Billy Bragg

Lyrics Talking with the taxman about poetry Billy Bragg

 368

Rate this lyrics:
Rating: 0.0/10 - Total rating: 0

Talking with the taxman about poetry


Sorry to bother you,
Citizen taxman!
No thanks...
Don't worry...
I'd rather stand.
I've come to see you
on a delicate matter;
the place
of the poet
in a worker's land.
Along with
storekeepers
and land users
I'm taxable too,
and am bound by the law.
Your demand
for the half-year
is 500 roubles,
and for not filling forms - 25 more.
My labour's
no different
from any other labour.
Examine these figures
of loss and gain,
the production
costs
I have been facing,
the raw material
I had to obtain.
With the notion of "rhyme"
you're acquainted, of course?
When a line of ours
ends with a word
like "plum"
in the next line but one
we repeat
the syllable
with some other word
that goes
"tiddle-ti-tum".
A rhyme
is an IOU,
as you'd put it.
"Pay two lines later"
is the regulation.
So you seek
the small charge of inflexion,suffix
in the depleted till
of declensions,
conjugations.
You shove
a word
into a line of poetry
but it just won't go -
you push it and it snaps.
Upon my honour,
Citizen taxman,
words
cost poets a pretty penny in cash.
As we poets see it,
a barrel
the rhyme is,
a barrel of dynamite,
the fuse is
each line.
The line starts smoking,
exploding the line is,
and the stanza
blows
a city
sky-high.
Where to find rhymes,
in what tariff list,
that hit the bull's eye
with never a failure?
Maybe
a handful of them
still exist
faraway somewhere
in Venezuela.
I have to scour
freezing
and tropical climes.
I flounder in debt,
I get advance payments.
My travel expenses
bear in mind.
Poetry -
all poetry -
is an exploration.
Poetry
is just like mining radium.
To gain just a gram
you must labour a year.
Tons of lexicon ore
excavating
all for the sake of one precious word,
But
how searing
the heat of this word is
alongside
the smouldering
heap of waste.
There are the words
that go rousing,stirring
millions of hearts
from age to age.
Of course,
there are different brands of poet.
Famed for sleight of hand
are quite a few.
Verses they pull,
like a conjuror,
boldly
out of their own mouths -
and others' too.
What can one say
of the poetry eunuchs?
They write
stolen lines in -
not turning a hair.
Thieving
like that
is nothing unusual
in a country
where thieves are enough and to spare.
These
contemporary
odes ans verses
which with rapt ovations
audiences greet
will go down
in history
as overhead charges
for the achievements
of a few of us -
two or three.
It takes
quite a time,
to get to know people,
smoke many a packets of cigarettes
till you raise
that wonderful word
you're needing
from the deep artesian
folk wells.
straightaway
the rate of tax
grows less.
Knock
that wheel-zero
of the total due.
I pay one rouble 90
for a hundred cigarettes
and one rouble 60
for the salt I consume.
I see your form
there's a host of questions:
"travelled abroad?
Or spent all the time here?"
What if
I've run down
a dozen Pegasuses
in the course of
these
fifteen years?!
You want to know
how many servants
I'm keeping,
what houses?
My special casee please observe:
where
do I stand
if I lead people
and simultaneously
the people serve?
The class
speaks
with the words we utter
and we
proletarians
push the pen.
The soul-machine
wears out,
begins to splutter.
They tell us:
"Your place
now
is on the shelf."
There's ever less love,
less bold innovation,
time
strikes my forhead
a running blow.
There comes
the most terrifying depreciation,
the depreciation
of heart and soul,
When
one day this sun
shall like a fattened hog in
a land rid of beggars
and cripples
rise,
dead by the fence
I'll
have long
been rotting
along with
ten or so
colleagues of mine.
Drae up
my posthumous balance-sheet!
I tell you -
upon this I'm ready to bet -
unlike
all the dealers and climbers
you see
I'll be
a unique case -
hopelessly in debt.
Our duty is
to roar
like brass-throated sirens
in philistine fog
and in stormy weather.
Paying
fines in cash
and high interest
on sorrow,
the poet
is always
the Universe's debtor.
And I
owe a debt
to the lights of Broadway,
a debt to you also,
Bagadady skies,
to the Red Army
and to Japan's cherry blossom -
to all
about which
I had no time to write.
Why
did I undertake
this burden?
With rhyme to shoot,
with metre anger to spark?
Your resurrection
the poet's word is,
your immortality,
Citizen clerk.
Read any line
a hundred years after
and it brings back the past,
as fast as a wink,
all will come back -
this day
with the taxman
with a glint of magic
and the reek of ink.
Come,you smug dweller in the present era,
buy your rail ticket
to Eternity
here.
Calculate
the impact of verse
and distribute
all that I earn
over three hundred years!
Not only in this
lies the power of a poet,
that it's you
future generations
will think about.
Oh no!
Today too
are the rhymes of a poet
a caress,
a slogan,
a bayonet,
a knout.
Five -
not five hundred -
roubles I'll pay
you,Citizen taxman!
Delete every nought!
As of right
I'm
demanding a place
with workers
and peasants
of the poorest sort.
But if
you think
all I do is just press
words other people use
into my service
Comrades,
come here,
let me give you my pen
and you
can yourselves
write your own verses!

Thank you because you correct this lyrics
 

Leave a comment to the song

Related artists

News from the music's world

Brian May of Queen and His Connection with NASA

25/09/2023

In the realm of rock 'n' roll, there are few names as iconic as Queen, and within the Queen pantheon, Brian May stands out not only as a legendary guitarist but also as an astrophysicist with a profound connection to NASA.

Hip-Hop Turns 50: Celebrating Half a Century of Cultural Influence

12/09/2023

Hip-hop, one of the most influential cultural movements of the 20th and 21st centuries, has recently reached a significant milestone - it's turning 50 years old.

Coachella here we are


Coachella Festival 2022: here we are. In two days the doors of one of the most anticipated musical events of the year will open, even more so after the last two years in which for very obvious reasons the live music sector has suffered a very important setback.

Grammy 2022: the winners

05/04/2022

The 2022 Grammy Awards were the chronicle of an announced triumph: Jon Baptiste collected 11 nominations and won 5 Grammys, defeating all opponents. This was also the year of the very young Olivia Rodrigo, who managed to take home 3 Grammys, including the the best new artist.

"We" - The new album of Arcade Fire

22/03/2022

Here is finally some good news, the Arcade Fire have finally revealed the title and release date of their new album, 5 years after the last one. For the fan of the group it has been a time that seemed eternal,

"I know you know me" the masterpiece of Caroline Spence and Matt Berninger


Do we want to define "I know you know me" a masterpiece? Yes, without a shadow of a doubt for at least two reasons. The first and most evident are the artists who interpret it: Caroline Spence and Matt Berninger, second for the deep and poetic text.

Fugees cancel their Reunion

26/01/2022

My favorite group when I was just a teenager were the Fugees, thanks to them a certain curiosity about english language was born in me. I wanted to know and understand the lyrics of their songs, it wasn't enough for me to be carried away exclusively by their beautiful music.

When I'm gone the single by Alesso and Katy Perry

30/12/2021

Sweden and the United States are two countries far from each other, thousands of kilometers separate them, the language, culinary and sporting traditions, I don't feel so categorical about the landscapes, not knowing all of America there may be states that have the same reliefs of the country of northern Europe, but on one thing I am sure

The long-awaited collaboration between Rosalia and Oneohtrix

20/05/2021

It has been talked about for almost 3 years, rumored and it is hoped that sooner or later they will arrive at a collaboration, and now we are satisfied: the Catalan singer Rosalia and the American musician Oneohtrix finally announce the publication of a piece together!

Paul McCartney ends up on stamps

07/05/2021

In England there are institutions that are untouchable, first of all Queen Elizabeth II who reigns undisputed in the beating heart of every Englishman, then there are the Beatles, and that's the reason why they were awarded the title of baronets.

Fatboy Slim and Blessed Madonna attended the Liverpool event

03/05/2021

Looking at the images, one immediately thinks of archive photos of at least a year and a half ago. Lots of people together without masks dancing freely

GodSpeed You! Black Emperor new record and new requests


How a music group can deliver strong and clear messages without singing is a mystery yet Canadians GoodSpeed You! Black Emperor they succeed very well.

What ties Tom Yorke and Jun Takahashi

30/03/2021

"Creep" by Radiohead is certainly one of the most listened to, revisited and reinterpreted songs in the history of music. So much loved and listened to on all six continents, at least once in our life we all found ourselves humming it.

Trouble ahead for rapper T.I. and his wife Tiny

19/03/2021

Very bad story for rapper T.I. and his wife Tiny, in fact, they have been accused of sexual abuse and kidnapping.

Lady Gaga and her stolen dogs

10/03/2021

The malefactor managed to take Koji and Gustavo away, while Miss Asia, the third bulldog, escaped and was found shortly after by Lady Gaga's bodyguards.

David Crosby against Phoebe Bridgers

16/02/2021

David Crosby against Phoebe Bridgers, if we had been in the Middle Ages, they probably would have challenged each other with the sword, while in 2021 they decided to go wild with tweets.

Evan Rachel Wood has denounced Marilyn Manson


Evan Rachel Wood, the beautiful protagonist of Westworld has decided to denounce the violence she has suffered for years, at least according to what she claims, by Marilyn Manson.

The Glastonbury Festival has been canceled

26/01/2021

After some positive signs in the past months, here is the news that we weren't hoping to learn and that throws new questions on the possibility of organizing festivals and live concerts for 2021.

The Kennedy center Honors award Joan Baez

20/01/2021

The winners of the 43rd edition of the Kennedy Center Honors have recently been announced, including Joan Baez, Dick Van Dyke, Debbie Allen and the violinist Midori.

The collaboration between Soundgarden and Brandi Carlile

12/01/2021

The band Soundgarden recently recorded two classics with Brandie Carlile. After the death of their leader Chris Cornell, the band had decided to stop for some time also as a sign of respect for the untimely death of their front man.

Foo Fighters announced the release of new album

05/01/2021

New year is synonymous of news and in fact 2021 opened with a nice surprise. The American rock group, The Foo Fighters, founded in 1994 by Dave Grohl ex drummer of Nirvana, delight us with the release of a new single entitled "No son of Mine".

Guitarist Tony Rice died at the age of 69

02/01/2021

He was 69 and on Christmas Day, guitarist Tony Rice, Bluegrass legend, passed away. His label, Rounder Records, made the news with an official release on December 26th.

Ten Cities: the culture of clubbing from Johannesburg to Naples

29/12/2020

We still talk about music, but today we do it from a different point of view, taking a cue from a book, a photographic book called Ten Cities.

1970, fifty years of Bob Dylan's song

22/12/2020

I was about 6 years old when I listened for the first time "Blowing in the wind" hummed by my mom while she was accompanying me to school, the version was the Italian one, but I liked the rhythm right away.