“Mack the Knife” Columbia University Uptown Vocal

2025-06-26 All day

Reflection on the degree to which large research universities are Non-Government Organizations (Quangos, in the United Kingdom) or Hedge Funds with a side operation in education.

“Mack the Knife” (original German title: “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer”) seems like a jaunty swing tune, especially in Louis Armstrong’s or Bobby Darin’s famous versions, but its lyrics are actually about a charming, elegant, and utterly ruthless gangster/criminal named Macheath (“Mack the Knife”) from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s 1928 play The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper).

This popular jazz standard disguises the cynical statement about how money, greed, corruption, robbery, and murder are intertwined — and how the biggest crooks wear suits and are celebrated instead of punished. 

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