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'Taxman' was written by George Harrison after he found himself in the 'super-tax' bracket, which then meant paying 19 shillings and 3 pence (96p) out of every pound in tax. Until 1966, the Beatles' touring schedule had been so hectic that there had been no time to sit down and examine the accounts. When they did get round to it, they didn't have as much money as they had imagined. "We were actually giving most (of our money) away in taxes," said George. "It was, and still is, typical. Why should this be so? Are we being punished for something we have forgotten to do?" John later said that he had a hand in the writing of 'Taxman' and he was bitter that George had neglected to mention this in the account he wrote in his autobiography, I Me Mine. John claimed that George phoned him up as he was writing it. "I threw in a few one-liners to help the song along, because that's what he asked for," he said "I didn't want to do it... but because I loved him... I just sort of bit my tongue and said OK." Certainly the published version is an improvement on George's rough draft, in which 'get some bread' was rhymed with 'before you're dead' and there was none of the biting humor. Nor did the background chorus yet mention the names of the Prime Minister of Britain, Harold Wilson, and Leader of the Opposition, Edward Heath. That came later, when the song was recorded, giving them the distinction of being the first living people to be named in a Beatles' song. Although the Beatles had never met Heath, they had met Wilson (a fellow Northerner) on several occasions and had each received MBEs in the honours list that Wilson approved after leading Britain's Labour Party to victory in 1964. The Beatles - four enterprising young people with regional accents who came from mainly working class backgrounds - were just the sort of people Wilson wanted to encourage in his vision for a new classless Great Britain. |
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