Mack the Knife, The Ballad of

(Die Morität von Mackie Messer). Song by KURT WEILL and BERTOLT BRECHT, 1928, from the ballad opera DIE DREIGROSCHENOPER (The Threepenny Opera). The German name translates as "The Murderous Deeds of Mackie Messer," "Mackie Messer" being the nickname of Macheath, the notorious gangster at the center of the opera's story.

Both teen pop singer Bobby Darin and jazz trumpeter LOUIS ARMSTRONG had major hits in the late '50s with Mack the Knife.

When he translated Die Dreigroschenoper for its American premiere in 1954, MARC BLITZSTEIN translated Macheath's nickname literally. The Ballad of Mack the Knife is, not surprisingly, ironic in the extreme.