Though many of us in the younger generations may think that this is a Counting Crows song, it was actually originally written and performed by Joni Mitchell in 1970. The song covers such topics as development & urban sprawl:

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot.

It talks about deforestation and botanical gardens:

They took all the trees and put 'em in a tree museum. And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them.

And of course, as shown in the first line of this tip, Mitchell wrote about pesticides & chemicals: still an issue today, though not with DDT specifically.

Finally, the chorus brings it all home:

Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til it's gone.

Rebecca says: Ever since I learned the words to this song, I appreciate it so much more. I first wrote about it almost a year ago on my blog, greenerMIAMI. Watch the video to see and hear the Counting Crows version.