On Geese’s unorthodox anthem, “Taxes”, singer Cameron Winter describes a toll much greater than paying taxes. The song appears on the band’s latest studio album, Getting Killed, co-produced with Kenny Beats.
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The band, Winter, guitarist Emily Green, bassist Dominic DiGesu, and drummer Max Bassin, formed in 2016 in New York City while its members were still in high school. Since their 2021 Partisan Records debut, Projector, Geese have continued to receive critical acclaim. Yet, they’ve become no less experimental.
“Taxes” features a jarring and chaotic arrangement. The song begins with West African percussion, acoustic guitars, and Winter’s universal predicament. Then there’s a hard cut to refined production and Green’s shimmering guitar chords. All leading to Winter’s heartbreaking and foregone conclusion.
About “Taxes” and a Quick History Lesson
In 1789, Benjamin Franklin, writing to the French scientist Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, updated Le Roy on the new U.S. government and the ratification of the Constitution. “Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes,” Franklin said.
You are likely familiar with Franklin’s quote, and in “Taxes,” Winter seems to hint at the fatalism of death and taxes. Though he prefers to write abstractly, the song may also be a metaphor for how humans often tear each other apart.
I should burn in hell
I should burn in hell
But I don’t deserve this
Nobody deserves this.
Perhaps Winter’s metaphor homes in on something more personal, with the tax being a kind of levy on a long-term commitment.
If you want me to pay my taxes
If you want me to pay my taxes
You better come over with a crucifix
You’re gonna have to nail me down.
Eating Ourselves From the Inside Out
The music video for “Taxes” shows Geese performing in a small club before the audience begins tearing itself apart in bloody and violent scenes. The band remains aloof to the carnage happening around them, further emphasizing the inevitability of death, taxes, and the human condition’s inclination toward cruelty.
“Taxes” reaches its emotional peak with Winter’s resigned declaration:
Doctor, doctor! Heal yourself
Doctor, doctor! Heal yourself
And I will break my own heart
I will break my own heart from now on.
At least it’s something he can control. Life remains unpredictable. But the dues keep coming. Better to control what you can.
Photo by Douglas Mason/Getty Images
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