Theme from “The Threepenny Opera”, 1928
Words by Marc Blitzstein
Music by Kurt Weill
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear
And he shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has Macheath, 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 Macheath, dear
So there’s not a trace of red
On the sidewalk, Sunday morning
Lies a body oozin’ life
Someone’s sneakin’ ‘round the corner
Is the someone be 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 Mackie’s back in town
Louie Miller disappeared, dear
After drawing out his cash
And Macheath spends like a sailor
Did our boy do something rash?
Sukey Tawdry, Jenny Diver
Polly Peachum, Lucy Brown
Oh, the line forms on the right, dear
Now that Mackie’s back in town
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: