Dirka,
From the ever-useful Wiki
"Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with
lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928. The song has become a pop standard.
The Threepenny Opera
A moritat is a medieval version of the murder ballad performed by strolling minstrels, from mori meaning "deadly" and tat meaning "deed". In The Threepenny Opera, the moritat singer with his street organ introduces and closes the drama with the tale of the deadly Mackie Messer, or Mack the Knife, a character based on the dashing highwayman Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. The Brecht-Weill version was less dashing and much more cruel and sinister and has been transformed into a modern anti-hero.
Here's Bobby Darren singing it: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CBTITHA8twI
Not my favorite version, but no doubt the most popular.
Other versions can be seen here.
AA,
That performance you posted by Alan Cummings was something!
Best regards,
Jake
[B]Less talk, more monkey![/B]
Originally Posted by Monkey@Arms
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