This song was originally a German song, composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for Bertolt Brecht's famous theater play " Die Dreigroschenoper" ("Three Penny Opera") from 1928. It was written as a Moritat ("street ballad"). In German the song is called "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" (Messer = Knife). Bertolt Brecht is one of the most famous authors in Germany. Every child - including me 😄 - had to read a book or a theater play of him at school. Plus, I live in his birth town. We have regular Brecht days in our local theater.
@@roncarpenter7240 Lucy Brown was a character in Three Penny Opera. Younare probaly thinking of Lotte Lenia (sp) who ws the wife of Kurt Weill who collaborated on the music . She was also in the original production and a revival. Her name was added as a tribute by later singers.
@@garyhamalainen1651 He might have known the version of Louis Armstrong (1955). Bertold Brecht died in 1956. In the 1950s and 1960s Louis Armstrong was very popular in Germany. He even played in some German films.
I love Bobby Darin, no matter how long he's been gone, I still love him and his incredible voice. Mack was my intro to him, way back in the very early '60s.
and speaking of outta sight....... that's what the vocal on this take is.... his accents, his inflections, his whole approach is totally off the charts!! I bet even Ella Fitzgerald dug it. Thank you Bobby Darin for this incredible contribution to American popular music...... R.I.P.
This was one of my father's favorite songs, Dad was born in 1916. He just liked the music and Bobby Darin. Dad was in the Air Force, so not in a shady kind of job😄 Dad also blew me away once, he told me that he didn't understand why the singer (Graham Nash, duh!) wanted to sing rock and do since he had such a great voice! Dad was cool in his own way.
@@SK-lk3iu Maybe so. It seems to me that sticking a person's feet in cement and tossing them in the river was a common practice for the mob. I think back in the 50's/60's they would be more inclined to write a song about a mobster than a serial killer. Not that writing a song about a murderer is a common thing anyway. I can't think of many others. Maybe Maxwell's Silver Hammer (Beatles). I could be out in left field. 😉😉
@@joelilley6603 This song was actually written in the 1920's for the "Threepenny Opera". The "play with music" was written based on a play from the 1700's about the criminal world of London's slums so, even tough Jack the Ripper is 150 years past the original play's characters, it is not a stretch to think MacHeath was loosely based on him. There have been murdering criminals in the slums since there have been slums so Jack is not the only one but is the best known.
@@hectorsmommy1717 Thanks that's interesting to know. The cement bags is what was throwing me off. I would never think about that practice going on in the 1800's but I don't think it's too much of a stretch. Also, the part about using a jack knife so there's never a trace of red, threw me off of the "Ripper" theory. Much appreciated. 👍
@@joelilley6603 I wouldn't be surprised to hear that bodies have been thrown in water with rocks/cement tied to them back in the time of the Pharaohs. Humans have always been cruel to other humans. When you hear about knife wielding criminals in the slums Jack is the first to come to mind but there have always been some. More modern would be 2 characters from Jim Croce songs: Leroy Brown (Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown) and Big Jim Walker (You Don't Mess Around with Jim)
I loved your reaction to a song that became a jazz standard. Others have already told you that it originated in a German 1928 play called _The Threepenny Opera._ Other famous and incredible covers were done by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. There are actually a huge number of covers. A sentimental favorite of mine is sung by Jerry Orbach, who sung it in an American version of the play. (Yes, the same Jerry Orbach who played the older cop on the _Law and Order_ TV show.) All the covers I mentioned are on TH-cam (as well as a very old German recording). This single song is quite the rabbit hole.
Jerry Orbach played several important roles in Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals including CARNIVAL, 42nd STREET, CHICAGO, and THE FANTASTICKS. He was the original Billy Flynn in CHICAGO, and the original El Gallo in THE FANTASTICKS, introducing that long-running show's famous ballad, "Try to Remember."
Geezus.... I can't say enough about this song....... a great arrangement and a masterful vocal delivery. I wonder what Lotte Lenya thought of it....... it had to be quite foreign to her European ears I would think.
Mack the knife was a hit man, and he just took what he wanted, spent like a sailor when he killed. and disappeared. Ol Mack the Knife is extremely dangerous and back in town.
right.... and that's how he became a big spender and wound up with group of ladies lining up to his right. I think they called off the search for Louie Miller eventually....
Love this song and always have. One of my favorite actors, the late Raul Julia (Gomez from the film version of The Addams Family), starred in the stage revival of The Threepenny Opera and was nominated for a Tony. He also starred in the movie version, which was called Mack the Knife. Can't say it was a great movie, but a favorite song and a favorite actor together? No brainer, there. :) Edit: The song talks about a few murders, not just one. The ladies aren't accomplices, they just like Macky, who is a bit of a ladies' man.
Bobby Darrin was married to actress Sandra Dee. The couple also starred in films together. One popular RomCom you should watch is "If A Man Answers." Sandra Dee also starred in the "Gidget" and "Tammy" movie franchises(several actresses played these roles over the years). Another notable film to consider watching is the 1959 drama "Imitation of Life," Starring Sandra Dee, Lana Turner, Juanita Moore, John Gavin, Robert Alda, and Dan O'Herlihy.
This most unlikely of songs became a huge hit in 1959-60. Lotte Lenya, who is mentioned in the lyric, was an actress/singer and wife of the song's composer Kurt Weill.
Ella Fitzgerald had this song called out request at a show in berlin. She didnt know or forgot the words and had to scat and make it up- you should check it out.
I always enjoy revisiting this great old song and yeah, you pretty much got the drift of the story told within. It's such a fabulous piece of music and so well done that the story can sneak past you at first listen. Maybe you can get a better read on some of the characters if you look into something called the Three Penny Opera from which this originates but I've never dug that deep. I do remember Ms. Lottie Lenya from the old James Bond classic "From Russia With Love" I couldn't tell you who Jenny Diver, Suki Tawdry and old Lucy Brown were but the names sound great in the context of this song. There are other versions of Mack the Knife but I can guaran-dam-tee you just heard the absolute best one by far. Nice appreciative reaction too.
Suki, Lucy and Jenny are all characters from the play, and Lotte played Jenny. Here is Lotte Lenya singing the song in the original German: th-cam.com/video/aPG9GcykPIY/w-d-xo.html We learned the song in school with different lyrics, a little more direct in translation, but for the life of me I can't find anything on it. From what I remember: Oh, the shark has (all his?) teeth and They are there for all to see. And MacHeath, he has his knife but No one knows where it may be. When the shark has had his dinner, There is blood on all his fins. But MacHeath, he has his gloves on. They say nothing of his sins. And Shul Meyer still is missing Like many another rich young man. And MacHeath has got his money; Try and prove that, if you can. And like that.
@@melenatorr well, I can't say I enjoyed the primitive arrangement sung by Ms.Lenya but the alternate lyrics were interesting as was reading about her very colorful life as a performer during the war years. We're talking about a song with a great back story and for me, the Bobby Darin version is a fitting climax.
@@garyhamalainen1651 No, they're not really what we would call "enjoyable", but if you listen to almost any of the productions available in German, that disturbing, raw way of cawing out the song seems to be essential. I guess it makes sense, considering the topic. So Lenya's giving it to us in the way appropriate for the play. Darin's giving it to us context free and so he's able to play with it differently.
Mack the knife was hitman for mobsters. Wore gloves to not get blood on his hands. The ladies are all molls(women attracted to mobsters)who want him to spend his ill gotten money on them. Mack also forced them to empty their accounts before he killed them.
Right?!? I remember this song when I was young and I remember sort of understanding what he was singing about! This song was really popular back in the day.
The song was written in German as Die Moritat von Mackie Messer for a 1928 play, Die Dreigroschenoper, The Threepenny Opera. If you're interested, here's the version from the 1931 film. th-cam.com/video/HxVcDPtDnjM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=I_4PQkGMxsVQVj_q
This song is meant to be a mystery as to who did what. It became such a great hit that they made a movie about it, not a big deal, but a movie nonetheless.
Serial Killing and swing...superbly subversive. Enjoyed the look on the face. Nice reaction. Great song though. Something blew me away recently. Kids Rock for Kids, cover of "Hysteria" by muse. Talk about a Teen/Pre Teen super group. 5 girls and a young man going places. It'll put a different shocked look on your face. Up to you though. Be very well.
A serial killer. Killed the guy who withdrew all his savings and then used the money to "spend like a drunken sailor". All those women mentioned were also victims, thus the phrase "the line (line of victims) forms on the right when Mackie's back in town".
Victims? I always had the impression that they were what Mack was spending ol' Louie Miller's money on. That's why they were lining up; because Mack is spending like a sailor.
Basically, Bobby was singing about the violent antics of a gangster.
Bobby Darin was one of the greatest live entertainers of all time. So very very talented.
FRANK SINATRA SAID HE WISHED HE HAD RECORDED THIS SONG IN THE WAY THAT BOBBY DARIN DID!!!
I've always loved "Mack the Knife". The look of sudden shock on your face made me laugh. I knew it was coming. 😂Bonus: You did the Carlton dance!! ❤😄
It’s like you suddenly realize you’re snapping your fingers along with the hit man-who’s now out celebrating with the ladies
Thanks for playing the whole song without interruption!!! It's great to hear wonderful songs all the way through
This song was originally a German song, composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for Bertolt Brecht's famous theater play " Die Dreigroschenoper" ("Three Penny Opera") from 1928. It was written as a Moritat ("street ballad"). In German the song is called "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" (Messer = Knife).
Bertolt Brecht is one of the most famous authors in Germany. Every child - including me 😄 - had to read a book or a theater play of him at school. Plus, I live in his birth town. We have regular Brecht days in our local theater.
I believe the Lucy Brown mentioned in the song was married to Brecht. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
I wonder if Mr.Brecht would recognize anything about this song : )
@@roncarpenter7240 Lucy Brown was a character in Three Penny Opera. Younare probaly thinking of Lotte Lenia (sp) who ws the wife of Kurt Weill who collaborated on the music . She was also in the original production and a revival. Her name was added as a tribute by later singers.
@@garyhamalainen1651 He might have known the version of Louis Armstrong (1955). Bertold Brecht died in 1956. In the 1950s and 1960s Louis Armstrong was very popular in Germany. He even played in some German films.
@@Lamm139 you are quite the historian!
I'm Gen-X, 1968. You KNOW a song is iconic when later generations can sing the lyrics!
I love Bobby Darin, no matter how long he's been gone, I still love him and his incredible voice. Mack was my intro to him, way back in the very early '60s.
It was great watching your face as the lyrics slowly sink in. 😅
and speaking of outta sight....... that's what the vocal on this take is.... his accents, his inflections, his whole approach is totally off the charts!! I bet even Ella Fitzgerald dug it. Thank you Bobby Darin for this incredible contribution to American popular music...... R.I.P.
Love the big band music 🎵🎶🎵🎶 to.
This was one of my father's favorite songs, Dad was born in 1916. He just liked the music and Bobby Darin. Dad was in the Air Force, so not in a shady kind of job😄 Dad also blew me away once, he told me that he didn't understand why the singer (Graham Nash, duh!) wanted to sing rock and do since he had such a great voice! Dad was cool in his own way.
Mac the Knife was a gangster. Maybe Mafia. Fun reaction there Stan. 😜😜😜😜
I always thought he "MacHeath" was more like a serial killer, like Jack the Ripper. But I never knew the original story, so....
@@SK-lk3iu Maybe so. It seems to me that sticking a person's feet in cement and tossing them in the river was a common practice for the mob. I think back in the 50's/60's they would be more inclined to write a song about a mobster than a serial killer. Not that writing a song about a murderer is a common thing anyway. I can't think of many others. Maybe Maxwell's Silver Hammer (Beatles). I could be out in left field. 😉😉
@@joelilley6603 This song was actually written in the 1920's for the "Threepenny Opera". The "play with music" was written based on a play from the 1700's about the criminal world of London's slums so, even tough Jack the Ripper is 150 years past the original play's characters, it is not a stretch to think MacHeath was loosely based on him. There have been murdering criminals in the slums since there have been slums so Jack is not the only one but is the best known.
@@hectorsmommy1717 Thanks that's interesting to know. The cement bags is what was throwing me off. I would never think about that practice going on in the 1800's but I don't think it's too much of a stretch. Also, the part about using a jack knife so there's never a trace of red, threw me off of the "Ripper" theory. Much appreciated. 👍
@@joelilley6603 I wouldn't be surprised to hear that bodies have been thrown in water with rocks/cement tied to them back in the time of the Pharaohs. Humans have always been cruel to other humans. When you hear about knife wielding criminals in the slums Jack is the first to come to mind but there have always been some. More modern would be 2 characters from Jim Croce songs: Leroy Brown (Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown) and Big Jim Walker (You Don't Mess Around with Jim)
When a Big Band with this pace and power blows from behind, a singer has to get his shit together.
I loved your reaction to a song that became a jazz standard. Others have already told you that it originated in a German 1928 play called _The Threepenny Opera._ Other famous and incredible covers were done by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. There are actually a huge number of covers. A sentimental favorite of mine is sung by Jerry Orbach, who sung it in an American version of the play. (Yes, the same Jerry Orbach who played the older cop on the _Law and Order_ TV show.) All the covers I mentioned are on TH-cam (as well as a very old German recording). This single song is quite the rabbit hole.
Jerry Orbach played several important roles in Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals including CARNIVAL, 42nd STREET, CHICAGO, and THE FANTASTICKS. He was the original Billy Flynn in CHICAGO, and the original El Gallo in THE FANTASTICKS, introducing that long-running show's famous ballad, "Try to Remember."
Great reaction ! 😂
Absolutely correct.
Stan, thank you! I am laughing my a$$ off right now and how I needed a laugh 😃
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for this, I have loved this song for over 50yrs.
🥰
Geezus.... I can't say enough about this song....... a great arrangement and a masterful vocal delivery. I wonder what Lotte Lenya thought of it....... it had to be quite foreign to her European ears I would think.
Mack the knife was a hit man, and he just took what he wanted, spent like a sailor when he killed. and disappeared. Ol Mack the Knife is extremely dangerous and back in town.
right.... and that's how he became a big spender and wound up with group of ladies lining up to his right. I think they called off the search for Louie Miller eventually....
@@garyhamalainen1651 Oh he was killed by Mack. I think Mack was someone to avoid.
It’s like you suddenly realize you’re snapping your fingers along with the hitman
Love this song and always have. One of my favorite actors, the late Raul Julia (Gomez from the film version of The Addams Family), starred in the stage revival of The Threepenny Opera and was nominated for a Tony. He also starred in the movie version, which was called Mack the Knife. Can't say it was a great movie, but a favorite song and a favorite actor together? No brainer, there. :) Edit: The song talks about a few murders, not just one. The ladies aren't accomplices, they just like Macky, who is a bit of a ladies' man.
“Stagger Lee” by Lloyd Price is another great hit from the same era
Love this song ❤😂
I loved this song as a child and still do. Fabulous
from a musical about an English Highwayman. Three Penny Opera.
Bobby Darrin was married to actress Sandra Dee. The couple also starred in films together. One popular RomCom you should watch is "If A Man Answers."
Sandra Dee also starred in the "Gidget" and "Tammy" movie franchises(several actresses played these roles over the years).
Another notable film to consider watching is the 1959 drama "Imitation of Life," Starring Sandra Dee, Lana Turner, Juanita Moore, John Gavin, Robert Alda, and Dan O'Herlihy.
You must listen to the Louis Armstrong version.
This most unlikely of songs became a huge hit in 1959-60. Lotte Lenya, who is mentioned in the lyric, was an actress/singer and wife of the song's composer Kurt Weill.
What a great song! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for listening
Ella Fitzgerald had this song called out request at a show in berlin. She didnt know or forgot the words and had to scat and make it up- you should check it out.
Loved your reaction. 🎤🎶🎧💜🫶
Thank you!! 😁
Ella (Fitzgerald) has a great rendition of this song
Others did this song, as well, including Ella Fitzgerald. I loved Bobby Darin.
One of the greats that was gone too soon
I think it's about a h1tman that whacked 3 or 4 in the song and the ladies were there for a good time
Such col song. If you like style of music Post Modern Jukebox. They do covers of modern songs in this style. They are great.
Mack (MacHeath) is the shark- the predator, and he enjoys his work,
Was on every device for quite a while
I always enjoy revisiting this great old song and yeah, you pretty much got the drift of the story told within. It's such a fabulous piece of music and so well done that the story can sneak past you at first listen. Maybe you can get a better read on some of the characters if you look into something called the Three Penny Opera from which this originates but I've never dug that deep. I do remember Ms. Lottie Lenya from the old James Bond classic "From Russia With Love" I couldn't tell you who Jenny Diver, Suki Tawdry and old Lucy Brown were but the names sound great in the context of this song. There are other versions of Mack the Knife but I can guaran-dam-tee you just heard the absolute best one by far. Nice appreciative reaction too.
Suki, Lucy and Jenny are all characters from the play, and Lotte played Jenny. Here is Lotte Lenya singing the song in the original German: th-cam.com/video/aPG9GcykPIY/w-d-xo.html
We learned the song in school with different lyrics, a little more direct in translation, but for the life of me I can't find anything on it. From what I remember:
Oh, the shark has (all his?) teeth and
They are there for all to see.
And MacHeath, he has his knife but
No one knows where it may be.
When the shark has had his dinner,
There is blood on all his fins.
But MacHeath, he has his gloves on.
They say nothing of his sins.
And Shul Meyer still is missing
Like many another rich young man.
And MacHeath has got his money;
Try and prove that, if you can.
And like that.
@@melenatorr wow, great info, thank you!
@@garyhamalainen1651 My pleasure!
@@melenatorr well, I can't say I enjoyed the primitive arrangement sung by Ms.Lenya but the alternate lyrics were interesting as was reading about her very colorful life as a performer during the war years. We're talking about a song with a great back story and for me, the Bobby Darin version is a fitting climax.
@@garyhamalainen1651 No, they're not really what we would call "enjoyable", but if you listen to almost any of the productions available in German, that disturbing, raw way of cawing out the song seems to be essential. I guess it makes sense, considering the topic. So Lenya's giving it to us in the way appropriate for the play. Darin's giving it to us context free and so he's able to play with it differently.
Mack the knife was hitman for mobsters. Wore gloves to not get blood on his hands. The ladies are all molls(women attracted to mobsters)who want him to spend his ill gotten money on them. Mack also forced them to empty their accounts before he killed them.
I know I'm not alone expecting the opening riff from 'Broken Hesrted Melody' by Sarah Vaughan.
And then 'Happy Organ' by Dave 'Baby' Cortez.
Right?!? I remember this song when I was young and I remember sort of understanding what he was singing about! This song was really popular back in the day.
It's a song based on Mafia lore at the time.
It's a song about a mafia hit man dude.
There is a life version
The song was written in German as Die Moritat von Mackie Messer for a 1928 play, Die Dreigroschenoper, The Threepenny Opera.
If you're interested, here's the version from the 1931 film.
th-cam.com/video/HxVcDPtDnjM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=I_4PQkGMxsVQVj_q
CHECK OUT BOBBY'S FANTASTIC VERSION OF RAY CHARLES CLASSIC, 'WHAT I'D SAY'!!
This song is meant to be a mystery as to who did what. It became such a great hit that they made a movie about it, not a big deal, but a movie nonetheless.
Serial Killing and swing...superbly subversive. Enjoyed the look on the face. Nice reaction. Great song though. Something blew me away recently. Kids Rock for Kids, cover of "Hysteria" by muse. Talk about a Teen/Pre Teen super group. 5 girls and a young man going places. It'll put a different shocked look on your face. Up to you though. Be very well.
Some serious Mafia happening in Vegas back in the day... People disappeared all the time...
Bobby died at relative young age because he was born with a somewhat bad heart.
Had he lived to a ripe old age he would have been as big as F Senatra
A serial killer. Killed the guy who withdrew all his savings and then used the money to "spend like a drunken sailor". All those women mentioned were also victims, thus the phrase "the line (line of victims) forms on the right when Mackie's back in town".
Victims? I always had the impression that they were what Mack was spending ol' Louie Miller's money on. That's why they were lining up; because Mack is spending like a sailor.
Check out movie the ministry of urgentlenanily war fare a girl sing the song ww2 movie jack reacher in it
Mob song
Jack the Ripper? Jack hes back in town... Did you hear how many women he got
Not big bands,,,Its the 60s Las Vegas sound
Old music is the best music
Murders