The "Alabama Song" (also known as "Whisky Bar" or "Moon over Alabama" or "Moon of Alabama") was originally published in Bertolt Brecht's Hauspostille (1927). It was set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 "Songspiel" Mahagonny and used again in Weill's and Brecht's 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. In the latter, it is performed by the character Jenny and her fellow prostitutes in the first act. Musically it contains elements of ...
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The "Alabama Song" (also known as "Whisky Bar" or "Moon over Alabama" or "Moon of Alabama") was originally published in Bertolt Brecht's Hauspostille (1927). It was set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 "Songspiel" Mahagonny and used again in Weill's and Brecht's 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. In the latter, it is performed by the character Jenny and her fellow prostitutes in the first act. Musically it contains elements of foxtrot, blues and advanced soprano coloraturas, sung by Jenny Corless.
The lyrics for the "Alabama Song" are in English (albeit specifically idiosyncratic English) and are performed in that language even when the opera is performed in its original German.
The song was covered in 1967 by rock band The Doors (credited in their albums as "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"). The lead singer of the Doors, Jim Morrison, changed the second verse from:
Show us the way to the next pretty boy to Show me the way to the next little girl.
Bowie, a Brecht fan,...
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