Alternatively known as "The Black Freighter", and as "Seeräuber-Jenny" / "Träume eines Küchenmädchens" in the original German. The Pirate Jenny is a song by Bertolt Brecht. Several years after writing it, Brecht included the song in his 1928 play The Threepenny Opera (where it's told either by Polly Peachum or by Jenny the whore, depending on the production). Because of its intentionally high Applicability, activists and artists have used the story to convey a wide range of political ideas. The song has been constantly re-adapted since its first American performance in 1954, with its interpretation varying from anti-racism to symbolism for the atom bomb.