Jazz is a type of music that that can a borrow song and make its sound and story all its own. Indeed, Jazz musicians place a high value on finding their own sound and style, and that means the trumpet-player Louis Armstrong, for example, that sounds very different than the trumpet-player Miles Davis. Surprisingly, the origins of this Jazzy Southern song was German.
The fictional character of this song is "Mack-the-Knife" which is a nick name of the ruthless, dashing thief/highway man, and serial killer, “Macheath”. The name “Macheath” sounds more Scottish, than German. Perhaps “Macheath” was originally only intended to be the stock character of the foreign heinous villain?
Nevertheless, this song about the murderous Mackie Messer (literally “Mackie Knife”) was written for a German play back in 1928 by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht.
This German play Die Dreigroschenoper (in English, The Threepenny Opera) was written by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht.
Marc Blitzstein’s 1954 translation from German Die Dreigroschenoper into English as The Threepenny Opera is the best known translation for this German play, which is why all three—Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, and Marc Blitzstein—get an author credit on the distinctly American-English version of the lyrics. The German title attributed to this song is Die Moritat von Mackie Messer which can be translated into English as The Ballad of Mack the Knife.
A more literal English translation of the song title would be The Death-Ballad of Mackie Knife. The term “moritat” is medieval Latin and harks back to the collection of old ballads recounting murderous tales. The “moritat” or “death-murder ballad”, is simply a subgenre of the traditional form ballads. The “moritat” songs focus specifically upon stories of crime, murder, and/or gruesome deaths.
As a tale of theft and cold blooded murder, the story Mack the Knife works in easily in almost any large city in the late 19 th through 21 st centuries.
Louis Armstrong recorded his own vocal rendition of Mack the Knife on a 45 single in New York City on September 28, 1955. Armstrong’s recording was a jazzy, new upbeat form—which lightened the whole musical feeling of the recording. Indeed, my late father loved the music of Louis Armstrong and respected him as a hardworking, gifted, world class musician.
I remember my Dad owned an old record on which Louis Armstrong sang Mack the Knife.
I never got to see Louie Armstrong singing in person, but I was lucky enough to see him several times on TV and his singing always seemed jazzy and joyous. I was particularly fond of the song, Mack the Knife, and I used to dance happily to it. To this day, whenever I remember Mr. Louis Armstrong singing Mack the Knife, I hear him smiling.
The great Louie Armstrong was the first recording artist to hit the charts in the USA with Mack the Knife. This recording by Armstrong also hit number 20 on the charts! Armstrong introduced Mack the Knife to the American television audience on the TV show Your Hit Parade in 1956. Likewise, this song is also on Armstrong’s Satchmo The Great, 1957 album. Other singers have sung Mack the Knife, but none so well as Louis Armstrong did.
Louis Armstrong was to jazz what Einstein was to physics, King to Civil Rights, Shakespeare to comedy and tragedy, and Oprah to televised entertainment. He taught the trumpet to do things the instrument didn't know it was capable of doing, and he could turn a song upside down with that deep, gravelly voice. –Bob Perkins, Louis Armstrong: The Quintessential Man with the Horn, July 30, 2018.My Father used to say: “No man can play the horn like Louie Armstrong.” He also told me, “Louis Armstrong is the King of Jazz!”.
It was not until I was well into my teen years, maybe 14 - 16, that I remember again listening to Mr. Armstrong singing Mack the Knife. As I listened, I finally caught the words of the lyrics: “shark bites…scarlet billows start to spread…” and “...a body, ooozin' life…” I grew up in a household in which my parents watched a lot of crime dramas and murder mysteries, so I was amazed and delighted that this song also contained something of a murder mystery.
I told my Dad about the story in the song lyrics. His reaction was only a mild surprise that it had taken me more than a decade to decipher the lyrics. My Dad sagely answered, “Well, the music is so good, it sort grabs all your attention.” I also commented, “Yeah, but the murderer gets away with it.” My Father matter of factly replied to the effect of: “You know there’s fiction movies where that happens…And the song is called Mack the Knife.”
Mack the Knife Lyrics
Songwriters: Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht / Marc Blitzstein
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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,
On the sidewalk, Sunday mornin', baby,
From a tugboat, by the river,
Looky here, Louie Miller, disappeared, dear,
Sukey Tawdry, Jenny Diver, Take it, Satch— |
Two links to Louis Armstrong performing:
1956 HITS ARCHIVE: Mack The Knife - Louis Armstrong & his All-Stars
Louis Armstrong sings "Mack the Knife"
Louis Armstrong sang and preformed so many fabulous songs that I feel that I just must list a few titles that spring to my mind:
Louis Daniel Armstrong
born August 4, 1901, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
died July 6, 1971 (age 69) Corona, Queens, New York City, USA about a month shy of his 70th birthday
He was known as “the Man with the Horn”.
He is buried in Flushing Cemetery, New York, USA
Joined the heavenly choir on July 6, 1971 (age 69) Corona, Queens, New York City, USA about a month shy of his 70th birthday
He is buried in Flushing Cemetery, New York, USA.
Armstrong was commonly referred to as “Pops” or "Louie". You will note at the end of the lyrics the phrase, "Take it, Satch." Apparently, "Take it, Satch" was the cue for Louis Armstrong to play his trumpet for a muisical interlude.
"Satch" refers to Louis Armstrong as the "Satchmo" or “Satch” from the USA black slang nickname "satchel mouth". His nickname is derived from the goosefish (Lophius americanus) or American anglerfish, which is native to the Eastern coast of North America. This fish also called the “all-mouth”, “satchel-mouth”, “wide-gape”, “satchel-mouth”, “bellows-fish”, or “headfish”. I probably relates to his singing career.
This jazz great surely joined the heavenly choir on July 6, 1971 when he passed away.
His hometown of New Orleans honored him with Louis Armstrong Park, 701 N Rampart St, New Orleans, LA 70116. Louis Armstrong Park is a 32-acre park located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. The park includes a 12-foot statue of Louis Armstrong. In 1970, Louis Armstrong Park was the site of the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This park also contains the famous Congo Square.
Sources
Bob Perkins, Louis Armstrong: The Quintessential Man with the Horn, July 30, 2018.
What is Jazz?, National Museum of American History, accessed March 14, 2021.