Montréal, December 8, 2001  /  No 94  
 
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LE 
DÉFERLEMENT 
DE L'ÉTAT
 
 
Les dépenses publiques au Canada, en pourcentage du PIB:
  
1926        15% 
 
1948      21% 
 
1966     30% 
 
1996   46% 
 
(Source: Statistique Canada) 
  
WORD FOR WORD
 
THE QUIET BEATLE... AND THE TAXMAN
 
 
          George Harrison died of cancer at the age 58 last November in Los Angeles. Best known for his work as lead guitarist for The Beatles, the "quiet Beatle", as many will remember him, is the brain behind such hits as "Here comes the sun," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Something," "I Me Mine," and "Taxman." 
  
          Earlier songs were "just any words I could think of," he once said in an interview. The more autobiographical one came much later, during his Post-Beatles solo career. But if one song, in his Fab Four area, is autobiographical, it's perhaps "Taxman" from the Revolver album.
  
          George Harrison composed "Taxman," with a little help from his friend John Lennon, in 1966, after The Beatles took a closer look at what they owed Her Majesty's tax collectors. "Taxman was [written] when I first realized that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes. It was and still is typical," said Harrison in a 1980 interview. 
  
          As our way of remembering Mr. Harrison, QL offers this anti-tax anthem, written when Britain had a 95% top tax rate – thus, the lyrics "one for you, nineteen for me".
  
G. G.
 
 
 
T A X M A N

  
 
 
Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
'Cause I'm the taxman, 
yeah, I'm the taxman
 
Should five per cent appear too small
Be thankful I don't take it all
'Cause I'm the taxman, 
yeah I'm the taxman
 
If you drive a car, I'll tax the street
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
Taxman
 
'Cause I'm the taxman, 
yeah I'm the taxman
 
Don't ask me what I want it for
(ha ha Mr. Wilson)
If you don't want to pay some more
(ha ha Mr. Heath)
'Cause I'm the taxman, 
yeah, I'm the taxman
 
Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
'Cause I'm the taxman, 
yeah, I'm the taxman
 
And you're working for no one but me.
 
 
 
 
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