Die Moritat von Mackie Messer [English translation]

And the shark, he has teeth;

he has them in his face.

And Macheath, he has a knife,

but the knife, no one sees.

And the shark's fins are

red when he sheds blood;

Mack the Knife wears a glove

on which no sign of a crime can be seen.

By the green waters of the Thames,

suddenly people drop down.

It's neither plague nor cholera,

it's said: Mack's about.

On a beautiful, blue-skied Sunday,

a dead man lies on the Strand,

and someone turns the corner,

the one they call Mack the Knife.

And Schmul Meier's still not been found,

as with many a rich man,

and his money has Mack the Knife,

against whom nothing's to be proved.

Jenny Towler was found

with a knife in her chest,

and down on the Embankment there's Mack the Knife,

who knows nothing of any of it.

Where is Alfons Glite, the trucker?

Will he ever come to light?

Whoever might know,

Mack the Knife has no idea.

And the great fire in Soho,

seven children and an old man.

In the crowd, Mack the Knife, whom

one asks nothing, and who knows nothing.

And the underage widow,

whose name everyone knows,

woke up and was defiled.

Mack, what was your price?

Refrain

And some are in the dark,

and others are in the light.

But one only sees those in the light;

those in the dark, one doesn't see.

But one only sees those in the light;

those in the dark, one doesn't see.

End

Now, here's the happy ending,

everything reconciled.

If the readies are to hand,

the ending is generally good.

• Artist:Bertolt Brecht
• Album:Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera, 1928)