#5 Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi

Album: Ladies of the Canyon, 1970

Lyrics excerpt:
They took all the trees,
Put 'em in a tree museum
And 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
Till it's gone?
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Reasons to love this song:
The extremely catchy tune and humorous last verse of this song ("a big yellow taxi took away my old man", with laughter audible in her voice) are in contrast with the serious warning contained in the lyrics. Joni Mitchell was inspired to write this song while visiting Hawaii; according to JoniMitchell.com (see the footnotes to the lyrics here), the "pink hotel" she is singing about is likely to be the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach, and the "tree museum" is the Foster Botanical Garden.
Big Yellow Taxi is one of Joni Mitchell's most covered songs. Artists who have covered it include Bob Dylan, Melanie Safka, Maire Brennan and Counting Crows featuring Vanessa Carlton.

Link to Amazon Preview:
Big Yellow Taxi (Remastered LP Version)

YouTube links:

Joni Mitchell performing Big Yellow Taxi live in 1970. After the "a big yellow taxi took away my old man" verse, she sings an additional one:
Late last night I heard that screen door slam
And a big yellow tractor come and took away my house, it took away my land


One of many artists who have covered this song: Tracy Chapman live in Rome on July 27th, 2009.