Pirate Jenny, from "The Threepenny Opera" (text: Bertolt Brecht, music: Kurt Weill) Gentlemen, today you see me washing the glasses And making up the beds for everybody And you give me a penny and I quickly thank you And you see my rags and this raggedy hotel And you don't know who you're talking to -- And you don't know who you're talking to. But one day there'll be shouting by the harbor And you'll ask, "What's that shouting for?" And you'll see me smiling over the glasses And you'll ask, "What is she smiling at?" And a ship, with eight sails And with fifty cannons Will be lying at the dock. They say, "Go dry your glasses, my child." And they toss me a penny And I'll take the penny -- and the bed will be made -- And this night nobody will sleep in it And they still won't know who I am -- And they still won't know who I am -- And this very night there will be an uproar in the harbor And they'll say, "What's that uproar for?" And they'l see me standing behind the window And they'll ask, "Why does she smile so mean?" And a ship, with eight sails And with fifty cannons Will bombard the town. Gentlemen, then there'll be no more of your laughing Because all the walls will tumble down And on the third day the city will be flattened Only a raggedy hotel will be spared from any harm And they'll ask, "Who's so special that lives there?" And they'll ask, "Who's so special that lives there?" And then this night there'll be a din around the hotel And they'll ask, "Why are you sparing this hotel?" And you will see me stepping out towards dawn And you'll say, "She was the one who lived in there?" And the ship, with eight sails And with fifty cannons Will run flags up its masthead. And towards noon hundreds will come on land And they will walk in the shadows And they will seize everybody in every doorway And they'll chain them up and bring them to me And ask me, "Which ones shall we kill?" And ask me, "Which ones shall we kill?" And this noon there will be a stillness by the harbor And they'll ask, "Who will have to die?" And you will hear me say, "All of 'em!" And when the heads roll, I'll say, "Hoop-la!" And the ship, with eight sails And with fifty cannons Will vanish -- with me. back to Charlie's Playlist for 17 July 2006 Charlie's Playlist Index WFMU Home Page