Joni Mitchell – Big Yellow Taxi

I heard this song the other day, and I thought to myself, “I would LOVE to post about it, but I probably already have.” I checked, and to my surprise, I had never posted it before. This is one of the first songs I remember from my youth. I was three years old when it was released but I remember it through the seventies.

She wrote “Big Yellow Taxi” in 1970, inspired by her first trip to Hawaii. When she woke up in her hotel room she was struck by the contrast between the mountains in the distance and the large parking lot below her window. The difference between natural beauty and urban development influenced the song’s opening line, “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot.” Mitchell said: I wrote ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart […] this blight on paradise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song.

This is probably one of the best environmental songs out there. There are a few good ones like Rocky Mountain High, Mother Nature’s Son, Going Up Country, Beds Are Burning, Fall On Me, and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s  All I Can Do Is Write About It. 

The song appeared on her album Ladies of the Canyon released in 1970. The album’s title references Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, a hub for musicians and artists during the 1960s, where Mitchell resided at 8217 Lookout Mountain Avenue. Her home became a gathering place for notable musicians, including David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and future boyfriend Graham Nash. Laurel Canyon had a vast array of talent with CSN, James Taylor, Canned Heat, The Doors, Eagles, Linda Rondstadt, and more. My friend Dave wrote a great article about that music scene that happened in the late sixties and early seventies. 

The song peaked at #67 (I checked that twice!) on the Billboard 100, #15 in Canada, and #11 in the UK. I would have bet the farm that it peaked higher than 67 here. There is a “but” to this song though…a live version came out in 1974 and that one did better. It peaked at #24 on the Billboard 100. Sometimes though it doesn’t matter where it charts. Some songs become ingrained into pop culture. Songs like In My Life by the Beatles never was released as a single and many artists have songs we all know and love that didn’t chart high or at all. And some charting songs are never remembered anymore. 

Her guitar playing is unusual, to say the least. She doesn’t use traditional chords as much as other players. She makes up different tunings in open chords. That is why when you see her play, most of the time she is using a finger to bar all of the strings. I would hate to be her guitar tech. I can’t imagine how many guitars she takes on tour with her. I used an open G chord while playing Rolling Stones songs so I would take another guitar already tuned in G so I wouldn’t have to retune my guitar in many songs. 

Big Yellow Taxi

They paved paradise, put up a parking lotWith a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin’ hot spot

Don’t it always seem to goThat you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s goneThey paved paradise, put up a parking lot(Ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop, ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)

They took all the trees put ’em in a tree museumAnd they charged the people a dollar an’ a half just to see ’em

Don’t it always seem to goThat you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s goneThey paved paradise, put up a parking lot(Ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop, ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)

Hey farmer, farmer put away that DDT nowGive me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the beesPlease

Don’t it always seem to goThat you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s goneThey paved paradise, put up a parking lot(Ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop, ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)

Late last night I heard the screen door slamAnd a big yellow taxi took away my old man

Don’t it always seem to goThat you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s goneThey paved paradise, put up a parking lot (ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)

I said don’t it always seem to goThat you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s goneThey paved paradise, put up a parking lot (ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)They paved paradise, put up a parking lot (ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)They paved paradisePut up a parking lot

…

Unknown's avatar

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

53 thoughts on “Joni Mitchell – Big Yellow Taxi”

  2. I still remember the first time I heard this song, and it was played at a New Riders of the Purple Sage concert. This song is about taking things for granted and then missing them when they’re gone.  A failed romance is concealed inside this song that discusses environmental issues.  Mitchell was thought to have been staying at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, because she mentions a pink hotel and this building is coral-colored set amidst serene gardens abundant in natural flora.  In the final verse Joni says that a big yellow taxi took her old man away.  It is not clear if her boyfriend is deserting her by walking out on their relationship and taking a taxi to leave her, or perhaps he is being taken away by the authorities and is under arrest, but then the door wouldn’t have been slammed and he wouldn’t be in a taxi.  Either way, this the only time a “big yellow taxi” is ever mentioned in the lyrics.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  4. This song holds up so well I think. When I watch old clips of her playing I wonder what it would have been like to see her back in those days. I imagine it was like watching Dylan, did people in the audience have any idea what they were actually witnessing? One of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time on stage and most of them, probably even Joni herself had no clue how influential she would become. I have written about her and her songs many times and she will be included in the series I started today on covers and Canadian songwriters. Great post Max.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you Randy! No they probably didn’t have a clue and she didn’t either. I almost know none of them ever thought it would last 50-60 years. I remember when I was a kid in the seventies…yes I heard of Bing Crosby, Guy Lombardo, and the others…but did I hear them on the radio? No. This era probably thought the same thing would happen to them. They might come up in history…but not this much coverage where their albums sell…A LOT

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      2. I mean who would have thought…they would still be as popular as they are? No one was talking about Benny Goodman like they do the Beatles now…so it’s odd in a way.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Good old Joni. Momo has all her albums that she bought back then. We played Ladies of The Canyon a few weeks ago, and it brought back a lot of memories for us, some good, some not. I’ve tried some of her tunings and they drive a guitar player mad. I read it was hard for studio musicians to back her because of the weird tunings, so she did most of the music herself. She had a lovely voice back then and she captured the time well in her albums. My late cousin Cookie did the Laural Canyon scene for a year or two. I post some of what she told me in a story, soon. Good read, Max.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you Phil…I’ll be looking forward to it! Those tunings yes…hell I only tuned in open G for our Stones and Chuck Berry songs…because it sounds great on Berry songs as well…and it was a pain for me. I read where yes…she makes up tunings lol.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. thanks for the mention, and link! Like I said on my own blog recently, I do think Joni was a better songwriter than singer or performer… however, she has her moments and this certainly was one of the high points of her career. Excellent song, I relate to those lyrics and I like the way she delivers it. Now that ’90s cover song of it… let’s say if it comes on I feel like stepping out of the room and going outside , far away from the speakers, to see if there are any crows to count til the song ends.
    I knew it wasn’t a BIG chart hit but I would have assumed it did better than #67 in the US… now, if you listen to kind of retro, easy-listening stations it might be higher than that on their all-time most played lists

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. She is an incredible songwriter…I never watched her live much so I can’t say but she is great in this…she does a good job by herself.
      Oh I didn’t like that version either and I like them.
      Yea this time the charts failed on this song…but it was better on the live version.

      Oh…side note…guess what? I’m finally going to see Willie Nelson…and Bob Dylan for the 9th time. Bailey just bought us tickets for June 25…in Franklin TN.

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

  8. Absolute belter of a song. Her version is so well delivered it’s impossible for most other versions to come close. If I mentioned this song before, sorry, but it’s one that I like a lot, about times gone by, lost memories and how the world and we ‘progress,’ ‘Don’t It Make You Wanna Go Home,’ Joe South.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Oh I like South…and I do like that song because I’ve been listening to him more. So many songs that I’ve learned since I’ve been blogging. Yea covering this song…it’s no use.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. a sixth grade memory..my teacher mr. jackson playing this on a real to real, followed by Melanie’s Lay Down (Candles in the Wind) with all the girls in our class singing along….and they all looked like the two, long hair, short skirts……the live version with Pat Metheny is my fave….

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Oh it’s a happy catchy song and a good message!
      Dude…now I can say I’m going to a concert soon….Bailey bought us tickets today…June 25…and we just talked about both of them recently… Bob Dylan my 9th time and Willie Nelson together…plus some others. It’s a one day festival…possibly Sheryl Crow, The Avett Brothers, and a guy named Nathaniel Rateliff, and maybe Billy Strings…the only confirmed is Bob and Willie and Nathaniel…. ;

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Great! I’m going to catch the Outlaw Music Festival Tour in New Jersey on Sep 13! 🙂

        It will be the first time I see Dylan again after more than 35 years! This time, I won’t repeat the mistake to try to “prepare” by listening to “Before the Flood” or other live albums! 🙂

        It will be my first time to see Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow.

        I’m super-excited about the whole thing! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Yea it’s possible she could join them because she lives here…some list her but some doesn’t. Oh yea…Willie and Bob are the ones…

        Liked by 1 person

      5. I just checked the concert schedule on Crow’s website. It does list the Sep 13 Outlaw Music Festival in Jersey but I’m afraid doesn’t list any gig on June 25. But, as you said, given she lives in Nashville, perhaps she’ll pull a Springsteen-like surprise appearance! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Yea…something tells me she will but if not…I’m ok with it. Bob and Willie! We will have dueling reviews!

        Like

  13. Pingback: Joni Mitchell – Big Yellow Taxi – the secret about how life

  16. “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot” has become a part of American lexicon. Cannot begin to guess how many times I’ve used it. Did not know it was about her first visit to HI. Thanks for linking the article about Joni’s home. I knew a lot of it already but good to see the pics. I think Roger McGuinn was in that mix also. Now I need to go out and listen to Willy.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Lisa…I love trivia stuff like her house and what it looks like now. Thats the kind of stuff that I try to incorporate just as much as the music. Thank you for noticing…you are the only one who bothered. It means a lot to me.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. Trivia? I think the stuff you start with is some of the most interesting (after the comments) of the post!!! I should say, I read a lot of this stuff at work where they have blocked the links.

        I do, however, have a problem with posting the address, even if it was so long in the past.

        I grew up in Studio City, for which the main intersection was Ventura Boulevard and Laurel Canyon Blvd. The area these folks lived in was up the hill from the market, which is still standing, and very isolated from the rest of the city. One drove through the Canyon, not to it.

        Like

  18. I like the way that Joni alternates between her naturally high and more artificial low voice to show the different attitudes of this who watch open space beauty being destroyed for commercial gain. Laurel Canyon valley as I observed on a road trip visit doesn’t stand much of a chance of avoiding that environmental tragedy

    Like

    Reply

  19. I think Beds are Burning is more about aboriginal rights, although apparently someone stopped Garrett on the street and congratulated him on writing about hot sex.

    Nature’s Way by Spirit is a good environmental song from the same year.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. lol… Graham you will see the post soon…I’m only posting on weekends right now…and I will probably stay that way in the near future…but I’ll get yours during the week with no problem. So I’ll go from 9-11 a week to 4…I might hit some Mondays or Fridays…thanks.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I hope that works for you – I really appreciate you commenting regularly.

        I always struggle for time to comment on too many blogs – I have tween children and a full-time job, plus church commitments, so I don’t really get time to be as involved in the blogging community as I’d like.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I tihnk it will…I needed it. I was looking forward to the weekends but not to the week. It got to be a grind in the weeks so that is why I’m doing it. I built a good readership up so I’m happy about that…but time to draw back…I’m sure I’ll lose some but that is ok.
        Same with you Graham…I appreciate you reading mine. Now you won’t have as many…. yea I felt guilty not going to people’s sites…if they post everyday…you get two or three days behind…you are stuck in a vicious cycle.

        Like

Leave a comment