Oh the shark has pretty teeth dear
And he shows them pearly white
Just a jack-knife has Mac-heath dear
And he keeps it out of sight
When the shark bites with his teeth dear
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves though wears Mac-heath dear
So there’s not a trace of red
On the sidewalk Sunday morning
Lies a body oozing life
Someone’s sneaking 'round the corner
Is the someone Mack the Knife
From a tugboat by the river
A cement bag’s dropping down
The cement’s just for the weight dear
Bet you Mackies’s back in town
Louis Miller disappeared dear
After drawing out his cash
And Mac-heath spends like a sailo
Did our boy do something rash
Sukey Tawdry, Jenny Diver
Polly Peachum Lucy Brown
O the line forms on the right dear
Now that Mackie’s back in town
Most famously. Louis Armstrong did a popular version, as well. I used to hang out at a bar that had Darin’s version on the juke. It was played several times a night. That, Pianoman, Clapton’s Cocaine (at appropriate moments) and Marley’s Jammin’. For years. No one ever got sick of them. We were all high as kites, anyway. 80’s.
There’s actually a variety of different versions of the song over the years.
Sting did a version in the 80s on a various artists album that was great. He sang it low and slow which was in opposition to the happy versions of the 50s.
In the Brecht play the song was sung by a bunch of hookers to taunt the lead character in the play.
I posted the lyrics not out of rage but rather as a technique to say that there’s two sides to everything.
Once in a while,
Seems as though our love goes out of style,
You and I, we always knew the rules,
But never played the game to win,
We’d rather quit just to begin
Again, and then again,
Why can’t we see that we can’t see it to the end?
Why do we always have to do this thing we do,
And when we can’t go on,
We sing that same old song,
Again?
You and I won’t ever make it,
Why do we keep coming back?
Tell me how to let you go,
I’ll tell you how to stay away,
Tell me that you need me so,
I’ll come to you, with you I’ll stay
Again.
Once in a while,
We seem to get it right
Once in a while,
We have a magic night
Once in a while,
I want that once in a while
Again.
A trouble-bubble? I am chagrinned to say that this would be, in my case, a very small bubble. Hmmmm. I’m not rich, and I’m not pretty. That about does it. Okay, what next?
Oh, yeah - I’ll add one thing - you don’t seem to like my love song.
ALL love songs, at least the good ones, are cheesy, trite, and boring. That’s because we are cheesy, trite, and boring. Sometimes the truth hurts and feels good at the same time. I think I saw that some place recently.
Yours was as good as any other, and better if it was personal. Love songs and love poetry are a purging of the heart. The sneers of the loveless take nothing away. Keep it up. Pissed off the neighbors with the sax yet?
I’ve pissed myself off. I may have managed to actually make some music yesterday, for a few miunutes. It’s been a lot of years, and there are differences between my former horn, a tenor, and the baritone, but enough similarity to really fuck with my head (and my lip). I really don’t take that song seriously. I wrote it at just below typing speed. Well, my typing speed, which is about 20 wpm. Maybe I have a bit of a mancrush on Mr Predictable, and needed to express it.
I don’t know. Art is so emotional. I’m going to have a good cry now, and I’m sure I’ll feel better afterwards.
