Chords
Big Yellow Taxi

Big Yellow Taxi is a song by singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, written in 1970. The song was inspired by Mitchells experience in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she was looking out of her hotel window and saw a beautiful stretch of park being destroyed to make way for a parking lot. It served as a commentary on the environment and unchecked urban growth, reflecting her dismay at humanitys impact on nature.

Key: G

Introduction:

difficulty
easy |||||
 C9                    D/F#                   G 
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
 C9                 D/F#                                    G 
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin'  hot spot

 G** 
Don' t it always seem to go
          C9 
That you don' t know what you got ' til it' s gone
 C9                    D/F#                    G 
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
 G 
Ooooh, bop bop bop
 C9 
Ooooh, bop bop bop

 C9                                                            G 
They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
 C9                                                              G 
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
 G 
No, no, no

 G** 
Don' t it always seem to go
          C9 
That you don' t know what you got ' til it' s gone
 C9                    D/F#                   G 
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
 G 
Ooooh, bop bop bop
 C9 
Ooooh, bop bop bop

     C9                                   G 
Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT
 G                    C9 
I don' t care about spots on my apples
                            G 
Leave me the birds and the bees
 G 
Please

 G** 
Don' t it always seem to go
          C9 
That you don' t know what you got ' til it' s gone
 C9                    D/F#                   G 
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
               C9              D/F#                   G 
Hey now, they paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not?
 G 
Ooooh, bop bop bop
 C9 
Ooooh, bop bop bop

                                                 G** 
Listen, late last night, I heard the screen door slam
         C9            D/F#               G** 
And a big yellow taxi took my girl away

 G** 
Don' t it always seem to go
          C9 
That you don' t know what you got ' til it' s gone
 C9                    D/F#                   G 
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
       G 
Well, don' t it always seem to go
          C9 
That you don' t know what you got ' til it' s gone
 C9                    D/F#                     G 
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
 G 
Why not?
      C9               D/F#                   G 
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
 G 
Hey hey hey
 C9               D/F#                   G 
Paved paradise and put up a parking lot
 G 
Ooooh, bop bop bop
 C9 
Ooooh, bop bop bop

 C9 
I don' t wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
                 G 
Why you wanna give it all away
Hey, hey, hey
 C9 
Now you wanna give it
I should wanna give it
               G 
Now you wanna give it all away
 C9 
I don' t wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
               G 
Why you wanna give it all away
           C9 
Hey, hey, givin it all,
 D/F#             G                          C9 
givin it all....away

                   G                              C9 
Why do you want me?
                   G 
Why do you want me?
 C9                          D/F#                   G 
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot