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Your Tax Dollars At Work Lyrics by Henry Phillips

On The Shoulders Of Freaks

1997

[Spoken Intro]
This song, for the most part, is a true story
[Song]
In a quiet lab, back in ol' D.C
There's a man who works for an agency
In what some would say is a mighty strange career
He takes a bottle of ketchup and pours it out real slow
Then he uses his watch to see how fast it will flow
And the government pays him 70,000 a year
And it sometimes comes out fast
And it sometimes comes out slow
And it helps the time to pass
When he listens to the radio
And sometimes when he's really bored
He'll pretend he's Captain Kirk
This is your tax dollars at work
Things were going slow for the space program
So they asked for a quarter-million dollar grant
To send a sweet potato to outer space
And in Washington University
Some professors got a federal subsidy
To observe the way that earthworms defecate
And it sometimes comes out fast
And it sometimes comes out slow
And what these guys are trying to find
Heaven only knows
I wonder how we'll benefit
From the fruits of this research
This is your tax dollars at work
And we've expended funds to the Pentagon
So they could buy a 2000 dollar John
Or a coffee pot for the price of a Monet
And Andre Serrano got his start
By pissing in a bucket and calling it art
And receiving 30 grand from the NEA
To subsidize some artsy-fartsy, fecal fetish jerk
It's all your tax dollars at work
And for several weeks Congress went on hold
For a filibuster on gun control
By the Republicans and some Democrats from the South
Well instead of paying 20 million bills
Buying fertilizer for their districts' fields
We should use the stuff that comes out of their mouths
And it sometimes comes out fast
And it sometimes comes out slow
And all the while the government payroll
Is shelling out tons of dough
'Cos whether it's a two-faced hack
Or the postman gone berzerk
It's all your tax dollars at work
And in Washington they've got limosuines
While they say they feel our pain
But the mayor doesn't feel anything
'Cos he's smoking crack cocaine
I never knew that sex and drugs
Was a governmental perk
It's all your tax dollars at work
This is your tax dollars at work
Credits
Henry Phillips

Henry Phillips

About “Your Tax Dollars At Work” by Henry Phillips

Read the complete lyrics to "Your Tax Dollars At Work" by Henry Phillips from the album "On The Shoulders Of Freaks" in 1997. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Acoustic, Rock, Comedy.

"Your Tax Dollars At Work" is performed by Henry Phillips. from the album "On The Shoulders Of Freaks" in 1997 This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Your Tax Dollars At Work", explore more songs by Henry Phillips using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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Frequently asked questions

"Your Tax Dollars At Work" is credited to Henry Phillips. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"Your Tax Dollars At Work" appears on "On The Shoulders Of Freaks" in 1997.

Visit the Henry Phillips artist page at /artist/henry-phillips for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.