Mack the Knife

Here is the rewritten encyclopedia entry.

"Mack the Knife," also known as "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" (originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" in German), was created by composer Kurt Weill and lyricist Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama The Threepenny Opera. The lyrics describe Macheath, a criminal from London's underworld who carries a knife, giving the song its title. After Louis Armstrong recorded it in 1955 using Marc Blitzstein's translated lyrics, the song became a widely covered standard.

The Threepenny Opera

The piece is a Moritat, a medieval-style murder ballad traditionally performed by wandering minstrels. In the opera, a street singer uses a barrel organ to introduce and close the story with the tale of Mackie Messer, a character inspired by the highwayman Macheath from John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (itself based on the real thief Jack Sheppard). Brecht and Weill made their version far more sinister, adding crimes like rape and murder to turn him into a modern antihero.

The song was a late addition, inserted just before the 1928 premiere. Actor Harald Paulsen, who played Macheath, demanded a number that would better introduce his character.

Instead of having Macheath sing it, Weill and Brecht gave it to a street singer, staying true to the Moritat tradition. At the premiere, Kurt Gerron (playing Police Chief Brown) performed it. Weill wanted a barrel organ accompaniment played by the singer, and the instrument was present and functional, providing the music as intended.

The Moritat singer begins by comparing Macheath to a shark. The verses then recount his crimes: a murder on the Strand, a wealthy man's disappearance and robbery, a fatal stabbing of a woman, an arson that killed seven children in Soho, and the rape of a young widow. A final stanza, added by Brecht for the 1931 film (not the original play), contrasts the glittering world of the rich with the dark world of the poor. The original German lyrics and music entered the U.S. public domain in 2024.

French translation

A French translation, "La complainte de Mackie," was created by André Mauprey and Ninon Steinhoff and popularized by Catherine Sauvage.

1954 Blitzstein translation

The song first reached American audiences in 1929 with a German-language production of The Threepenny Opera that was performed in the United States.