Raina Krangle Reimagines Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” with Fresh Folk Soul and ‘60s Reverence
“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” More than 50 years since Joni Mitchell first sang those words, singer-songwriter Raina Krangle breathes new life into them with her vibrant, acoustic-driven cover of Big Yellow Taxi, out now. Blending her signature Fresh Folk style with a stripped-down authenticity true to Joni’s spirit, Krangle’s version is both a nostalgic nod and a timely refresh—one that captures the urgency of now with the warmth of a shared past.
Backed by longtime music collaborator Brian Siegal and Chris Seldon (guitar/backing vocals), the track was originally recorded decades ago in Toronto—preserved on tape and brought forward into the present with subtle clean-up and deep respect for its original rawness. The simplicity of the arrangement lets Krangle’s voice shine through, drawing comparisons to icons like Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow, but always sounding like herself: earthy, luminous, and unmistakably honest.
“There was no folk club at university,” Raina recalls, “so Chris, Brian and I started the Western Guitar Society. We jammed every Friday night and played around campus. I practiced singing daily to Joni’s Clouds album—especially ‘Chelsea Morning.’ That’s how I trained myself to hold notes, shift to falsetto, and find my voice.”
Their acoustic version of Big Yellow Taxi was captured one weekend in Toronto. “If I hadn’t digitized the tape, it might’ve been lost forever,” she adds. “Years later, I listened to it in my old car on the way to perform at the Aurora Music Festival—singing along, grinning—and realized it still had something real and special.” That recording, she says, was “pure, unpolished, and real—just three young musicians capturing the essence of a timeless song.” And though the cassette is long gone and the car it played in has since been replaced, the feeling remains. “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. Records, tapes, even CDs—formats change, but the emotion of music is eternal.”
From those early days to today, Krangle has kept Mitchell’s music close. Her classroom even made the Top 10 in CBC Music’s 2019 Big Yellow Taxi challenge, an experience she calls “so thrilling.” But it was the rediscovery of the old university recording—rescued from tape, transferred to CD, and gently restored—that made her realize this version needed to be heard.
And the timing couldn’t be more right. “Now, with Canada-U.S. tariff wars and growing global tensions, two Canadian singer-songwriters—Joni, now in the U.S., and me in Canada—watch history unfold,” Raina reflects. What began as an environmental anthem has become something far broader. “That lyric—‘you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone’—it echoes now in broken alliances, disinformation, and a deep yearning for truth.”
This new release is a continuation of protest music’s legacy and a heartfelt reminder that art and activism can collide in meaningful, beautiful ways.
“This project is a statement about unity, kindness, and the need to stand against hate,” she says. “This song asks what went wrong.”
As Joni Mitchell’s legacy continues to rise in public consciousness—through tribute albums, documentaries, and sold-out concerts—Krangle’s version taps into something deep and timely. “The message feels even more urgent today,” she says. “And this version of the song, rooted in memory and reimagined for 2025, is my way of honouring that message.”
And now the song has been passed from one generation of Canadian artists to another. It’s memory, melody, and a message that still rings true.
Raina Krangle’s music has earned her finalist status in the Blues and Roots Radio International Song Contest and a nomination for the Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award. Her sound—often described as a meeting of Tom Petty and The Eagles with modern folk sensibilities—has graced venues across Canada, including legendary spots like Toronto’s Free Times Café and the El Mocambo and The Rainbow Bistro in Ottawa.
What was it like hearing your old university recording of “Big Yellow Taxi” after so many years—and what emotions came flooding back?
It was really funny! My old car had a tape deck, so I popped the tape in on my way to perform at the Aurora Music Festival. The start had me talking as I introduced the song, so I was laughing at hearing myself so young. Then I inadvertently started my “car karaoke with Raina” episode that I ended up starting many years later, as I sang along to myself. I actually have a video of this moment I’m going to share soon! It brought back a flood of happy, carefree memories and got me smiling and excited to go on the stage that day!
Why did you choose this moment in time to revisit and release your version of Joni Mitchell’s classic?
I meant to release it 2 years ago, actually, but in hindsight, now was the better timing. I ended up releasing “West Coast Huck Finn” first. I sent the voice note recording to my music collaborator and university friend, Brian Siegal, asking him if he could come up with a guitar solo for one of the parts, and he sent it back with the whole song produced and said, “Ya, I kinda turned it into a rock song! Just record your vocals.” Which I did and sent back virtually, so that song had to be released first.
Then “Moment By Moment” had to be officially released. It was an older recording, too, but a deeply personal one that was done by my former and late brother-in-law and producer, Danny Mazor. He was a producer and drummer who worked with Sony and many other clients before a tragic accident left him a quadripeligic. Music was his life and medicine, and he was commissioned to sing for a wheelchair race. He asked me to write the words, do the melody, and sing on it. Still devastated by his condition, I wanted to write something positive with hope. He created the entire song from his chair, using a sip and puff headset to control the computer and curate each and every note. When he passed last year, I just had to release it in his honour. It’s EDM, which is not my usual style, but I loved the challenge and, of course, the positive message I tried to convey through it. So then…. It was FINALLY time to release this old cover song, “Big Yellow Taxi,” and with today’s world, this pure, authentic message really resonated and served to be an even better time to release it!
How do you feel the meaning of “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” has evolved since Joni first wrote it—and how does it resonate with you now?
Even though there are still many of the same environmental issues she wrote about then, there are sooo many other scenarios lately where this applies! It’s evolved to revive musical themes that still matter today, like the environment, truth, kindness, losing loved ones, and freedom!
With today’s political and economic climate of lost friendships & alliances between people and countries and between kindness and hate, it has a whole new meaning as well. Now, as we sit 55 years later in 2025 with tariff wars between our closest allies,…2 Canadian singer-songwriters, (Joni now in the US and I here in Canada) sit in wonder as to what will happen, with little in our control. “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone!”
There are also so many chapters of my life where that theme resonates with me. Discovering that tape made me think about old ways of listening to music: records, tapes, CD’s. Each medium had their own unique appeal.I remember the days of the Sony “Walkman” when music became portable for your workouts or runs! I also remember being excited to get that new record and head to Sam the Record Man to get it! Now kids don’t know the excitement of waiting for an album to come out, going to a record store to buy it, and spending the time to look through the tape jacket or back of the record to read all the details about who played on it, the lyrics, who did the artwork. It was a great thing to have lived through this era of music. Having things all digital now requires a big shift in how things are presented, and you only have about 3 seconds to capture an audience, but there are some positives with the fact that anyone can create music and put it out there without the record company gatekeepers.
This theme also resonated personally with me when I had a head injury in 2019 and lost my whole identity as a teacher and musician, neither of which I could do for a while. “You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone” alright! It was a long recovery process, and music and Joni’s music specifically actually helped me with that! I would do a little music therapy for myself each day, as I knew its healing benefits. At this acute phase, I was having really vivid dreams, and I remember this weird dream that I was hanging on the end of a pool floatie
that Joni was lying on, and we were talking! I said I had written a new song. I had just written “My Beautiful Dear” (another single release) and she said she wanted to hear it. In the dream, I couldn’t sing loud because the vibrations hurt my head, so I sang it quietly. She said, “Well, sing it like you MEAN it!” Ha! I woke up laughing and serendipitously got an email that day from Spotify telling me Joni Mitchell’s “Clouds” album was 50 years old! (Clouds 50 years Instagram post) I recognized the cover as comforting and familiar, and knew I had that album somewhere, which I later found in my large record collection from my parents. I didn’t really remember the deep connection from my 20s until, by candlelight, I spun the record and the first song was “Chelsea Morning”! I used to practice singing along to it on repeat for 3 years back in university in order to get better at switching to falsetto for the high notes. I figured if I could sing along to her, I would be able to sing anything! As soon as I put the record on, I began singing along, smiling, and starting to remember the words again. It was a very happy moment when my memory came back, and I felt good.
“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”
How did it feel to have your classroom recognized in CBC Music’s Big Yellow Taxi challenge, and how has Joni’s influence shaped your work as both an artist and educator?
It felt amazing! I was so proud of the kids and the whole team of parents, reading buddies, and co-workers who helped with this production, either by filming, helping with the artwork, or helping the young Grade 1 kids read and understand the lyrics! They learned the song’s message and what a “boutique” was! I teach in a very multicultural school, and many of our students don’t know English, but they learn very well through music so it was all great “teachable” moments and we had a great time doing this. It was very bonding for us all. It was my principal who told me first that morning that we came in the Top 10 with the “Passion Prize.” If there’s one thing I want my students to remember, it’s passion for music and how that can apply to any other area or subject. That was the same year I had the head injury, so I’m glad it happened after all that fun at least!
Joni’s music shaped me as an aspiring singer-songwriter when I began writing and playing as a teenager. I had all her records from my parents. I would listen and try to figure out where she ever took a breath to get those fluid notes, but if I could mimic her voice changes and breathing, I figured I’d be a much better singer! I loved all the artwork on her albums, too, and it was great, the lyrics were all there, so I could sing along and analyze her poetry. Then I started writing my own songs and poetry. Songs really are poems, and that’s one thing I always teach my students about music. We look at lyrics, formats like chorus, verse, bridge, and the messages a songwriter is trying to get across, and how songwriters are really just a mirror reflecting the times they’re in. The soundtracks of our lives really. While we also listen to a wide variety of cultural music, I’ve always shared Canadian musicians and influential songs that shaped culture, like “Big Yellow Taxi” with my classes. I played the video of my old class singing it in the “CBC Music Challenge” and was able to share my version of the song with my students, and in doing so, I showed them old concert live performances of Joni playing this song and more recently, her playing at the Newport Folk Festival. We do song recommendations in music class, and I like to hear what songs they like to listen to. I also think it’s really important for them to be exposed to the amazing “iconic” Canadian musicians who paved the way for the musicians they listen to now. Now they know what that word means, too!
As someone who honors musical memory while embracing the present, how do you envision passing these songs—and their messages—on to future generations?
I think this iconic song was written and performed by Joni with a lot of care and authenticity. I hope my version kept that spirit and her message alive, while reviving musical themes that still matter today, like the environment, truth, and kindness. It’s important to respect, preserve, and pay tribute to the music of the past—its artists, its stories, and their emotional impact, all of which has inspired the music of future generations.