Next week the FIFA World Cup starts. It is being co-hosted by 3 countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. 

The city of Toronto is hosting 6 matches. You can read more about it here: Toronto

Joni Mitchell is a Canadian singer song writer. Her music has folk, pop, rock and jazz influences in it. Her songs are often about social or environmental issues as well as her feelings about romance, confusion, sadness and joy. She moved to Toronto 1964 and started to perform in clubs and venues as an aspiring folk singer.

This is a song about the way the world is changing: the environment is being destroyed and the beauty of the world is lost. Joni said of the song -   

"I wrote 'Big Yellow Taxi' on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart ... That's when I sat down and wrote the song."