Watch Great Grandpa Cover Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”
Great Grandpa made one of the best albums of 2019 with Four Of Arrows, and the Seattle-bred band were recently in the studios for Seattle public radio station mainstay KEXP. There they recorded a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” the iconic environmental ditty that Mitchell wrote for 1970’s Ladies Of The Canyon. They stick pretty close to the sunny morbidity of the original, and Menne gets to stretch out a folkier side of their incredible voice.
Great Grandpa recorded the cover for KEXP’s International Clash Day, which takes place this Friday. This year’s theme is centered on climate change, and the station also got the Joy Formidable, Cartalk, and Pink Lotion to cover songs — check those out here.
“‘Big Yellow Taxi’ is the first song that came to mind for me when thinking about the environment,” Great Grandpa bassist Carrie Goodwin told KEXP. “Making sure to protect things, and not take them for granted, until they’re gone.”
Check out their take on the track below.
Great Grandpa are going on tour next month.