The Beggar’s Opera, Air XXVII: Greensleeves. Roger Daltrey as Macheath.

Since Laws were made for ev’ry Degree,
To curb Vice in others, as well as me,
I wonder we han’t better Company,
Upon Tyburn Tree!

But Gold from Law can take out the Sting;
And if rich Men like us were to swing,
’Twould thin out the Land, such Numbers to string
Upon Tyburn Tree!

Nell’Opera del mendicante (The Beggar’s Opera, 1728), scritta da John Gay, con musiche tratte perlopiù dal repertorio popolare e adattate da Johann Christoph Pepusch, trova posto anche la melodia di Greensleeves. Il brano è intonato con rabbia e frustrazione da Macheath subito dopo aver appreso di essere stato condannato a morte. Per «Tyburn Tree» si intende la forca: Tyburn era il villaggio del Middlesex in cui si eseguivano le sentenze capitali.

In The Beggar’s Opera (1728), written by John Gay, with music drawn mostly from traditional repertoire and arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch, the tune of Greensleeves also finds its place. This piece is sung in anger and frustration by Macheath soon after learning that he was sentenced to death. «Tyburn Tree» means the gallows: Tyburn was the Middlesex village where capital punishment was carried out.