New Lyrics in Big Yellow Taxi?

[jwys_soapbox]

Yep, I heard that too, but not knowing the original song very well, I didn't think it unusual.

It does make sense--the opposite of "old man" is "ol' lady," but the replacement doesn't lend itself to the melody occupied by "old man"--too many syllables. You could just "lady" ("took away my lady"). One could say don't screw with the original and just ignore the gender specificity (I remember thinking "what balls" when I heard Everclear covering Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby" years ago) and Lindsey could always say he felt it appropriate to leave it the way it was because it reminded him of the sudden loss of his father--the big yellow taxi being a figure for death in that reading.

I like the band thing though because, although the song was recorded long before he knew what his next solo record would be, as an "acoustic" CD, it will apparently be one in which he will rely on few extra musicians ("Unplugged"), so the "took away my whole band" is kind of ironic.

John