The Ballad of Mack the Knife
See the shark with teeth like razors.
All can read his open face.
And Macheath has got a knife, but
Not in such an obvious place.
See the shark, how red his fins are
As he slashes at his prey.
Mac the Knife wears white kid gloves which
Give the minimum away.
By the Thames's turbid waters
Men abruptly tumble down.
Is it plague or is it cholera?
Or a sign Macheath's in town?
On a beautiful blue Sunday
See a corpse stretched in the Strand.
See a man dodge round the corner...
Mackie's friends will understand.
And Schmul Meier, reported missing
Like so many wealthy men:
Mac the Knife acquired his cash box.
God alone knows how or when.
Jenny Towler turned up lately
With a knife stuck through her breast
While Macheath walks the Embankment
Nonchalantly unimpressed.
Where is Alfred Gleet the cabman?
Who can get that story clear?
All the world may know the answer
Just Macheath has no idea.
And the ghastly fire in Soho -
Seven children at a go -
In the crowd stands Mac the Knife, but he
isn't asked and doesn't know.
And the child-bride in her nightie
Whose assailant's still at large
Violated in her slumbers -
Mackie, how much did you charge?