Over the past decades, I have posted dozens of different versions of George Harrison’s classic song, TaxMan.  Some of them can be found on my ScreenCast page.

While those are all different artists singing the song in their own styles, I just came across a different variation.  Weird Al Yankovic recently posted a new parody of TaxMan, called Pac-Man.  While Weird Al’s words no longer relate to the dreaded taxes that we have to pay, the music is still the same as it was on the Beatles’ Revolver album.  I defy anyone to listen to this and not also hear the original lyrics in their head.   

Over the past few decades, I have posted several renditions by various artists of George Harrison’s classic TaxMan song which was first heard on the 1966 Beatles album, Revolver.

Here is a new performance of a similar song, Cheap Trick’s “Taxman, Mr. Thief” that is often referred to as just TaxMan.

This is from a recent episode (#75) of Live From Daryl’s House, where Daryl Hall performs a variety of songs with other musicians.

This song is not as well known or widely covered as George Harrison’s, but has very similar sentiments.  It was first released on Cheap Trick’s debut album in 1977.  A cover version of this song by The Dream Police was included in Coverville’s Tax Day Tribute that I wrote about in April.

The lyrics, courtesy of AZLyrics:

You work hard, you make money
There ain’t no one in this world who can stop you
You work hard, you went hungry
Now the taxman is out to get you
You worked hard
And slaved and slaved for years
Break your back sweat a lot
Well, it’s just not fair
He hates you, he loves money
And he’ll steal your shit and think that it’s funny
Like the Beatles he ain’t human
Now the taxman is out to get you
You worked hard
And you slaved and slaved for years
You played
And you played and played for years
Taxman, Mr. Heath (he’s a thief)
He’s looking for run-in, yeah
Taxman, Mr. Heath (he’s a thief)
He’s looking for run-in, yeah
You work hard, you make money
There ain’t no one in the world who can stop you
You work hard, you went hungry
Now the taxman is out to get you
You worked hard
And you slaved and slaved for years
Break your back sweat a lot
Well, it’s just not fair
Taxman, Mr. Heath (he’s a thief)
He’s looking for run-in, yeah
Taxman, Mr. Heath (he’s a thief)
He’s looking for run-in, yeah

Audio Version:

Video Version:

For a number of years, I have been a big fan of and subscriber to Brian Ibbott’s Coverville music channel on iTunes and website, where he assembles eclectic mixes of cover versions of songs on a particular theme or by certain artists. 

This is the first year that I can recall him doing a full show based on our American Tax Day.  It’s 85 minutes long, with 18 cover versions of songs about taxes and money.  It should be no surprise that it begins with a new version of the song I have been featuring for the past 40 years, George Harrison’s ageless “TaxMan.”

You can listen to the full 85 minute show, download it as one big (97.3 mb) MP3, as well as purchase the songs individually from the Coverville website.

Coincidentally, this is Coverville Episode Number 1120.  While it is labeled as a tribute to the 1040, I don’t know if Brian Ibbott is aware of the fact that American corporations report their income on Form 1120.

While clicking around on the Coverville page for this show, I came across a link to a list of 11 different cover versions of “TaxMan.”  I have some of these already, but others are new to me, as they may very well be for other fellow collectors of this song.