My Ten Favorite Murder Ballads: Mack the Knife (#8)

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There's hardly a subject in this world that hasn't appeared in a song. That's the good (all those love songs) and the bad -- like murder. I'm counting down my ten favorite songs dealing with murder (not just a justifiable homicide such as the one in Gillian Welch's "Caleb Mayer," which is why it won't appear on the list). Here's the next one. #8: Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin This also belongs on the "covers" list, because it actually goes back to The Threepenny Opera in the mid-1920s. But most people know that (or, so I think...but I thought everyone knew about "Black Magic Woman!"). And, there've been a blue billion people who've recorded it. Louis Armstrong had recorded it before Bobby Darin, who'd had a big hit with the novelty-like "Splish Splash." Needless to say, this was as far removed from "Splish Splash" as one could possibly get. And talk about the lyrics and the melody not matching! Here's Darin, swinging along while singing about this ruthless murderer ("on the sidewalk Sunday morning lies a body oozing life")! The song won Darin a Grammy and international success, as it topped both the US and UK pop charts. "Mack the Knife" is one of the most iconic songs in rock and roll, and it's also one of the most iconic murder songs in history. Mack the Knife Written by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht English translation/lyrics by Mark Blitzstein Recorded by Bobby Darin From That's All, 1959 Look out, ol Macky's back!