#31 Joni Mitchell - Urge For Going

Album: Hits (1996); B-side to the You Turn Me on I'm a Radio single (1972).

Lyrics excerpt: 
I had me a man in summertime
He had summer-colored skin
And not another girl in town
My darling's heart could win
But when the leaves fell on the ground
Bully winds came around
Pushed them face down in the snow
He got the urge for going
And I had to let him go


Reasons to love this song:
Autumnal weather came rather suddenly where I live this year, making me want to listen to autumnal songs -- and Urge For Going is probably my favourite one -- even though I think of autumn as a colourful and pleasant season, and in this song the warm seasons are synonymous with life and love, and the cold seasons equal death and loneliness. (It's more complex than that, of course -- in this song's universe it is possible to escape from death and loneliness if you have "the wings to fly".) The music is melancholy, but I also hear it as incredibly warm, in contrast with the coldness described in the lyrics.

Youtube links:
Joni Mitchell performing the song on television in 1966. I love how the musicians around her all seem awestruck by her performance.


Tom Rush's version of the song (from his 1968 album The Circle Game, which also included two other Joni Mitchell covers):


My favourite cover of this song, by Charlotte Martin (from Reproductions, 2007):

#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.