Mack the Knife

{{multiple image

| align = right

| direction = horizontal

| total_width = 280

| header = Composer and lyricist of "Mack the Knife"

| image1 = Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2005-0119, Kurt Weill.jpg

| caption1 = Kurt Weill

| image2 = Bertolt-Brecht.jpg

| caption2 = Bertolt Brecht

}}

A Moritat is a medieval version of the murder ballad performed by strolling minstrels. In The Threepenny Opera, the {{lang|de|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 (who was in turn based on the historical thief Jack Sheppard). The Brecht-Weill version of the character was far more cruel and sinister whose crimes included rape and murder, transforming him into a modern antihero.

The song was a last-minute addition that was inserted before its premiere in 1928 because Harald Paulsen, the actor who played Macheath, demanded that Brecht and Weill add another number that would more effectively introduce his character.{{sfn|Friedwald|2002|page=79}} However, Weill and Brecht decided the song should not be sung by Macheath himself, opting instead to write the song for a street singer in keeping with the {{lang|de|Moritat}} tradition. At the premiere, the song was sung by Kurt Gerron, who played Police Chief Brown. Weill intended the Moritat to be accompanied by a barrel organ, which was to be played by the singer.{{cite book |last=Farneth |first=David |title=Kurt Weill: A Life in Pictures and Documents |publisher=Overlook Press |location=Woodstock, New York |year=2000 |pages=75–78 |isbn=0-87951-721-2 }} At the premiere, though, the barrel organ failed, and the pit orchestra (a jazz band) had to quickly provide the accompaniment for the street singer.{{sfn|Friedwald|2002|pages=81–82}}

The {{lang|de|Moritat}} singer introduces the play, first comparing Macheath to a shark:

{{Verse translation|lang=de|italicsoff=y

|Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne,

Und die trägt er im Gesicht.

Und Macheath, der hat ein Messer,

Doch das Messer sieht man nicht.

|And the shark, it has teeth,

And it wears them in the face.

And Macheath, he has a knife,

But the knife can't be seen.{{cite book|author=Bernard N. Lee Jr|title=A Look Back in Time: Memoir of a Military Kid in the 50s|volume=2|editor=Michele Barard|publisher=Bernard N. Lee Jr|location=Conyers, Georgia|year=2017|page=55|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSHTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|isbn=978-0-9995576-0-0}}

}}

This is followed by tales of his crimes including a murder on the Strand, the disappearance of a wealthy man and theft of his money, a fatal stabbing of a woman, an arson that killed seven children in Soho, and the rape of a young widow.

The final stanza – not included in the original play, but added by Brecht for the 1931 film – expresses the theme and compares the glittering world of the rich and powerful with the dark world of the poor:

{{Verse translation|lang=de|italicsoff=y

|Denn die einen sind im Dunkeln

Und die andern sind im Licht

Und man siehet die im Lichte

Die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht.

|There are some who are in darkness

And the others are in light

And you see the ones in brightness

Those in darkness drop from sight.

}}

The song was translated into French as "{{lang|fr|La complainte de Mackie|italic=no}}" by André Mauprey and Ninon Steinhoff and popularized by Catherine Sauvage.{{cite web |url=http://www.secondhandsongs.com/work/115819 |title=Song: La complainte de Mackie |website=Secondhandsongs.com |access-date=8 October 2014 }}

File:Cradle-Will-Rock-Blitzstein-1938.jpg translated the best-known English version of the song]]

The song was introduced to American audiences in 1933 in the first English-language production of The Threepenny Opera. The English lyrics were by Gifford Cochran and Jerrold Krimsky.{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/11750 |title=Threepenny Opera (Cochran/Krimsky) |website=IBDB.com |publisher=Internet Broadway Database }} That production, however, was not successful, closing after a run of only ten days. The best-known English translation of the song comes from Marc Blitzstein's 1954 version of The Threepenny Opera, which played Off-Broadway for over six years.{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/13510 |title=Threepenny Opera (Blitzstein) |website=IBDB.com |publisher=Internet Broadway Database }} The opening stanza reads:

Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear,

And he shows them pearly white

Just a jack-knife has Macheath, dear

And he keeps it out of sight[https://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/louis+armstrong/mack+the+knife_20085339.html Louis Armstrong – Mack The Knife Lyrics], lyricsfreak.com

Blitzstein's version is a loose translation of the German lyrics; some lines on the crimes of Macheath have been omitted, and he included a verse not in the original, giving a list of female characters in the drama.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AdYYDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT429 |title=Musical Theater: An Appreciation|first= Alyson|last= McLamore |date= 2016|isbn=9781317346333 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}} The lyrics were further sanitized in the original Broadway cast recording (with Gerald Price as the ballad singer) with two stanzas on Macheath's assaults on women replaced.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQK-PeiCH4AC&pg=PA362 |title=Marc Blitzstein: His Life, His Work, His World|first=Howard|last=Pollack|author-link=Howard Pollack|date= 2012|isbn=9780199791590|publisher=Oxford University Press USA |page=362}}

Blitzstein's translation forms the basis of most of the popular versions heard today, including those by Louis Armstrong (1955) and Bobby Darin (1959), and most subsequent swing versions. Some further changes were made to Blitzstein's lyrics, for example, in Armstrong's recording, the name of Weill's widow, Lotte Lenya, who was the star of both the original 1928 German production and the 1954 Blitzstein Broadway version, was added to the lyrics "(Look out, Miss Lotte Lenya)".

In 1976, a brand-new interpretation of "Mack the Knife" by Ralph Manheim and John Willett was used in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of The Threepenny Opera, starring Raul Julia as Macheath. This version, simply known as "{{lang|de|Moritat|italic=no}}", is an extension of the story with completely new lyrics that expound upon the tales of Macheath's trail of activity. Here is an excerpt:

See the shark with teeth like razors.

All can read his open face.

And Macheath has got a knife, but

Not in such an obvious place.

This version was performed by Lyle Lovett on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Quiz Show. Darin's version plays over the opening credits and Lovett's over the closing credits. This interpretation was performed by Sting on Hal Willner's 1985 Weill tribute album Lost in the Stars and also recorded by Nick Cave in the late 1990s.{{fact|date=April 2025}}

A much darker translation by Robert David MacDonald and Jeremy Sams into English was used for the 1994 Donmar Warehouse theatrical production in London. The new translation attempted to recapture the original tone of the song:

Though the shark's teeth may be lethal

Still you see them white and red

But you won't see Mackie's flick knife

Cause he slashed you and you're dead.

{{Infobox song

| name = A Theme from The Threepenny Opera (Mack the Knife)

| cover = Mack The Knife Coronet.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Louis Armstrong

| album =

| B-side = Back O'Town Blues

| released = November 1955{{cite magazine |title=Reviews of New Pop Records |magazine=Billboard |date=19 November 1955 |page=44 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyEEAAAAMBAJ&dq=louis+armstrong+mack+the+knife&pg=PA44}}

| recorded = New York City
28 September 1955{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvyj8r6puTgC&pg=PA257 |title=All of Me: The Complete Discography of Louis Armstrong |author=Jos Willems |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date=2006 |page=257 |isbn=978-0-8108-5730-8 |access-date=29 August 2016}}

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Jazz

| length = 3:25

| label = Columbia, Coronet

| writer = Kurt Weill
Bertolt Brecht
Marc Blitzstein (English lyrics)
Turk Murphy (arranger)

| producer =

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

A number of early artists recorded the song, including the cast recording and a jazz version by Sidney Bechet, but it was Louis Armstrong who first introduced the vocal version of "Mack the Knife" to the United States hit parade. George Avakian, a producer at Columbia Records, whose wife Anahid Ajemian gave a recital of Weill's Violin Concerto in 1954, became interested in Weill's music, in particular the song from the off-Broadway production of Three Penny Opera that he had seen. He spent a few months trying to interest various jazz artists from his label to record "Mack the Knife", eventually persuading Turk Murphy to record. Murphy also suggested Armstrong to Avakian for the recording, and made an arrangement of the song for him.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bEODAAAQBAJ&pg=PT91 |title=Music in the Air: The Selected Writings of Ralph J. Gleason|first= Ralph J. |last=Gleason|author-link=Ralph J. Gleason|date= 2016|isbn=9780300221091|publisher=Yale University Press}}

Armstrong recorded an instrumental together with a vocal version on 28 September 1955, while Murphy also recorded both instrumental version and vocal versions himself as well as one in German with Lotte Lenya on 22 September 1955.{{harvnb|Pollack|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hQK-PeiCH4AC&pg=PA364 364]}} The lyrics of Armstrong's version were based on the Broadway cast recording, but Avakian suggested changing Blitzstein's lyrics by using the word "drooping" instead of "dropping", as well as including the name of Lotte Lenya in the recording. Armstrong gave a shout-out in the song to Lenya who was invited to the recording session by Avakian. Lenya also joined Armstrong to record a duet version which was not released commercially in their lifetime,{{cite book |url=https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780312026073?cm_sp=bdp-_-ISBN13-_-PLP |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lpBcYuVVJawC&pg=PT384 396] |title=Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein |first= Eric A. |last=Gordon |date=1989 |publisher=St Martins' Press|isbn=9780312026073 }} but was released posthumously in 1982.{{cite web|author=The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music|url=https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=414642583383910|title=#OnThisDay Lotte Lenya attends Louis Armstrong's recording session for "Mack the Knife" in 1955|website=Facebook|access-date=2024-08-12 |date=2021-09-28}}

The version released by Armstrong was spliced together from the instrumental and the vocal recordings. The song, titled "A Theme from The Threepenny Opera (Mack the Knife)", was released in late 1955 together with an instrumental version by Murphy, both by Columbia.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 |title= Unorthodox Events Lead to 2 Disks |date=29 October 1955 |magazine=Billboard}} The song, however, faced an initial ban on the song by radio stations for lyrics perceived as glorification of a criminal, although it sold well. Armstrong's recording reached Billboard{{'}}s Top 100 chart in February 1956, peaking at No 20 on 17 March 1956.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iznCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA321 |title=Louis Armstrong, an American Genius |first= James Lincoln |last=Collier|author-link=James Lincoln Collier|date= 1983 |isbn=9780195037272 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=321}} An instrumental version released by Dick Hyman charted higher. Armstrong's version also reached No. 8 in the UK.

In 1997, the 1955 recording of the song by Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars on Columbia Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |title=GRAMMY Hall Of Fame {{!}} Hall of Fame Artists {{!}} GRAMMY.com |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#m |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=grammy.com}}

Armstrong's recording was inducted by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry in 2016.{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2016/16-056.html |title=New Entries to National Recording Registry |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=2016-08-29 }}

{{Infobox song

| name = Mack the Knife

| cover = Mack the Knife Bobby Darin.jpg

| alt =

| border = yes

| type = single

| artist = Bobby Darin

| album = That's All

| B-side = Was There a Call for Me

| released = August 1959{{cite magazine |title=Reviews of This Week's Singles |magazine=Billboard |date=10 August 1959 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PQoEAAAAMBAJ&dq=bobby+darin+mack+the+knife&pg=PA41}}

| recorded = 19 December 1958, at Fulton Studios, New York City

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

• Traditional pop
• Jazz
• lounge{{cite book|last=Burke|first=Ken|chapter=Bobby Darin|editor-last=Knopper|editor-first=Steve|date=1 January 1998|title=MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Detroit|pages=121}}

| length = 3:11 (Album version)
3:04 (Single version)

| label = Atco (U.S.)
London Records (UK)

| writer = Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht
Marc Blitzstein (English version)

| producer =

| prev_title = Dream Lover

| prev_year = 1959

| next_title = Beyond the Sea

| next_year = 1959

}}

The song, however, is most closely associated with Bobby Darin, who recorded his version on 19 December 1958 for his album That's All. Darin had performed the song in his act before, and wanted to include the song in an album of standards. The song was arranged by Richard Wess.{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/MackTheKnife-Darin.pdf|title="Mack the Knife"—Bobby Darin (1959). Added to the National Registry: 2015. Essay by Jimmy Scalia|website=Loc.gov|access-date=14 March 2022}} Musicians who played on the song included Don Lamond on drums, Milt Hinton on bass, and Doc Severinsen on trumpet.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUYCMSnVH-oC&pg=PA36 |title=Bobby Darin: A Life|first= Michael Seth |last=Starr |date=2011|isbn=9781589795983|publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing |page=36 }} Tom Dowd engineered the recording.{{cite web|url=http://www.thelanguageofmusic.com/bio_50.HTM|title=Tom Dowd & the Language of Music|publisher=Language of Music Films|access-date=7 June 2023}} Darin's version has similar lyrics to Armstrong's but with small changes, such as using the word "babe" instead of "dear", and he ended the song with a reprise of the sixth verse instead of the first. Darin recorded the song in around three takes, performing the song with an up-tempo bouncy beat{{sfn|Starr|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IUYCMSnVH-oC&pg=PA37 37–38]}} and modulating up a semitone every verse starting with the third verse, from B-flat to B to C to D-flat to E-flat.

The song was released as a single in August 1959, even though Darin was reluctant to release the song as a single.{{cite web |url= https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19762/m1/ |title=Big Rock Candy Mountain: Rock 'n' roll in the late fifties. [Part 3]: Track 2: Bobby Darin |work= Pop Chronicles}} Dick Clark had advised Darin not to record the song because of the perception that, having come from an opera, the song might not appeal to a rock and roll audience; he subsequently acknowledged his error.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bobbydarin.net/bdclark.html|title=Bobby Darin & Dick Clark|website=www.bobbydarin.net}} 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.{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000114946|title=That's All – Bobby Darin}}[https://www.songfacts.com/facts/bobby-darin/mack-the-knife " 'Mack the Knife' by Bobby Darin"], songfacts.com It was listed as a Cash Box Top 100 number one single in 1959 for eight weeks.[http://www.cashboxmagazine.com/archives/50s_files/1959.html "Cash Box Pop Singles – 1959"], Cashbox

Frank Sinatra (who would record his own version in the 1980s with Quincy Jones for his L.A. Is My Lady album) called Darin's the "definitive" version.

{{Quote|text=Bobby Darin took the song by the scruff of the neck and turned it into the swing classic widely known today. Unlike the Brecht-Weill original, which remains in the same key throughout, Darin's version changes key, chromatically, no fewer than five times, ratcheting up the tension. – Financial Times{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/90df12d6-b87f-11e5-b151-8e15c9a029fb |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/90df12d6-b87f-11e5-b151-8e15c9a029fb |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription|title=The Life of a Song: 'Mack the Knife'|first=David|last=Cheal|date=15 January 2016|work=Financial Times}}}}

Billboard ranked this version as the No. 2 song for 1959.{{cite web|url=http://longboredsurfer.com/charts/1959.php|title=Billboard Top 100 – 1959|access-date=13 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102011043/http://longboredsurfer.com/charts/1959.php|archive-date=2 January 2014}} In 2003, the Darin version was ranked No. 251 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/|title=500 Greatest Songs of All Time|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=11 December 2003}} Darin's version of the song was featured in the films Quiz Show and What Women Want.

The song earned Darin two Grammy Awards in 1959, for Record of the Year and first ever Best New Artist.{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/2nd-annual-grammy-awards-1959|title=2nd Annual GRAMMY Awards|date=28 November 2017|website=GRAMMY.com}} Darin's version was also inducted by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry at the same time as Armstrong's in 2016. It was ranked as No. 15 in the list of Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/07/list.top.365.songs/ |title=Songs of the Century |date=7 March 2001 |work=CNN |access-date=1 November 2022 |archive-date=25 April 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130425105643/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/07/list.top.365.songs/ |url-status=dead }}

In 1999, the 1959 release of the song by Bobby Darin on the Atco Records label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |title=GRAMMY Hall Of Fame |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#m |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.grammy.com}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Bobby Darin|title=Mack The Knife|award=Silver|type=single|relyear=2012|certyear=2024|access-date=12 April 2024|id=19884-3109-1}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Bobby Darrin|title=Mack the Knife|award=Platinum|type=single|relyear=1959|certyear=2023|access-date=18 December 2023}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|noshipments=true|nosales=true}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Mack the Knife

| cover =

| alt =

| border =

| type = single

| artist = Ella Fitzgerald

| album = Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife

| B-side = Lorelei

| released = April 1960

| recorded = 13 February 1960, at Deutschlandhalle, Berlin

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

• Jazz

| length = 4:42

| label = Verve Records

| writer = Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht
Marc Blitzstein (English version)

| producer =

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

On 13 February 1960,{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dBAkCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |title=Ella Fitzgerald: An Annotated Discography; Including a Complete Discography of Chick Webb |first= J. Wilfred |last=Johnson |date= 2010|isbn=9780786446902|publisher=McFarland |page= 77}} Ella Fitzgerald performed the song live for the first time in a concert at Deutschlandhalle in Berlin. Fitzgerald, however, forgot the lyrics after the first stanza, and she improvised new lyrics, including name-checking Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChjHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |title=Smash Hits: The 100 Songs That Defined America|first= James E.|last= Perone |date=2016|isbn=9781440834691|publisher=ABC-CLIO |page= 83}} The song was included on the album Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife released in July.{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cR8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA23 |title=Reviews of This Week's LP's|page=23 |magazine=Billboard |date=4 July 1960}}

The song was released as a single in April 1960.{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nR8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31|title=This Week's New Money Records |magazine=Billboard |date=4 April 1960 |page=31}} This version made the US Hot 100, peaking at No. 27 in June 1960.{{cite book |title= Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2013 |publisher=Record Research |page=298}} This song was Fitzgerald's best performing song in the 1960s, and she included the song in all her subsequent shows.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M1QSBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA190 |title=Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz, Updated Edition|first= Stuart |last=Nicholson| date=2014 |isbn=9781136788147|publisher=Taylor & Francis |page= 190}}

The performance earned Fitzgerald a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 3rd Annual Grammy Awards.{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/ella-fitzgerald/16685|title=Ella Fitzgerald|date=23 November 2020|website=GRAMMY.com}}

An instrumental version of "Mack the Knife" titled "Moritat – A Theme From "The Three Penny Opera"" was recorded by Dick Hyman, and it performed better than Louis Armstrong's vocal version that charted around the same time, reaching No. 9 on Billboard{{'}}s Top 100.{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qh8EAAAAMBAJ&q=moritat|title=The Top 100 |date= 24 March 1956|page=42 |magazine=Billboard}} It also reached No. 9 on the Cashbox chart,{{Cite web|url=https://tropicalglen.com/Archives/50s_files/19560225.html|title=The Cash Box Best-Selling Singles: Week ending February 25, 1956|website=Tropicalglen.com }} as well as No. 9 on the UK chart in 1956.{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/3257/dick-hyman-trio/ |title=Dick Hyman Trio |work=The Official Charts Company}} A number of other instrumental versions also appeared on The Top 100 at the same time: Richard Hayman and Jan August (No. 12), Lawrence Welk (No. 31),{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qh8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42|title=The Top 100 |date= 24 March 1956|page=42 |magazine=Billboard}} Billy Vaughn (No. 37), and Les Paul and Mary Ford (No.49).{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8x4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44|title=The Top 100 |date= 17 March 1956|page=44 |magazine=Billboard}} Billy Vaughn also reached No. 12 in the UK.{{cite web |url= https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/3295/billy-vaughn/ |title=Billy Vaughn |work=The Official Charts Company}}

Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins recorded an instrumental version titled simply "{{lang|de|Moritat|italic=no}}" for his album Saxophone Colossus, recorded in 1956.{{cite web |url=https://steemit.com/music/@fjcalduch/moritat-mack-the-knife-sonny-rollins-s-version|title=Moritat (Mack The Knife) (Sonny Rollins's version) |work=Steemit |date=23 June 2018 }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TX0_EAAAQBAJ&pg=P281 |page=281|title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire| first=Ted |last=Gioia |date= 2021|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190087173 }} A 1959 instrumental performance by Bill Haley & His Comets was the final song the group recorded for Decca Records.{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000308951|title=The Decca Years & More – Bill Haley & His Comets|first= Bruce |last=Eder}} Ray Conniff recorded a version for orchestra and chorus in 1962 for the album, The Happy Beat. Liberace performed the song in five styles: as originally written, in the style of the "Blue Danube Waltz", as a music box, in a bossa nova rhythm, and in boogie-woogie.{{YouTube|6wZ-nbU76rk|Liberace performs "Mack the Knife" on The Ed Sullivan Show}} (note: this performance omits the music box version).

Frank Sinatra added the song to his repertoire in 1984 in an arrangement by Frank Foster;[https://www.steynonline.com/7344/mack-the-knife "Mack the Knife – Sinatra Song of the Century #95"] by Mark Steyn, 8 December 2015 In the performance included on his album L.A. Is My Lady, Sinatra similarly name-checked Armstrong and Darin, as well as adding members of his backing band. Sinatra and Jimmy Buffett recorded a duet of the song for Sinatra's final album Duets II (1994).

Nick Cave and Spanish Fly performed the song for the video September Songs – The Music of Kurt Weill in 1994, released as an album in 1997.{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3QkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9-IA6 |title=Sony Classical Tribute Taps into the Legacy of Kurt Weill |first=Bradley |last=Bambarger |magazine=Billboard |date= 23 August 1997 |page=9}} while Sting and Dominic Muldowney recorded it for the 1985 tribute album Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill.{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000194694|title=Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill|first=Joe|last=Viglione|access-date=18 July 2011}}

Other notable versions include performances by Mark Lanegan, Dave Van Ronk, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Tony Bennett, Anita O'Day (in an arrangement by Jimmy Giuffre), Marianne Faithfull, Brian Setzer, Dr. John, Ute Lemper, King Kurt,{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/King-Kurt-Mack-The-Knife/release/633562|work=Discogs|title=King Kurt – Mack The Knife|date=1984 |access-date=6 February 2021}} Bing Crosby, Eartha Kitt,{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/master/494140-Eartha-Kitt-The-Fabulous-Eartha-Kitt|work=Discogs|title=Eartha Kitt - The Fabulous Eartha Kitt|date=1959|access-date=25 September 2024}} The Psychedelic Furs, David Cassidy (in At the Copa), Westlife, The Doors, and Michael Bublé.{{cite web |url=https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-violent-origins-and-chart-topping-success-of-mack-the-knife-by-bobby-darin/ |title=Behind the Violent Origins and Chart-Topping Success of "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin |first=Jay |last= McDowell |work=American Songwriters|date=1 February 2024 }} Swiss band The Young Gods radically reworked the song in industrial style on their 1991 album The Young Gods Play Kurt Weill as "Mackie Messer", Deana Martin recorded "Mack the Knife" on her second studio album, Volare, released in 2009 by Big Fish Records. Robbie Williams recorded the song on his 2001 album Swing When You're Winning.{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0002051610|titel=Swing When You're Winning – Robbie Williams}} Hildegard Knef recorded a German version, "Mackie Messer".{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/mack-the-knife-lyrics-in-german-4076149 |title="Mack the Knife" Lyrics in German |work= ThoughtCo|date=24 February 2020 }}

Salsa musician Rubén Blades recorded an homage entitled "Pedro Navaja" (Razor Pete).{{cite web |url=http://www.maestravida.com/pedronavaja.html |title=Pedro Navaja|website=MaestraVida.com |access-date=8 October 2014}} Brazilian composer Chico Buarque, in his loose adaptation of Threepenny Opera ({{lang|pt|Ópera do Malandro}}), made two versions called "{{lang|pt|O Malandro|italic=no}}" and "{{lang|pt|O Malandro No. 2|italic=no}}", with lyrics in Portuguese.

1950s comedic legend Ernie Kovacs used a German-translated version of the song throughout his television series.{{cite web | url=https://www.discogs.com/release/1455532-Various-The-Ernie-Kovacs-Record-Collection | title=Various - the Ernie Kovacs Record Collection | website=Discogs | date=1997 }}

• List of 1920s jazz standards
• List of UK singles chart number ones of the 1950s
• Mac Tonight, marketing figure for McDonald's in the late 1980s using this song

{{Reflist}}

Sources

• {{cite book|last=Friedwald|first=Will|author-link=Will Friedwald|title=Stardust Melodies: The Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs|year=2002|publisher=Pantheon Books|location=New York|isbn=0-375-42089-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/stardustmelodies00frie}}

• {{YouTube|id=aPG9GcykPIY|title="Mackie Messer"}}, sung by Lotte Lenya (3:39)
• {{YouTube|id=_QXJ3OXWaOY|title=Bertolt Brecht sings "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer"|link=no}} (2:48)
• [http://www.bobbydarin.net/macklyrics.html Bobby Darin "Mack the Knife" website]
• [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2155/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife "What's the story behind 'Mack the Knife'?"], The Straight Dope, 1 April 2004
• {{IBDB show|8696|Threepenny Opera}}
• [http://german.about.com/library/blmus_hknef04.htm Lyrics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312122448/http://german.about.com/library/blmus_hknef04.htm |date=12 March 2016}}

{{The Threepenny Opera}}

{{Grammy Award for Record of the Year}}

{{Louis Armstrong}}

{{Bobby Darin}}

{{Lotte Lenya}}

{{Frank Sinatra singles}}

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