Taxman

Yeah
Every empire's got a thief in the walls
Every country's got a shadow
And every shadow's got a name
Taxman

He creepin' in my paycheck like a parasite ghost
Taking bites out of my life till I'm hollow as toast
Says he fighting for the nation? Man, he braggin' the most
But every dollar that he steals is a nail in my hopes
He's the suit behind the curtain, the smile that's fake
The hand that pats your back while the other one takes
He's the one that builds the prisons, then bills the mistakes–
And we still call it freedom? Hell, give me a break
I've been running from the walls that he builds in my brain
But every month he knocks twice like a landlord of pain
He don't bleed the same blood, he don't feel the same strain
But he loves it when the powerless carry the blame

He says it's for the people
But the people never see it
He calls it necessary
But we're the ones who bleed it
He tells us pay your duty
But we're dying just to feed it

Taxman
Got his hands in my pockets, and his boots on my chest
Taxman
Takes the food off my table while he calls it a debt
He don't ask permission
He don't care if I'm breaking
He just wants submission
And a nation worth taking
Taxman
He's the king of the scam
But I'm the motherfucker
Who remembers who I am

Back in Who I Am, I woke up with scars
Found the truth in the rubble while they partied with stars
Now the Taxman wants a piece of the soul that I guard
But he'll choke on the smoke when I'm raising the bar
He's the landlord of sorrow, the prophet of bills
Feeds on our fear like a vampire of wills
He poisons the water, then charges the pills
And he laughs while we drown in the debt that he builds
But I ain't kneeling to a thief with a pen
I ain't feeding a machine that devours its men
If freedom's just a number that they tax again
Then this fight don't end, it begins where it ends

He calls it civil order
But it looks like domination
He calls it obligation
But it feels like strangulation
He calls it for the future
But he's killing generations

Taxman
Got his hands in my pockets, and his boots on my chest
Taxman
Takes the food off my table while he calls it a debt
He don't ask permission
He don't care if I'm breaking
He just wants submission
And a nation worth taking
Taxman
He's the king of the scam
But I'm the motherfucker
Who remembers who I am

Maybe that's why he wants me silent
Maybe that's why he wants me small
A thinking man is dangerous
A broke man is easy to control
But I ain't broke
Just angry
I ain't lost
Just aimed
Light the fuse
Let it blow
Taxman's coming
And now he knows

Taxman
You want everything I've earned?
Come take it
Taxman
You want the fire in my chest?
I'll make you face it
I ain't your victim
I ain't your plan
You take from the people
I take back the land
Taxman
Meet the motherfucker
Who remembers who I am