#bertolt brecht

[leonardcohenofficial]

bertolt brecht, "a bed for the night"

[apoemaday]

Everything Changes

by Bertolt Brecht tr. John Willett

Everything changes. You can make A fresh start with your final breath. But what has happened has happened. And the water You once poured into the wine cannot be Drained off again.

What has happened has happened. The water You once poured into the wine cannot be Drained off again, but Everything changes. You can make A fresh start with your final breath.

[drowningparty]

[H]ow can anyone tell the truth about Fascism, unless he is willing to speak out against capitalism, which brings it forth? What will be the practical results of such truth? Those who are against Fascism without being against capitalism, who lament over the barbarism that comes out of barbarism, are like people who wish to eat their veal without slaughtering the calf. They are willing to eat the calf, but they dislike the sight of blood. They are easily satisfied if the butcher washes his hands before weighing the meat. They are not against the property relations which engender barbarism; they are only against barbarism itself. They raise their voices against barbarism, and they do so in countries where precisely the same property relations prevail, but where the butchers wash their hands before weighing the meat.

Bertolt Brecht, from Writing the Truth: Five Difficulties (1935).

[lunchboxpoems]

[polari]

All of Us or None by Bertolt Brecht, translated by H.R. Hays

Slave, who is it who shall free you? Those in deepest darkness lying, Comrade, these alone shall see you, They alone can hear you crying. Comrade, only slaves can free you.

Everything or nothing. All of us or none. One alone his lot can't better, Choose the gun or fetter. Everything or nothing. All of us or none.

You who hunger, who shall feed you? If it's bread you would be carving, Come to us, we, too, are starving. Come to us and let us lead you. Only hungry men can feed you.

Everything or nothing. All of us or none. One alone his lot can't better, Choose the gun or fetter. Everything or nothing. All of us or none.

Beaten man, who shall avenge you? You, on whom the blows are falling, Hear your wounded brothers calling: Weakness gives us strength to lend you, Comrade, come, we shall avenge you.

Everything or nothing. All of us or none. One alone his lot can't better, Choose the gun or fetter. Everything or nothing. All of us or none.

Who, O ruined man, shall dare it? He, who can no longer bear it, Counts the blows that arm his spirit, Taught the time by need and sorrow, Strikes today and not tomorrow.

Everything or nothing. All of us or none. One alone his lot can't better, Choose the gun or fetter. Everything or nothing. All of us or none.

[davidhudson]

Bertolt Brecht, February 10, 1898 – August 14, 1956.

[arsvoxinferna]

This idea has been living in my head for a while now.

I couldn’t shake the image of Alastor singing Die Moritat von Mackie Messer for Vox. The song fits Vox disturbingly well: The shark, the violence hidden behind charm, the murderer blending into the crowd, the smile that never quite tells the truth.

There are countless versions of this song, but my absolute favorite is Hildegard Knef’s. It’s slow, controlled, and incredibly sexy, exactly how I imagine Alastor would sing it. (If I could animate, I’d make this version precisely.)

But there’s also a super cool Louis Armstrong’s English version, which is fantastic in its own way.

Why in drag? Because I can. And because I love Losing Streak. Plus I think Alastor would enjoy making Vox uncomfortable.

Original lyrics from “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer” by Bertolt Brecht.

[nedison]

The Threepenny Opera 1976 Broadway Revival