About The Song
Today’s feature song is familiar to many. The best part is it has been covered by artists numbering into the hundreds and it has a history that sees it entering its tenth decade of popularity. The song is; Mack the Knife’. The most popular version of ‘Mack the Knife’ was recorded and released by Bobby Darin in 1958. Based on the popularity of this recording I will lead with the story behind it, before moving on to the history of the song that traces back to 1928.
Perhaps the most ironic aspect of the Bobby Darin version of ‘Mack the Knife’ is it went against people’s better judgement that it was even released at all. Bobby Darin was reluctant. The very influential, Dick Clark; host of American Bandstand advised Darin not to record it because he was concerned that it would cast him as an opera singer rather than a budding rock and roll act.
The concerns were valid because audiences were fickle in those days and for many, success was fleeting. Bobby Darin was looking for a song to follow the success of ‘Splish Splash’ and ‘Dream Lover’. Despite his reservations he went through with it and the result was what many consider to be one of the most important recordings of the second half of the 20th century. For Bobby Darin, ‘Mack the Knife won a Grammy for Record of the Year, in 1960. On this day sixty years ago ‘Mack the Knife’ was at #1 on the U.K. singles chart. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (Darin’s only number 1 hit on the Hot 100) and number six on the Black Singles Chart. It was listed as a Cash Box Top 100 number one single in 1959 for eight weeks.
In 1999, the 1959 release of the song by Bobby Darin on the Atco Records label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The version of ‘Mack the Knife’ that captured the imagination of Bobby Darin’s people was recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1956. The character comes alive in this version.
Both the Louis Armstrong version and the Bobby Darin rendition reside in the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry for being culturally, historically or aesthetically important. It was honoured in 2016.
The song was composed in 1928 in Berlin by Kurt Weil and Bertolt Brecht provided the lyrics. They had written the music drama, “The Three Penny Opera,” which premiered in Berlin in 1928. The song, “Mack the Knife,” or “Die Moritat von Mackie Messe” was part of that opera. The character, Mack the Knife, is based on the dashing highwayman Macheath, from John Gay’s “The Beggar’s Opera.”
Video
Lyrics
Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it, ah, out of sight
You 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, whoo 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, 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 Macky’s back in town
Now did ya 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
Ooh, Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town
I said Jenny Diver, whoa, Sukey Tawdry
Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town
Look out, old Macky’s back