Mack the Knife ("Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" - Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht) sung by James Bierney

Mack the Knife (Die Moritat von Mackie Messer)
From “The Threepenny Opera" (Die Dreigroschenoper)
Music Kurt Weill
Lyrics Bertolt Brecht
The wonderful accompaniment was provided by Uli Schauerte whose CZcams channel can be found here ‪@UliSchauerte‬ and website is www.uli-schauerte.de
On his great website you can find orchestral accompaniments all of the musical numbers from “The Threepenny Opera” (Die Dreigroschenoper) painstakingly, and beautifully, made by this excellent musician.
Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera” (Die Dreigroschenoper) opened in Berlin on August 31st,1928. Just before the opening night they wrote a prologue which had a scene-setting Moritat (murder ballad), with barrel-organ accompaniment, describing the dreadful deeds of Mackie Messer (“Mack the Knife”).
A Moritat is a “murder ballad” performed by strolling minstrels, often with painted illustrations to which the singer would point during the song. They were often sensational news stories of the day about murder, fires, death, affairs and scandals.
In the English translation (the most famous being Marc Blitzstein’s 1954 reworking of the opera) the Moritat dosen’t have the dirge like quality of the original German. Whilst the German original tells of murder, rape, arson and theft, the English translation (especially as performed by Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin) is a jaunty tale of a roguish, man-about-town, gangster. Never-the-less, the Blitzstein translation is wonderfully vivid. So, for this video I have used some verses from this translation, one from the 2016 adaptation by Simon Stephens (National Theatre) and the rest are of my own making.
Here are Brecht’s lyrics. Here, Mackie is no caricature gangster but a nasty piece of work.
DIE MORITAT VON MACKIE MESSER
Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne
Und die trägt er im Gesicht
Und Macheath, der hat ein Messer
Doch das Messer sieht man nicht.
Und es sind des Haifischs Flossen
Rot, wenn dieser Blut vergießt
Mackie Messer trägt ’nen Handschuh
Drauf man keine Untat liest.
An der Themse grünem Wasser
Fallen plötzlich Leute um
Es ist weder Pest noch Cholera
Doch es heißt: Mackie geht um.
An’nem schönen blauen Sonntag
Liegt ein toter Mann am Strand
Und ein Mensch geht um die Ecke
Den man Mackie Messer nennt.
Und Schmul Meier bleibt verschwunden
Und so mancher reiche Mann
Und sein Geld hat Mackie Messer
Dem man nichts beweisen kann.
Jenny Towler ward gefunden
Mit ’nem Messer in der Brust
Und am Kai geht Mackie Messer
Der von allem nichts gewußt.
Wo ist Alfons gleich, der Fuhrherr?
Kommt er je ans Sonnenlicht?
Wer es immer wissen könnte
Mackie Messer weiß es nicht.
Und das große Feuer in Soho
Sieben Kinder und ein Greis
In der Menge Mackie Messer, den
Man nichts fragt, und der nichts weiß.
Und die minderjähr’ge Witwe
Deren Namen jeder weiß
Wachte auf und war geschändet
Mackie welches war dein Preis?
Brecht wrote a final stanza - not included in the original play - for the 1931 film. He tries to compare the glittering world of the rich and powerful with the dark world of the poor.
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.)
MACK THE KNIFE
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 never, never a trace of red.
On the backstreet, Sunday morning,
Lies a body oozing life.
Someone's sneaking 'round the corner
Could that someone be Mack the Knife?
Jenny Taylor was discovered
With a knife stuck in her chest!
Mack the Knife strolls by the dockside,
Knows no more than all the rest!
In the blazing fires of SoHo,
Seven children burned in flame!
Mackie’s watching from the corner,
Knowing nothing, not to blame!
A pretty widow, not yet twenty,
Was assaulted one dark night.
Who was that girl in her nightie?
No one know but Mackie might!
In the city’s constant turmoil,
There’s an endless slow decay.
Mack the knife grins as he watches,
Tips his hat and walks away.
"Shark" from Vecteezy.com