They paved paradise and put up a parking lot, With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum And the charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see them Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot Hey, farmer, farmer, put away that D.D.T. Now give me spots on my apples But leave me the birds and the bees Please, don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot Late last night I heard the screen door slam And a big yellow taxi took away my old man Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot