"Taxman"

I listened to Revolver yester-day and noticed a few small features.  Even before I started listening to the album, I realized that the inclusion of the "one two three four" count-off in "Taxman" has a sort of double meaning in light of the subject of the song:  the musicians are counting the beats, but the taxman is counting money.

"Taxman"

I listened to the first disc of Anthology 2 yester-day and noticed a small feature in "Taxman" that's also present in the Revolver version (as the liner notes explain, the Anthology version is "not dissimilar to the master").  The second "walk" in the line "If you take a walk, walk" is sung with a melisma (I think it's F# G).  Not only does this give a sense of movement but because it's a conjunct interval, there's even a musical sense of taking a step.

"Taxman"

I listened to Revolver this evening and noticed a small thing about "Taxman."  The first line ("Let me tell you how it will be") is essentially the same as the first line in Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" ("I'm a-gonna tell you how it's gonna be").  Buddy Holly certainly influenced the Beatles, and I think the resemblance between these two opening lines (whether conscious or not) is an-other example of that, despite "Taxman" and "Not Fade Away" being about very different things.