When you hear the 1970 Joni Mitchell hit, “Big Yellow Taxi,” you immediately feel like you’re at an upbeat concert in the courtyard at some college campus. But then Mitchell’s voice chimes in. She sounds sweet as can be, especially with the shoooo-bop-bop-bop-bop‘s coming in every once in awhile. The song is much more powerful than it sounds though, as it has a very strong environmental message.
It’s pretty obvious since the opening line is, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” I love the line “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?” because here we are in a world where it’s actually surprising and breath-taking to see a beautiful landscape but when it comes to making money, it all goes out the window and it’s destroyed by urban sprawl. Despite it’s rather powerful message, the song is very upbeat and entertaining because of it’s pop feel accomplished with a simple acoustic guitar and bongos. I wonder if Joni Mitchell did that on purpose? Maybe she knew that the song would catch on if it was poppy enough and the message would enter our brains without us even knowing it! Or maybe it could be that she was inspired to write the song after looking out the window of her hotel in Hawai’i to see a beautiful landscape and a parking lot right below it. Hawai’i may have that affect on you, to write something poppy and mellow at the same time. At any rate, it’s a great song that has a little bit of everything.
The version of “Big Yellow Taxi” recorded by the Counting Crows was actually more popular than the original and was featured in my girl Sandy B’s movie, “Two Weeks Notice,” which is also the first time I heard this version. The formula of this song is a little different because it is a little more complex than Mitchell’s version, but still pretty simple. A bass line slowly dances around the drums and Adam Duritz’s lead vocals and Vanessa Carlton’s back-ups. An acoustic is also featured in this version, but it is not as upbeat because slower strums and softer melodies are used but it compliments the strings (which you barely even notice at all) well.
Counting Crows and Vanessa Carlton do a very good job of putting their own flavor on this Joni Mitchell classic. I actually don’t know which version I like better but I do know this: I hate parking lots all of a sudden!