My interpretation of Joni Mitchell's famous song " Big yellow taxi" is broken down into three parts.  In the introduction of the song she talks about looking out into Nature and seeing how beautiful it all was but at second glance looks down and see's what man has done to nature.  That is they put up a parking lot industrializing and now having no space for the trees they now are treating them like they are extinct and have to pay to see them in a museum.  Her political stand is man should just leave nature alone and man doesn't realize what we had until its gone.
The second section talks about the poison DDT that is now in most places prohibited to use in farming.  This poison was making the fruit and vegetables look and taste better but was killing off the birds who were eating it.  Again she talks about how we don't realize what we have until its gone.
In her final section of her song she takes the political to personal and talks about someone leaving her in a yellow taxi or maybe a cop car and that she doesn't realize what she had until it's gone.  The moral of the story is man is doing more harm by trying to advance in industrialization while man is actually taking steps backwards in the process.  We need to enjoy what we have because "you don't know what you got til it's gone."