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Genius Annotation

“Big Yellow Taxi” is Joni Mitchell’s call to action to prevent the damage we are doing to the environment. It refers to lack of human awareness; only too late we recognise the profligate destruction done to the environment. We value what we have in retrospect.

Another dimension to this song appears in the final verse. A further loss may be the singer’s lover who leaves in the yellow taxi. It implies that she was careless with the relationship, but understood too late the irretrievable damage she caused.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Joni Mitchell say about "Big Yellow Taxi"?
Genius Answer

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Joni 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. When it first came out, it was a regional hit in Hawaii because people there realized their paradise was being chewed up. It took 20 years for that song to sink in to people most other places in the country. That is a powerful little song because there have been cases in a couple of cities of parking lots being torn up and turned into parks because of it.

Credits
Produced By
Written By
Background Vocals
Percussion
Recorded At
A&M Studios
Release Date
January 1, 1970
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