Big Yellow Taxi

So, after out discussion of the Land Ethic, I thought of one of my favorite songs “Big Yellow Taxi”, covered by Counting Crows that I’m sure everybody has heard at least once. Give it a listen, and read along with the lyrics to maybe see a connection with what Leopold was saying to an extent.

Link: Big Yellow Taxi

Lyrics:

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
And put ‘em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half to seem ‘em

Don’t it always seem to go,
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey farmer farmer
Put away the DDT
I don’t care about spots on my apples
Leave me the birds and the bees
Please!

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Hey, now they paved paradise
To put up a parking lot
Why not?

Listenin’ late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took my girl away
Now, don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey now, now
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got
Til its gone
They paved paradise
To put up a parking lot

I don’t want give it
Why you want give,
Why you want give it all away?
Hey hey hey
Now you want give it,
Ah she want to give it
Cause she givin’ it all away
Now now now

Hey pave paradise
Put up a parking lot

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4 Responses to Big Yellow Taxi

  1. ktardiel says:

    a) i love this song
    b) nice connection to the land ethic
    c) why didn’t i think of this? haha

  2. Karthik says:

    Wow, I can’t believe I forgot about this song. I feel it conveys the idea that we look to fulfill our economic interests without taking into account the natural beauty of the environment and that we only realize this negative environmental impact when it is already too late. It also expresses the impact of changes to the land pyramid. “Hey farmer farmer, Put away the DDT…Leave me the birds and the bees.” When a farmer sprays pesticides like DDT, he or she is trying to preserve the crop by killing insects alone. However, the farmer is unaware that the toxins from the pesticides can affect the animals that eat those very insects, like birds. Indirectly, farmers are killing thousands of birds and causing disruptions to the natural land pyramid.

  3. mburns says:

    touche, great song connection to the land ethic!

  4. mmcateer2 says:

    Hey Lou, guess what I found? Remember this?

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