Tax on Work does not Create.....

Inspired by the energy, rhythm and tune of Kristin Andreassen’s Crayola Doesn’t make the Color of your Eyes or another version from Prairie Home Companion, I wrote this (the accents indicate the beat in the music):

I wént to sée the wíse one
our tówn was súch a méss
the lóngest línes to gét in
were át the DSS

He sáid, I cánnot fíx your tówn
But here’s sómething yoú can dó
máke a líst and flésh it óut
Of why your tówn is ín a stéw

Well, wé build róads; we rún the bús,
We try to cóntrol cróoks.
We buíld the párks and sídewalks
We gíve our stréets good lóoks

To dó these thíngs, we néed some wéalth
And so we táx the thíngs we sée
We táx the buíldings and whát you éarn
We hit búyers and séllers with a fée.

(refrain)
I guéss I réalízed,
shoulda cóme as nó surpríse
that táxes on wórk do nót creáte
a góod envíronmént.
Whát we táx, that we redúce
lét’s not kíll our jóbs,
Táxes on wórk do nót creáte
a góod envíronmént.

We’ll táx the lánd; that helps ensúre
that lánd is nót a wáger
It lówers the cóst to thóse who úse it
to creáte more jóbs per ácre

Collécting lánd rents méans
That the thíngs we as commúnity dó
are bénefíting éveryóne and
gó to áll, not tó the féw.

And whén a pérson wánts to wórk
she réaps the resúlts of her lábor
The bénefits of whát she dóes,
Not the óut-of-town land spéculátor


(refrain)
I guéss I réalízed,
shoulda cóme as nó surpríse
that táxes on wórk do nót creáte
a góod envíronmént.
Whát we táx, that we redúce
lét’s not kíll our jóbs,
Táxes on wórk do nót creáte
a góod environment.

So máybe we’ll shíft the táxes óff
The lábor yóu and I dó, you sée
And pút it on the lánd so nóne

can squeéze the blóod from yoú and mé.

That wáy they’ll bé more jóbs for thóse
who pút their bácks and bráins to wórk
We wóuldn’t háve to work so lóng,
To put a róof and wálls on Gód’s good dírt.

We woúldn’t need two jobs to féed
The móuths that we begét,
To hóuse and clóthe them and oursélves
And where we néed to gó, we’d gét.

(refrain)
I guéss I réalízed,
shoulda cóme as nó surpríse
that táxes on wórk do nót creáte
a góod envíronmént.
Whát we táx, that we redúce
lét’s not kíll our jóbs,
Táxes on wórk do nót creáte
a góod environment.

A cómpact tówn means we could wálk aróund
to get to shóps, to méet, to wórk for gáin
And éven walk to párks nearby
where quíet, jóy, and beauty réign.

We wouldn’t need a big back yárd,
or frónt ones with their láwns to mów.
We’d háve a sháre in cómmon lánd,
Where our sóuls, spírits, and bódies grów.

I thínk we’ll solve the próblem of unemplóyment línes
of bárely éarning whát we néed.
We máy not háve the hárvest yet,
But wé have sówn the séed.

(refrain)
I guéss I réalízed,
shoulda cóme as nó surpríse
that táxes on wórk do nót creáte
a góod envíronmént.
Whát we táx, that we redúce
lét’s not kíll our jóbs,
Táxes on wórk do nót creáte
a góod envíronmént.