Free Man In Paris - Live Version Lyrics
Joni Mitchell
Lyrics
FREE MAN IN PARIS
Joni Mitchell
"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 out those doors
And wander
Down the Champs Elysees
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.
Song & Lyrics Facts
Joni Mitchell's live version of "Free Man In Paris" was released on her 1974 album, Court and Spark. The song was written by Joni Mitchell herself and features a full band including bassist Jaco Pastorius, drummer John Guerin, guitarist Larry Carlton and keyboardist Joe Sample.
Lyrically, the song is about an artist who flees to Paris in search of freedom from the mundane life they lead back home, while musically it has a jazz-influenced folk sound. The lyrics are thought-provoking and powerful, with lines such as "Oh I'm a free man in Paris / I feel liberated at last".