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Mack The Knife Lyrics

Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear
And he shows 'em, pearly white
Just a jack knife has Macheath, dear
And he keeps it, keeps it way out of sight

When that shark bites with his teeth, dear
Scarlet billows, they begin to spread
Fancy white gloves though has Macheath, dear
So there's rarely, never one trace of red

On the sidewalk, one Sunday mornin'
Lies a body oozin' life
Someone's sneaking 'round the corner
Could that someone, perhaps, perchance, be Mack the Knife?

From a tugboat on the river goin' slow
A cement bag, it is dropping down
Yeah, the cement is just for the weight, dear
You can make a large bet Macheath is back in town

My man Louie Miller, he split the scene, babe
After drawin' out all the bread from his stash
Now Macheath spends just like a pimp, babe
Do you suppose that our boy, he did something rash?

Ah, old Satchmo, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darrin
They did this song nice, Lady Ella too
They all sang it, with so much feeling
That Old Blue Eyes, he ain't gonna add nothing new

But with Quincy's big band, right behind me
Swinging hard, Jack, I know I can't lose
When I tell you, all about Mack the Knife babe
It's an offer, you can never refuse

We got George Benson, we got Newman & Foster
We got the Brecker Brothers, and Hampton's bringing up the rear
All these bad cats, and more, are in the band now
They make the greatest sounds, you ever gonna hear

Hey Sookie Taudry, Jenny Diver, Polly Peachum, Old Miss Lulu Brown
Oh the line forms, on the right dear
Now that Macheath, I mean that man Macheath
Yeah he's bad, mercy mercy
Yeah he's badder than old Leroy Brown
You better lock your door, and call the law
Because Macheath's, that bum,
He's back in town
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © Bmg Rights Management, Acum Ltd., Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Writer
Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, Marc Blitzstein
Duration
4:52
Submitted by
winterfairy On Aug 13, 2002
5 Meanings

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Cover art for Mack The Knife lyrics by Frank Sinatra

I love this song more than I should do. I'm going through a Sinatra phase at the moment.

Cover art for Mack The Knife lyrics by Frank Sinatra

Wow!I'm surprised I can understand it!However I'm not surprised that I'm the only one who is commenting on it.lol.

Cover art for Mack The Knife lyrics by Frank Sinatra

This is such a badass gangster song; A fuckin' classic.

Cover art for Mack The Knife lyrics by Frank Sinatra

I LOVE IT!!

Cover art for Mack The Knife lyrics by Frank Sinatra

This song is from Brecht & Weill's Threepenny Opera, which was itself based on the Beggar's Opera by John Gay. In the Brecht version, Macheath (aka Mack the Knife aka Mackie Messer) is absolutely ruthless. The whole Threepenny Opera is a scathing critique of capitalism, and the song itself is bloody and filled with tales of arson, rape, and murder (sanitized considerably in the most well-known English translation which we know and love). Don't let me catch you playing this at your wedding because no matter what famous crooner sang it, it is not romantic, and it is not appropriate for an insanely expensive party. Brecht would roll over in his grave.

Here are a few sample stanzas from a more faithful translation of the original German (tr. Manheim & Willett):

And the ghastly fire in Soho,
Seven children at a go—
In the crowd stands Mack the knife, but
He's not asked and doesn't know.

And the child bride in her nightie,
Whose assailant's still at large
Violated in her slumbers—
Mackie how much did you charge?

For everything you ever wanted to know about this song, just search the Internet for "Everything you ever wanted to know about Mack the Knife"...you'll learn a lot.

 
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