Tag: 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 lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin’ hot spot

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone
They 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 museum
And they charged the people a dollar an’ a half just to see ’em

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

Hey farmer, farmer put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees
Please

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone
They 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 slam
And a big yellow taxi took away my old man

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

I said don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone
They 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 paradise
Put up a parking lot

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