# What's the story behind "Mack The Knife"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 10, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115 "2006-04-10T17:51:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jesstears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@jesstears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesstears)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/1 "2006-04-10T17:51:15Z")
I read someone’s explaination of the song Mack The Knife and I couldn’t find it in the board so I just decided to start a new thread. The person’s answer was that it was based on a play \*The Beggar’s Opera \* and the main character was named Macheth. This is incorrect. The song came from the play _Thee Penny Opera_ which was loosely based on the rise of Hitler. Germany didn’t like the play so the people who wrote it moved it to the states. The song _Mack the Knife_ had so many versions, that the version Bobby Darin sings is not the original lyrics. Although it was made famous by Darrin, Sinatry, Fitzerald (Ella) and Armstrong also did versions of it. Sintra’s version was based off of Ella’s version. Should anyone request the complete story I can write it. I am trying to do this between work. * * * Link to Staff Report: [What’s the story behind “Mack the Knife”?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmacktheknife.html) – CKDH ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/2 "2006-04-10T18:32:01Z")
But Brecht’s play _The Threepenny Opera_ is based on John Gay’s _Beggar’s Opera_, in which the main character is Macheath. The Staff Report was correct. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/3 "2006-04-10T18:34:02Z")
> [@jesstears](#): > > I read someone’s explaination of the song Mack The Knife and I couldn’t find it in the board so I just decided to start a new thread. > > The person’s answer was that it was based on a play \*The Beggar’s Opera \* and the main character was named Macheth. This is incorrect. > > The song came from the play _Thee Penny Opera_ which was loosely based on the rise of Hitler. Germany didn’t like the play so the people who wrote it moved it to the states. The song _Mack the Knife_ had so many versions, that the version Bobby Darin sings is not the original lyrics. Although it was made famous by Darrin, Sinatry, Fitzerald (Ella) and Armstrong also did versions of it. Sintra’s version was based off of Ella’s version. > > Should anyone request the complete story I can write it. I am trying to do this between work. And did it wrong. The song _Mac the Knife_ is by Bertholt Brecht for _The Threepenny Opera_, and is based on _the Beggar’s Opera_, with Macheath as the source of Mac The Knife. The playright, Bertholt Brecht fled Nazi Germany because of his Socialist/Communist views, which would have got him jailed, Mac or no Mac. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/4 "2006-04-10T18:34:50Z")
I studied both plays extensively at drama school, and am therefore backing **aldiboronti** up. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/5 "2006-04-10T18:36:31Z")
Forgot the link. [What’s the story behind Mack the Knife?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmacktheknife.html) ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/6 "2006-04-10T19:19:35Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > And did it wrong. > > The song _Mac the Knife_ is by Bertholt Brecht for _The Threepenny Opera_, and is based on _the Beggar’s Opera_, with Macheath as the source of Mac The Knife. > > The playright, Bertholt Brecht fled Nazi Germany because of his Socialist/Communist views, which would have got him jailed, Mac or no Mac. Lyrics by Brecht. Music by Kurt Weill. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/7 "2006-04-11T08:04:56Z")
I think the OP is confusing the Threepenny Opera with another of Brecht’s plays, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, which is about Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/8 "2006-04-11T13:24:57Z")
Also, the character is not “Mac the Knife” in \*The Threepenny Opera \* It’s “Mickey Messer”. It came out as Mac the Knife in the English version. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/9 "2006-04-11T13:42:57Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Also, the character is not “Mac the Knife” in \*The Threepenny Opera \* It’s “Mickey Messer”. It came out as Mac the Knife in the English version. Because, of course, “das Messer” is “knife” in German. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/10 "2006-04-11T15:27:22Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I studied both plays extensively at drama school, and am therefore backing **aldiboronti** up. I studied the earlier play, I _did_ the later play, and I composed a brand-new score for Brecht’s _Mother Courage._ Plus, when my cat has a hairball, it sounds like “brecchht, brecchht.” And I back up **aldiboronti** times ten. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/11 "2006-04-11T20:57:17Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I studied the earlier play, I _did_ the later play, and I composed a brand-new score for Brecht’s _Mother Courage._ Plus, when my cat has a hairball, it sounds like “brecchht, brecchht.” And I back up **aldiboronti** times ten. 😛 So? I forgot my one line in _A Caucasian Chalk Circle_. (The line was “Put his head over here, on a stick.” which I said as “Put… er… that.”) And when my cat’s pissed off it sounds like “Weil, Weil”. That gives me the awesome power to back **aldiboronti** up by three million times. 😛 😛 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/12 "2006-04-11T21:36:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Also, the character is not “Mac the Knife” in The Threepenny Opera It’s “Mickey Messer”. It came out as Mac the Knife in the English version. > [@](#): > > Because, of course, “das Messer” is “knife” in German. … well, actually, it’s Mackey Messer, not Mickey Messer, and Messer means knife, and this was all pointed out in the Staff Report. Folks, it’s helpful if you READ the Staff Report before making redundant comments that are repetitive. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/13 "2006-04-12T14:17:57Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Folks, it’s helpful if you READ the Staff Report before making redundant comments that are repetitive. Man, those are the \*worst \*kind. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115/14 "2006-04-12T14:46:23Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Folks, it’s helpful if you READ the Staff Report before making redundant comments that are repetitive. We have to _read_ them? Even yours?