Big Yellow Taxi

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

• classic
• Little did she know
• timeless
• hit

• catchy
• thoughtful
• meaningful
• smog-choked

• scenery
• dollar
• when I was a kid
• makes it her own

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell wrote a song called “Big Yellow Taxi” in 1970. Little did she know when she wrote it that it would go on to become one of the most famous songs ever written. Mitchell was a well-known songwriter, and she wrote many beautiful songs, but for some reason “Big Yellow Taxi” became her one timeless hit.
The song appeared on Mitchell’s album Ladies of the Canyon, and was then recorded by Bob Dylan in 1973 and it appeared on his album Dylan. Then, in 1994 Gospel singer Amy Grant recorded the song and it was again a big radio hit. Janet Jackson used a sample of “Big Yellow Taxi” in her hit song “Got Till it’s Gone,” which featured the rapper Q-tip. And now the Counting Crows and Vanessa Carlton have recorded the song again, meaning that it’s been popular for over 30 years.

Dialog

1. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

“Big Yellow Taxi” is a classic pop song because it’s catchy and fun, but it’s a great song because it’s thoughtful and meaningful. About the song, Joni said, “Living in Los Angeles, smog-choked L.A., is bad enough but the last straw came when I visited Hawaii for the first time. It was night time when we got there, so I didn’t get my first view of the scenery until I got up the next morning. The hotel room was quite high up so in the distance I could see the blue Pacific Ocean. I walked over to the balcony and there was the picture book scenery, palm tree swaying in the breeze and all. Then I looked down and there was this ugly concrete car park in the hotel grounds. I thought ‘They paved paradise and put up a parking lot’ and that’s how the song “Big Yellow Taxi” was born.”
Check out some of the lyrics:
They took all the trees, they put them in a tree museum
They charged the people a dollar an’ a half just to see ‘em
Don’t it always go to show
You never know what you got till it’s gone
They paved paradise, they put up a parking lot.

 

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Lesson MP3

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