MACK THE KNIFE Options

[coolautismmom]

I am bored so I thought I would see what the rest of you nightowls think of this.

I just watched "Mack The Knife" (for the thousandth time) and finally saw exactly how PERFECT he did that! I mean, my mom LOVED that song so I have heard it alot. He NAILED that song. I didn't realize exactly what a great pick that song was by the judges.

I also remembered how absolutely aweful the words to that song is too. Yes, he nailed the song but I don't necessarily want him to put that one on the album. Too morbid a song for our Clay to sing.

Your opinions, if you care to share!

[Khrystah]

I hate that song and I hate the fact that they made him sing it. However, he did sing it perfectly.

I am trying to force myself to like it because he sings it. I have all of his songs on a playlist and that one is the last one so that I can just skip it if I want to...and I want to...often, but I'm warming up to it.

[coolautismmom]

No, you are right! I think that is why it took me this long to realize this. I think the song is the anthem of the mob or something. Good thing it has such a great beat and melody or it would have NEVER been a hit!!

[TheNextMrsAiken]

Not the best message to send, considering a lot of his fanbase are teenage girls and kids...Not to say that Moms for Clay and Grandmas for Clay don't exist (they do though, its the greatest thing! lol :-D )

[TheNextMrsAiken]

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it, ah, out of sight
Ya know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, oh, wears old MacHeath, babe
So there’s never, never a trace of red

Now on the sidewalk, huh, huh, whoo sunny morning, un huh
Lies a body just oozin' life, eek
And someone’s sneakin' ‘round the corner
Could that someone be Mack the Knife?

There's a tugboat, huh, huh, down by the river dontcha know
Where a cement bag’s just a'drooppin' on down
Oh, that cement is just, it's there for the weight, dear
Five'll get ya ten old Macky’s back in town
Now d'ja hear ‘bout Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe
After drawin' out all his hard-earned cash
And now MacHeath spends just like a sailor
Could it be our boy's done somethin' rash?

Now Jenny Diver, ho, ho, yeah, Sukey Tawdry
Ooh, Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town

I said Jenny Diver, whoa, Sukey Tawdry
Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town.....


I know that the lyrics are the first verse and "Yes that line forms on the right babe...etc. but these would be what would happen if Clay were to do the whole song. Now, even though its Clay, that song is kind of, well....you get it....

[larslove]

QUOTE

Not the best message to send, considering a lot of his fanbase are teenage girls and kids...Not to say that Moms for Clay and Grandmas for Clay don't exist (they do though, its the greatest thing! lol

Hey, they're alot of folks out here who love the "older" stuff. My mom's on EST and told me before I saw it that Clay sang "Mack the Knife," and said that she's always hated that song. I told her that I liked that song and when he sang it, OMG! Clay can make any song da bomb!

[AmericanNProud]

I guess I'm in the minority here. That is such a finger-snapping, foot-tapping song - It makes you get up want to snap and tap along.

CLAY ROCKED THAT SONG. I think that song was about Jack the Ripper or something like that, but I wasn't paying attention to he lyrics because he was LOOKING SO HOT singing it. GREAT OUTFIT - and he was so "into" it - yum!

ACTUALLY MCDONALD'S USED THAT SONG FOR A COMMERICAL - do you guys remember that Mac guy who had the half-moon shaped head with the shades on? He was sitting as the piano (I think) singing something like, "When the clock strikes, half past 6, babe, time to head for golden lights..." Well, it didn't make me want to run to McDonald's but it made you want to sing along!

Clay could take the worst song ever written or recorded and make me fall in love with it. <3 <3

[clayismylife]

QUOTE

Clay could take the worst song ever written or recorded and make me fall in love with it.

so true-- i even like vincent bc he sang it and that has to be the worst song EVER... i loved it when he sang row row row your boat on a bouncy ball on Upick live.... this guy is like magical-- he made me love music in general bc i think of how clay would sound singing things-- then i jsut pray he does!

[Boneca]

Hm...I thought this song was some kind of children's tune, because we sang it in primary school. I guess I never quite understood the lyrics, because I kind of remember it being about sharks!
Now I really wonder, why in the world did they actually let us sing that song in PRIMARY SCHOOL? :shock:

[AmericanNProud]

QUOTE

QUOTE Clay could take the worst song ever written or recorded and make me fall in love with it.   so true-- i even like vincent bc he sang it and that has to be the worst song EVER... i loved it when he sang row row row your boat on a bouncy ball on Upick live.... this guy is like magical-- he made me love music in general bc i think of how clay would sound singing things-- then i jsut pray he does!

I totally agree with you and VINCENT. He sang it beautifully. He is totally magical. My mother calls him a "HUNK" - I call him "HOT". I have made Clay CD's for tons of people who really didn't watch the show and they are wondering HOW IN GOD'S NAME HE DIDN"T WIN? I don't care what's on his CD - I just care that he is going to have one - and I will LOVE every song. I think his CD will blow Kelly's away (although I do LOVE Kelly - I love Clay more)

[coolautismmom]

QUOTE

... i loved it when he sang row row row your boat on a bouncy ball on Upick live.... this guy is like magical

LOL That was so funny!! My 9 yr old was cracking up and turned to me and said, "Let's see Ruben do THAT!" I had to laugh even though I do tell her not to put down Ruben.

And I agree with all of you, I don't really care which songs are on his album but I do hope he does some more original songs.

[TheNextMrsAiken]

QUOTE

I totally agree with you and VINCENT. He sang it beautifully. He is totally magical. My mother calls him a "HUNK" - I call him "HOT". I have made Clay CD's for tons of people who really didn't watch the show and they are wondering HOW IN GOD'S NAME HE DIDN"T WIN? I don't care what's on his CD - I just care that he is going to have one - and I will LOVE every song. I think his CD will blow Kelly's away (although I do LOVE Kelly - I love Clay more)

Definately....I thought that exactly...

[v-streamer]

Mack the Knife is a great song. Do you guys have a problem with the Kurt Weill/Threepenny Opera connection? IMO, it does give him a new, edgy vibe. He can't sing the same type of song all the time. So he was a bit Vegas-y.
I wish he'd sing the whole song thru.

[lilboo83]

Hehehe I liked it! It was different then anything else he sang! And besided that last note it soo good! :-D

[AmericanNProud]

QUOTE

Mack the Knife is a great song. Do you guys have a problem with the  Kurt Weill/Threepenny Opera connection? IMO, it does give him a new, edgy vibe. He can't sing the same type of song all the time. So he was a bit  Vegas-y. I wish he'd sing the whole song thru.

I adore Mack The Knife. I can't even tell you! That's the first performance I watch when I walk in the door from work because Clay is so happy and enthusiastic in that performance. *dancing around the house* You can tell how much he loved singing it and he kicked it's *ss! I WISH he would do the whole song too. DAM, I just loved that tuxedo looking outfit too - SO SO SO HOT
*DROOLING*
oh, Clay *sigh*
*exhale*
*inhale*
*exhale*

[catwoman]

Ya know, I totally thought that song was gonna make him sound like a lounge singer when they announced what he was gonna sing, but he didn't at all. He really did it justice. And I don't care for the song at all.

[amassing]

Some history on Mack the Knife. It is from "The Three Penny Opera." Here's a synopsis of a movie they made based on it. It will give you an idea of who they are singing about in the song:

THREE PENNY OPERA,THE (1963-WEST GERMANY/FRANCE) -

COLOR. With CURT JURGENS, HILDEGARDE NEFF, GERT FROBE, JUNE RITCHIE, LINO VENTURA and SAMMY DAVIS, JR. From the play by BERTOLT BRECHT and KURT WEILL. "Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear. And he shows them pearly white. Just a jackknife has Macheath, dear. And he keeps it out of sight." Brecht and Weills immortal musical drama, brought to the screen for the first time in color. Macheath (also known as Mack the Knife), the most notorious criminal and ladies man in Victorian London, presides over an exciting world of thieves, murderers, beggars, prostitutes and corrupt officials. His gang has been operating without interference from the authorities: the police chief, Tiger Brown, is Macks old army buddy. But Mack carries things too far when he marries innocent Polly Peachum. Her father, the powerful head of a tightly-run, extremely prosperous organization of beggars, threatens that unless Brown hangs Mack, thousands of beggars, cripples and other social outcasts will stage a riot and disrupt the Queens coronation. The hour of execution arrives and Mack ascends the gallows. But wait! Theres a pleasant surprise in store - one which serves as a clever parody of happy endings (Brechts intention) but which is still emotionally satisfying. So is the entire film. Its excellent cast is headed by Sammy Davis, Jr. as The Street Singer, who performs "Mack the Knife" and appears throughout to offer ironic songs and comments on the action. The film presents most of the plays songs, ranging from delicate romantic ballads to bawdy, exuberant songs, to devastatingly witty attacks on conventional morality and bourgeois hypocrisy. Rich in spectacle, poignant as well as humorous and sharp in its observations of society, this is grand musical entertainment - for the mind and the spirit.

And this is a link to a really good article about Sting starring in "The Three Penny Opera" about it being an " is an anti-capitalist statement by the Marxist lyricist Brecht, which asserts (often with biting, ironic humour) that it is impossible to expect a disenfranchised underclass to abide by societal mores when the short end of capitalist competition leaves them without food or shelter." http://www.sting.com/filmography/films/st3penny.html

[takemeawayclay]

i luv that song! he sounded better than frank sinatra when he sang it! <3 absolutely took me away!

[junkie]

I really hate to admit this, since this is MY generation song, but this is the first time I have seen the words to Mack The Knife. !!!!! :shock:

I just like the beat. The way Bobby Darrin sang it, u couldn't tell what he was saying.

Can't wait for CLAY TUES.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 <3

[papilion]

Thank you, amassing, for the information on the song!!! I watched Three Penny Opera many years ago and remember it as great. This classical musical will definitely become a #1 Broadway hit---esp. if Clay may stage in it :-D !