Taxman - Musical Characteristics

Musical Characteristics

The song is in the key of D Major and in 4/4 time. The recording begins before the actual song with coughing and counting (pointedly cut short- the real count being heard in the background) that McCartney described as sounds that were on the tape, and that Lennon "thought would like to hear."

The chords stress the flat VII (C-natural in the key of D major) and frequently involve a major/minor I chord (D/Dm), which evoke either Mixolydian or Dorian modes. There is one flat-III (F chord) near the end, but unusually no V (A) chord. The song is also notable musically for its use of both a 5th string voicing of the Dominant seventh sharp ninth chord to embellish the tonic D7 chord at the end of each two-line verse (at 0.12 and 0.19secs), and a 6th-string form to create a complementary "jarring dissonance" with the lyrics in the subdominant (IV) G chord (to a G7#9) at 1.29 (after the solo) on Cause I'm the taxman, yeah-I'm 'the taxman'. McCartney's bass line has been considered to imitate Motown bassist James Jamerson in its active lines and glissandi (at 0.55-1.08) In the third verse McCartney doubles his own pentatonic bass line while outlining the jarring Iflat7 chord in octaves (at 1.32-1.44).

Paul's guitar solo utilises what Pollack describes as "fast triplets, exotic modal touches, and a melodic shape which traverses several octaves and ends with a breathtaking upward flourish". Everett considers that McCartney's solo is in the same Dorian mode adapted by Harrison in Love You To. In 1987, Harrison stated: "I was pleased to have Paul play that bit on 'Taxman'. If you notice, he did like a little Indian bit on it for me." Ian MacDonald praised McCartney's contributions to the song saying his guitar solo was "outstanding" and his bass part was "remarkable".