<P> The song was first introduced to American audiences in 1933 in the first English - language production of The Threepenny Opera . The English lyrics were by Gifford Cochran and Jerrold Krimsky . That production, however, was not successful, closing after a run of only ten days . In the best known English translation, from the Marc Blitzstein 1954 version of The Threepenny Opera, which played Off - Broadway for over six years, the words are: </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> Blitzstein's translation provides the basis for most of the popular versions heard today, including those by Louis Armstrong (1956) and Bobby Darin (1959; Darin's lyrics differ slightly), and most subsequent swing versions . Weill's widow, Lotte Lenya, the star of both the original 1928 German production and the 1954 Blitzstein Broadway version, was present in the studio during Armstrong's recording . He spontaneously added her name to the lyrics ("Look out, Miss Lotte Lenya"), which already named several of Macheath's female victims . The Armstrong version was later used by Bobby Darin . </P> <P> The rarely heard final verse--not included in the original play, but added by Brecht for the 1931 movie--expresses the theme and compares the glittering world of the rich and powerful with the dark world of the poor: </P>

What do the lyrics of mack the knife mean