ]
[ 4 ] Lotte Leyna, well-known Austrian singer and wife of composer Kurt Weil,
appeared in a supporting role in "Die Dreigroschenoper." (See [ 1 ] above.) ] |
