Taxman

The story behind the song:

‘Taxman’ is a song by the British band the Beatles and is an indictment of the supertax that the Labour government had introduced at the time.

In 1966, the Beatles released their 7th album: REVOLVER. Three of the songs, including 'Taxman', had been written by George Harrison. The Beatles had come to realise that success and making a lot of money also meant that a large proportion of it had to be paid to the Treasury.

Harry Pinsker, the Beatles' accountant, who had already advised them to put money aside for the inevitable tax bill, inspired George Harrison to write this song. In any case, Harry Pinsker expressed The Beatles' frustrations in the following way: “Early on, the press called them millionaires. I had to clarify to hem that their millions were earnings, not assets, and they needed to set aside a lot of those earnings for tax. They were never happy with that – that’s why George wrote ‘Taxman’. The’d been poor boys, who’d worked hard and made money, and now someone was trying to take it away.”

In "Taxman" George Harrison refers to the tax burden that rested on their shoulders. In the first verse of their song, he literally says “Let me tell you how it would be: there's one for you, nineteen for me. ‘Cause I’m the ‘Taxman’.”

The song also mentions two politicians by their last names, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Heath, for their contribution to the UK tax system.

George Harrison: “‘Taxman’ was when I first realised that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes.”

George would later find out how unfair the tax system could be, when, in 1971, he organised a benefit concert for Bangladesh which was ravaged by floods and famine. A film and a live album of the concert were released. All together, this raised a whopping GBP 1 million which George Harrison immediately donated to charity. Some time later, much to his surprise, he was taxed on this amount… as if it had been his own money.

The quiet Beatle

Labelled the quiet Beatle by the press, George Harrison, whose songwriter talent has often been mistakenly overshadowed by fellow band members John Lennon and Paul McCartney, was instrumental in the Beatles' success with such gems as: ‘Here comes the sun’, ‘While my guitar gently weeps’ en therefore also ‘Taxman’, …)

Who inspires who?

It is said that the song ‘Taxman’ bears many similarities to the ‘Batman’ theme from the eponymous TV series. On the other hand, Paul Weller was clearly inspired by ‘Taxman’ when he wrote the hit single ‘Start’ for his band the Jam. At the age of 53, Paul Weller once again became a father, of twins this time: he named one of the boys John-Paul… Was he trying to make amends?

Well… I'll let you be the judge of that…!