"Pirate Jenny" was introduced by Roma Bahn in the original Berlin production of The Threepenny Opera on 31 August 1928. Faithfull would re-record the song in a year, accompanied this time by Dennis Russell Davies conducting the Vienna Radio Orchestra.
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" had previously been recorded by Faithfull on her 1987 album Strange Weather.
"Complainte de la Seine" is performed in the original French.
"Falling in Love Again" was introduced in German as "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt" by Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's cinematic masterpiece Der blaue Engel (1930).
"Mack the Knife" is the moritat from The Threepenny Opera, where it was introduced in the original Berlin production by Kurt Gerron. Faithfull performs it here in Irish playwright Frank McGuiness's English language translation (as she does all the Threepenny material on the album), as she had recently performed the role of Jenny in a staging of the McGuiness translation at the Gate Theatre in Dublin.
"Surabaya Johnny" was introduced by Carola Neher in the original Berlin production of Happy End (1929). Faithfull sings the Michael Feingold translation, which was performed on Broadway in 1977 by Meryl Streep to co-star Christopher Lloyd. Faithfull would re-record the song in a year, accompanied this time by Dennis Russell Davies conducting the Vienna Radio Orchestra.
"Street Singers Farewell" is the Frank McGuiness translation of Brecht's final verses of the moritat which were written as the ending to G.W. Pabst's film version of Die Dreigroschenoper (1931).
