Joni Mitchell – Big Yellow Taxi

"Big Yellow Taxi," originally a track on Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon album, was released twice as a single: in 1970 the original album track was a hit in Canada and around the world and in 1975 a live version of the song, taken from Miles of Aisles, was a hit in the U.S. Mitchell recorded it again in 2007 for her Shine album.

Mitchell has claimed that "Big Yellow Taxi" was written during a trip to Honolulu, where she encountered beautiful nature, huge parking lots, and a tree museum. Part of the song's appeal for me is the disconnect between the bounciness of the music and the ecological ("they paved paradise and put up a parking lot") and personal ("a big yellow taxi took away my old man") concerns of the lyrics.

Several artists have had hits with cover versions of "Big Yellow Taxi," including Amy Grant (#25 Canada) and the Counting Crows (#42 US), while Talking Heads recorded a tongue-in-cheek response with "(Nothing But) Flowers" ("once there were parking lots .../now, it's nothing but flowers"). "Big Yellow Taxi" is also frequently included in lists of the greatest Canadian songs: 50th in Chart magazine's 1996 poll, 16th in the 2000 poll, and 37th in 2005, 9th in CBC's 50 Tacks: The Canadian Edition, 11th in Bob Mersereau's The Top 100 Canadian Singles, and 17th in the 2011 Mar*Star poll.

Click below for:

• the original Ladies of the Canyon version
• the live Miles of Aisles version
• the 2007 Shine version
• the Amy Grant version
• the Counting Crows ft. Vanessa Carlton version
• the Talking Heads' "(Nothing But) Flowers"

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Personnel

• Joni Mitchell – Both Sides Now (song)
• Joni Mitchell – River (song)
• Joni Mitchell – A Case of You (song)
• Joni Mitchell – Blue (album)
• Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark (album)
• Joni Mitchell – Hejira (album)