Song Lyrics

Free Man In Paris

by Joni Mitchell

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The way I see it he said
You just can't win it
Everybody's in it for their own gain
You can't please 'em all
There's always somebody calling you down
I do my best
And I do good business
There's a lot of people asking for my time
They're trying to get ahead
They're trying to be a good friend of mine

I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
There was nobody calling me up for favors
And no one's future to decide
You know I'd go back there tomorrow
But for the work I've taken on
Stoking the star maker machinery
Behind the popular song

I deal in dreamers
And telephone screamers
Lately I wonder what I do it for
If l had my way
I'd just walk through those doors
And wander
Down the Champs Elysées *
Going cafe to cabaret
Thinking how I'll feel when I find
That very good friend of mine

I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
Nobody was calling me up for favors
No one's future to decide
You know I'd go back there tomorrow
But for the work I've taken on
Stoking the star maker machinery
Behind the popular song

© November 28, 1973; Crazy Crow Music

Footnotes

As archived in Mojo Magazine's March 2019 issue: “I wrote that in Paris for David Geffen [president of Asylum Records], taking a lot of it from the things he said…Another song about show business and the pressures. He didn’t like it at the time. He begged me to take it off the record. I think he felt uncomfortable being shown in that light.”

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Transcriptions of Free Man In Paris

Free Man In Paris has been recorded by 100 other artists

  • A Bird That Whistles (from "A Bird That Whistles" - 1996)
  • Alvarez, Guada (from "Homenaje a Joni Mitchell IX Festival Ondas de Jazz en la cuidad" - 2015)
  • Baker, Cheryl  (from "Cheryl Sings Joni" - 2017)
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  • Big Faith (from "Back To The Garden" - 1992)
  • Big Yellow (- 2016)
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  • Blue Tapestry (from "Blue Tapestry" - 2002)
  • Bruce Isaacson with Red Seidman (from "Live at the Hog's Breath Saloon Key West" - 2003)
  • Capt. Qitn (from "For the Love Of..Capt. Qitn." - 1999)
  • CCRobin (from "The Last CCRobin Tapes" - 1998)
  • Chappell Kingsland (from "this 'n' that" - )
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  • Del Paggio, Marcelo (from "Completa Luz " - 2003)
  • Diachun, Melody (from "Eq" - 2008)
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  • Diane Rosenthal, Dave Egelhofer, & Deeme Katson (from "Strathmore Presents - A Tribute To Joni Mitchell" - 2009)
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  • Engling, Gail  (from "Just Because..." - 2012)
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  • Lewis, Al (from "The Covers EP Vol.1" - 2013)
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  • Olympia (- 2016)
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  • Phish (- 2010)
  • Piano Project (from "Piano Tribute to Joni Mitchell" - 2021)
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  • Rachel Z Trio (from "Moon At The Window" - 2002)
  • Redtenbacher's Funkestra (from "BOTH SIDES NOW: AN HOMAGE TO THE SONGS OF JONI MITCHELL " - 2023)
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  • Rondonna (from "I Must Release" - 2022)
  • Rossio, Carol  (from "Pardon My French" - 2011)
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  • Security (from "Protocol" - 2012)
  • Sessoms, Vivian (from "The Songs of Joni Mitchell: A Soulful Tribute" - 2017)
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  • Susan Cowsill Band (from "Live at Carrollton Station Covered in Vinyl Series Vol. 1" - 2007)
  • Sutton, Tierney  (from "After Blue" - 2013)
  • Sutton, Tierney  (from "Paris Sessions 2" - 2022)
  • The Acoustic Guitar Troubadours (from "Acoustic Instrumental Memories" - 2009)
  • The Big Wu (- )
  • The Cardinal Sinners (from "Live From Crowell!" - 1992)
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  • Thorpe, Billy (from "Solo (The Last Recordings)" - 2007)
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