Although hardly my favorite Joni Mitchell song, it still resonates perhaps better than any other in her catalog of great work when I perform it, which even without a full rhythm section, is always great fun for patrons and attendees. So my dad decid

» highest in sub-genre:   # 116   (13,740 songs currently listed in Pop > Cover Songs)

As recording sessions can typically take longer than anticipated and while this production was no exception, the arrangement and actual audio recording came together at the speed of sound. Since the concept for this arrangement was only to build on the existing one, less time was required for its completion and although still tedious, reduced considerably the labor of love.

If one had the time to compare the original to this version; for example, the triangle heard several times in this rendition has identical articulation [resonance and muting] to the original. The same attention to detail on the congas that were pitched to the original and the acoustic guitar and its open tuning et cetera. Forgive me when I say that I believe this is the very best variation on the theme of 'Big Yellow Taxi...'

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging 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
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
Then they charged the people
A dollar and 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
And put up a parking lot

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 its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Come and 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
And put up a parking lot

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
And put up a parking lot

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot