Motown Melodies, Music Blog

Death and Taxes

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for Song Lyric Sunday  
where the challenge is to write
about a song dealing with taxes
and/or money. Here’s my response.

© Pinterest

Here in the US, Tax Day is April 15 so if you haven’t filed your income taxes yet, you’d better get on the ball! This week the suggestion for Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday comes once again from our friend Melissa Lemay of Mom With a Blog. The theme is ‘Filing Due Date’  and the challenge is to write about a song dealing with …. drumroll please …. taxes and/or money.

The Steve Miller Band formed in 1966 and gained prominence in the late 1970s with hit singles like “The Joker”, “Jet Airliner”, and “Abracadabra”. But before achieving mainstream success, the band explored blues and psychedelic rock, initially forming as the Steve Miller Blues Band in San Francisco. Steve Miller’s musical journey began in Chicago where he immersed himself in the blues scene and met musicians who would later join him in the band. Steve Miller was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2016, recognizing his contributions to rock music. The Steve Miller Band continues to tour and perform, playing to large audiences and maintaining their legacy as a classic rock band. 

“Take the Money and Run” is a song about two young bandits (possibly teenagers) and the detective pursuing them. Billy Joe robs a house in El Paso and shoots its owner, while Bobbie Sue escapes with the proceeds of the robbery. They reunite the next day and flee south through Texas, pursued by Billy Mack, a police detective intent on arresting them. The song was one of the many hit singles produced by the Steve Miller Band in the 1970s and featured on the 1976 album Fly Like An Eagle. The song peaked at #11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at #8 in Canada in July 1976.

This is “Take the Money and Run” by Steve Miller Band

LYRICS

Hoo-hoo
This here’s a story about Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue
Two young lovers with nothin’ better to do
Than sit around the house, get high, and watch the tube
And here’s what happened when they decided to cut loose
They headed down to, ooh, old El Paso
That’s where they ran into a great big hassle
Billy Joe shot a man while robbing his castle
Bobbie Sue took the money and run

Hoo-hoo-hoo
Go on, take the money and run
Go on, take the money and run
Hoo-hoo-hoo
Go on, take the money and run
Go on, take the money and run
Hoo-hoo-hoo

Billy Mack is a detective down in Texas
You know he knows just exactly what the facts is
He ain’t gonna let those two escape justice
He makes his livin’ off of the people’s taxes
Bobbie Sue, whoa, whoa, she slipped away
Billy Joe caught up to her the very next day

They got the money, hey, you know they got away
They headed down south and they’re still running today
Singin’

Go on, take the money and run
Go on, take the money and run
Hoo-hoo-hoo
Go on, take the money and run
Ooh lord, go on, take the money and run
Hoo-hoo-hoo

Yeah, yeah, go on, take the money and run, yeah (yeah)
Hoo-hoo-hoo
Go on, take the money and run
Ooh lord, go on, take the money and run, yeah (yeah)
Hoo-hoo-hoo
Go on, take the money and run
Ooh lord

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Steve Miller
Take the Money and Run lyrics © Sailor Music

Filing Due Date

Thanks once again to our friend Melissa Lemay from Mom With A Blog for a great theme suggestion. Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week and every week. Be sure to follow the link and check out Jim’s site.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to some tunes.

That’s all she wrote, kids. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2025

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy’s Notes 🖊️🎶, The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, The Rhythm Section, et al., and are not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

37 thoughts on “Death and Taxes”

  1. I will always have a place in my heart for Steve Miller Band! I even have a personal connection to Greg Douglas, one of the guitarists, he was going to play at my wedding that I cancelled the day before!😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Taxman was my first choice but I thought it would have been snatched up immediately. I’m not sure if anyone featured it and now I’m second-guessing myself for not following my gut. Taxman is one of George’s best compositions and definitely the perfect choice for this challenge.

      Thanks, Christian.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thanks, Clive. I’ve always liked them, too.

      I didn’t go with my obvious first choice of Taxman; I figured that would have been snatched up immediately. I haven’t checked Jim’s site yet to see what’s been featured but I do hope it’s there. It is the best tax song there is.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  14. Hi Sis we chose the same title but very different songs…there are quite a few songs called take the money and run ..

    Well as always you choose a brilliant song The Steve Miller band are absolutely ace. Well done great post 💜😄

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

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