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