Favorite Songs By Canadians: Big Yellow Taxi (#9)

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If I’m in Gatlinburg then it must be time for fried green tomatoes at Calhoun’s. And, unlike the last time I was here, they have them on the menu!!! Where will I go today? I have no idea, but I do know that I’ll have fun. I also know I owe you a song by a Canadian, continuing to celebrate Canada Day earlier this month. The person was on the list of favorite Canadian musicians, and here’s one of her best-known tunes. #9: Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell Every now and then I’ll hear a newer version of this song (by Counting Crows?), and I don’t get why they left the DDT line in there, given it’s been banned in the US since 1972. But why even bother with a cover? Go with the original. This song has resonated with me since I first saw that “pink hotel” in Hawaii (the Royal Hawaiian Hotel). (PS — know what’s worse? The Tripler Army Hospital is also painted pink. ) Joni sings passionately about the problems of the environment (“they took all the trees, put ‘em in a tree museum”), and for good measure throws in the departure of a lover (“the big yellow taxi took away my old man”). It fits the chorus of the song: “don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” One of Mitchell’s classic tunes. I can see that pukey pink army hospital in Honolulu every time I hear this. Big Yellow Taxi Written by Joni Mitchell Recorded by Joni Mitchell From Ladies of the Canyon, 1970 And a swinging hot spot: