Big yellow taxi

Big yellow taxi

The song Big Yellow Taxi written, composed and sung by Joni Mitchell is protesting about urban development and the damage the environment is receiving from humans during the 1960s-1970’s, but still manages to relate to today’s society and its issues.
The inspiration of this song came from a trip Mitchell took to Hawaii. She looked out her window observing the naturally beautiful scenery, only to find it had been disrupted by a huge section of concrete (the line “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot” comes directly from this experience). In Honolulu, Hawaii, there is a place called Foster Botanical Garden. This is home to hundreds of species of endangered Hawaiian and exotic plants. Their mission is to plan, maintain and study documented collections of tropical plants on such an aesthetic setting for the purpose of conservation, botany, education and recreation. (The line “they took all the trees, and put ‘em in a tree museum, and they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them” refers to the Foster Botanical Garden)
This song sends a very convincing message by the words and phrases she uses throughout the song. “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot” comes from a direct experience Mitchell encountered which has been previously stated. “With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot”. The pink hotel is thought to be the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which has been built in the middle of a peaceful garden abundant in natural flora. “They took all the trees, and put ‘em in a tree museum, and they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them” refers to the Foster Botanical Garden Mitchell travelled to whilst on her trip to Hawaii. “Don’t it always seem to go, but you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” this is the songs main message. This lyric is still relevant to many, if not most environmental issues in today/s society here and around the world. The first three verses make a specific reference to environmental issues and how we...

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