Song of the Day 4/15: Cheap Trick, “Taxman, Mr. Thief”
Today’s the deadline for mailing their 2023 federal tax return for most people. If you live in Massachusetts or Maine you get a break because of the Patriot’s Day holiday, and if you live in a disaster area you get until June, because you have bigger problems.
“Taxman, Mr. Thief” appeared on Cheap Trick’s 1977 debut album, which featured a harder rock sound than the slicker power-pop approach the Rick Neilsen-led quartet developed later. This number was a straight-up homage to the Beatles’ “Taxman” – its chorus shout-out to “Mr. Heath” is a callback to a background vocal in the original. (Edward Heath, the leader of the UK’s Conservative Party when George Harrison wrote the song in 1966, wasn’t actually the one responsible for the 95% tax rate on the super-rich that brought each of the Fab Four to the brink of bankruptcy that year. That policy came from the Prime Minister, Labour leader Harold Wilson.)
The band, which remains active despite the departure of original drummer Bun E. Carlos, has kept the tune in its repertoire. They broke it out last month when they visited Daryl Hall last month for a Live From Daryl’s House session.
