Artist
Joni Mitchell
Lyrics
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 them all
There's always somebody callin' you down
I do my best and I do good business
There's a lot of people askin' 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 callin' 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
Stokin' the star maker machinery
Behind the popular song
I deal in dreamers
And telephone screamers
Lately I wonder what I do it for
If I had my way
I'd just walk through those doors
And wander down the Champs-??lys??es
Goin' caf?? to cabaret
Thinkin' how I'd feel when I find
That very good friend of mine
I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
Nobody was callin' 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
Stokin' the star maker machinery
Behind the popular song
He said you just can't win it
Everybody's in it for their own gain
You can't please them all
There's always somebody callin' you down
I do my best and I do good business
There's a lot of people askin' 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 callin' 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
Stokin' the star maker machinery
Behind the popular song
I deal in dreamers
And telephone screamers
Lately I wonder what I do it for
If I had my way
I'd just walk through those doors
And wander down the Champs-??lys??es
Goin' caf?? to cabaret
Thinkin' how I'd feel when I find
That very good friend of mine
I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
Nobody was callin' 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
Stokin' the star maker machinery
Behind the popular song
RS500_rank
470
Length
3:03
BPM
162.5
Released Year
1974
Genre Era
Genre
Key
A m
Produced By
Mitchell, Henry Lewy
Released Info
Feb. '74 on Asylum
Chart Weeks
14 weeks
Chart Top
No. 22
Musicbrainz ID
8cd6a08f-2c76-2767-c358-fb67df2d6a7b
Song Note Source
Rolling Stone 500
Song of Day Date
Written By
Mitchell
Album
Court and Spark (Elektra)
Song Status
Mitchell told ROLLING STONE that Court and Spark marked a "turning point" for her. "I perceived my inability to love," she said. "It horrified me." She put her fear into the jazzy beauty of "Free Man in Paris." Rumor had it the "Free Man" of the song was her label boss at the time, David Geffen.