of "mack the knife" (Sinatra's song). I know the meaning of "muck" but I couldn't find "mack" in the dictionary.
regards!!!!
2006-12-02 15:16:48 · 12 answers · asked by ferarevalo 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Mack is the name of a guy. a character from a play. The song is about his life: he died as he lived.
"Mack the Knife" is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht (german) for their music drama "Dreigroschenoper", or, as it is known in English, The Three penny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928.
In the best known English translation, from the Marc Blitzstein 1954 version of The Threepenny Opera, which introduced the song to English-speaking audiences, the words are:
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.
This is the version performed on popular hits by Louis Armstrong (1956) and Bobby Darin (1959) (Darin's lyrics differ here and there), and most subsequent 'swing' versions. Weill's widow, Lotte Lenya, the star of both the original 1928 German production and the 1954 Blitzstein Broadway version, was present in the studio during Armstrong's recording. He spontaneously added her name to the lyrics, which already named several of Macheath's female victims.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_the_Knife
2006-12-02 15:18:24 · answer #1 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"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 Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928. The song has become a pop standard.
[edit] 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.
The opera opens with the moritat singer comparing Macheath (unfavorably) with a shark, and then telling tales of his robberies, murders, rapes, and arson:
2006-12-02 23:27:17 · answer #2 · answered by Quizard 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It may have been sung by Frank Sinatra, but it was written for and first sung by "snookie Nelson on the Hit Pirade 1951)
Mack the knife is simply a nickname just like "snookie" nelson. It was written during a time when everyone seemed to have nicknames.
2006-12-02 23:20:39 · answer #3 · answered by MrsOcultyThomas 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mack is a gangsters name in the song.
2006-12-02 23:19:20 · answer #4 · answered by tom_nearhood 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe "Mack" refers to the character's name.
2006-12-02 23:18:15 · answer #5 · answered by Steve M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm pretty sure Mack was the guy's name.
2006-12-02 23:18:46 · answer #6 · answered by i luv teh fishes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I thought "mack" was a person
2006-12-02 23:18:31 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was a big hit for Bobby Darrin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBTITHA8twI
and
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Mack+the+knife&search=Search
2006-12-02 23:24:47 · answer #8 · answered by Mopar Muscle Gal 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you just hang on, I just KNOW someone is gonna cut and paste the words for the entire song......
2006-12-02 23:24:48 · answer #9 · answered by Not Ecky Boy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ya know, I don't know....but I like the song....it's a catchy tune.
2006-12-02 23:18:37 · answer #10 · answered by Shari 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋