The `` Alabama Song '' comes from the 1930 operetta Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny . The music is by Kurt Weill ; officially the lyrics are by Bertolt Brecht , but were probably actually written by Elisabeth Hauptmann . 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 .