Kurt Weill
The Solomon Song (Brecht on Brecht)
[JENNY]
Remember wise old Solomon
Recall his history
He was the wisest man on earth
And so he cursed the day of his birth
He knew that all is vanity
So not much fun
Had Solomon
But most of us might agree
We're not much better off than he
His brains it was that put him on the spot
Now I thought that brains were good
Guess not

Remember Cleopatra fair
Recall her destiny
Her glamour put men in her grasp
But one day she reclined on her asp
It bit her, she died in agony
Without one friend
She sensed her end
And girls who weren't fair at all
Lived to see Cleopatra's fall
Her very glamour put her on the spot
Now I thought that glamour paid off
Guess not
Into the fire has our Macheath
Leapt from the frying pan
While he was tough and used his sense
He remained the pride of swindler and fence
Was every chippie's promised man
Then the poor dope
Went soft as soap
Forgot the things that he had won
He trusted us and was undone
His melting heart, it put him on the spot
I was thinking about reforming
Guess not

You know that hound for answers Brecht
You've sung his praise about
He kept asking you with no respect
From where to the rich their riches collect
Until you had to throw him out
What a nagging one
Was my mother's son
And look before the day was done
The world could see what followed on
His thirst to know had put him on the spot
Ah, to be the eternal student?
Guess not