"Pirate Jenny" (German: "Seeräuber-Jenny") is a well-known song from The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht.
[1] Low-Dive Jenny is a lowly maid at a "crummy old hotel", imagining avenging herself for the contempt she endures from the townspeople.
A pirate ship – with eight sails, and with 50 cannons[2] – enters the harbor, fires on the city and flattens every building except the hotel.
Jenny has given Mackie, her former lover, shelter from the police but is jealous of his wife, Polly.
Many notable artists have covered this song independently of the stage show: Lotte Lenya (who originated the role of Jenny), Nina Simone in a highly dramatic live performance, Ute Lemper, Hildegard Knef, The Dresden Dolls, Judy Collins, Marc Almond, Marianne Faithfull, Steeleye Span, and Bea Arthur.