Knife in "Mac the knife" song

T

The_Zealot

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Nov 12, 2012
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Don't know what kind of music lovers there are here in the traditional area but if you have heard the song "Mack the Knife" (by Sinatra, Louie Armstrong, Buble, and to many others to mention.) it mentions that all he uses is a jack-knife.


So the question I pose is this;

What knife is MacHeath using? Or if you are less inclined to the song, or music in general, what kind of knife would a mobster use during the "mobster era"?


Sorry if this is not your thing but i couldn't help but ask.


*Disclaimer* I don't look at my knives as weapons, as the song and topic imply, but am merely interested in the knife that come to your mind when you hear the song.





I'll go ahead and start, I can't help but see a old switch blade (if that can be counted as a traditional), to me, my slip-joints just don't function as a weapon so they are hard to view that way.
 
Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has MacHeath, babe
And it keeps it way out of sight
When that shark bites with his teeth, dear
Scarlet billows begin to spread
Fancy gloves, wears old MacHeath, babe
So there's never, never a trace of red


The first chunk of lyrics for a better explanation as to the implication of the song.
-Andrew
 
I remember a fellow who used to set up shop outside local grocery stores.

For a fee he’d sharpen your knives or scissors, as you watched.

The sign on his portable shop read, “Mac the Knife.”
 
A jack knife is a folding knife, not any specific knife model. Could be anything you want it to be.
 
The original Bertolt Brecht lyrics from the moritat (murder ballad) refer to Mack the Knife's knife as ein messer, which just means a knife. The lyrics do not specify what type of knife. The song refers to the wielder as Mackie Messer, which is rendered in the English version as Mack the Knife.
 
Just a jack-knife, eh?

Well, he pre-dates this tactical fad by a looong shot, wears fancy gloves, and has lots of cash (from killing Louis Miller).

I'm thinking a classy jackknife with expensive handle materials. Here's a tony bose!

tony_bose_premium_stag_back_pocket_open_L.jpg
 
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Don't know about what kind of knife it was, but the song has an interesting history.

It was originally written for a musical drama in Germany in 1928 called 'Die Dreigroschenoper' or 'The Threepenny Opera'.

The literal translation of the original song's words doesn't really mention the type of knife:

And the shark, it has teeth,
And it wears them in its face.
And Macheath, he has a knife,
But the knife one doesn't see.

The songs were translated into english twice in two different Broadway productions of The Threepenny Opera. Once in 1933 and again in 1954. It's the later translation that was popularized by Louie Armstrong, and then became Bobby Darin's signature song:

Oh the shark has pretty teeth dear,
And he shows them pearly white
Just a jack-knife has Macheath dear
And he keeps it out of sight.


Another interesting little tidbit of info from this song was the part of the song where Louie named several women's names. One was Lotte Lenya, who was the star of both the 1928 german version and the 1954 broadway version of The Threepenny Opera. She was in the studio when Louie recorded the song, and he added her name to the song spontaneously.
 
Hey Kris, that's some great info, thanks! Listene to that song so many times (both Armstrong's and Darin's versions) that I have it memorized.

Eric
 
The German original by Bert Brecht is:

Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne,
Und die trägt er im Gesicht.
Und Macheath, der hat ein Messer,
Doch das Messer sieht man nicht.​

It is just a knife, apparently one you can hide.
 
And lest we forget, Threepenny Opera is a Marxist/socialist critique of capitalist society, so Mack was, in fact, a commie pinko criminal.:D
 
If anybody is interested, there's also a song in spanish that is loosely based on this song, "Pedro Navaja" by Ruben Blades. The artists last name is just a coincidence.
 
Given the origins of the song I imagine that it would likely be some sort of slim fixed blade of the German hunting tradition. Perhaps something like this:

15373-01.jpg
 
Gotta love Sinatra! Strangers in the Night and Blue Moon are my two favorites:cool:
I also thought he means a razor.
 
jdm61 said:
And lest we forget, Threepenny Opera is a Marxist/socialist critique of capitalist society, so Mack was, in fact, a commie pinko criminal.:D
Click to expand...
A pimp who robs people is by definition pretty capitalistic...
I've always imagined Mack the Knife to use a toothpick, or other long, slender pocket knife.
 
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