"Free Man in Paris"
Single byJoni Mitchell
from the albumCourt and Spark
B-side	"People's Parties"
Released	July 1974
Recorded	1973
Genre	Folk jazz,jazz fusion
Length	3:02
Label	Asylum
Songwriter(s)	Joni Mitchell
Producer(s)	Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell singles chronology
"Help Me" (1974) "Free Man in Paris" (1974) "Big Yellow Taxi (live)" (1974)
Official Audio
"Free Man in Paris" onYouTube

"Free Man in Paris" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriterJoni Mitchell. It appeared on her 1974 albumCourt and Spark, as well as her 1980 live albumShadows and Light. It is ranked No. 470 onRolling Stone's list of the500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The song is about music agent/promoterDavid Geffen, a close friend of Mitchell in the early 1970s, and describes Geffen during a trip the two made to Paris withRobbie Robertson and Dominique Robertson.^[1] While Geffen is never mentioned by name, Mitchell describes how he works hard creating hits and launching careers but can find some peace while vacationing in Paris. Mitchell sings "I was a free man in Paris. I felt unfettered and alive. Nobody calling me up for favors. No one's future to decide."

Billboard described it as having a "good mix of acoustic and electric instrumentals" with Mitchell's "distinctive vocals."^[2]Cash Box said that "lyrically, this is a total gem and the musical arrangement is letter perfect" and that "the melody is infectious."^[3]Record World said that with this song Mitchell "needs no aid other than a healthy ear from American hit-pickers to ensure her yet another triumph."^[4]

Bob Dylan selected it for inclusion on theStarbucks compilation albumJoni Mitchell: Selected Songs in 2005. For the album's liner notes, Dylan wrote: "I always liked this song because I'd been to Paris and understood what being a free man there was all about. Paris was, after all, where freedom and theguillotine lived side by side. I'm not so sure that the meaning I heard in the song was what Joni intended but I couldn't stop listening to it".^[5]

"Free Man in Paris" went to number 22 on theBillboard Hot 100 and to number two on theEasy Listening chart.^[6]

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• In the 1970s, an instrumental version of the song was the theme music used for CBC Television'sThe Saturday Evening News, which aired at 6 p.m. until 1982 when it was replaced withSaturday Report.
• Aimee Mann
• Neil Diamond
• Sufjan Stevens (on the albumA Tribute to Joni Mitchell)
• Adrienne Young
• Phish
• Alanis Morissette
• JoJo who changed the title to "White Girl in Paris".^[7]
• In April 2000 the song was performed byElton John at a celebration of Mitchell, at theHammerstein Ballroom in New York, staged by theTNT network.^[8]

• Joni Mitchell – vocals, guitars
• Tom Scott –woodwinds
• José Feliciano,Larry Carlton – electric guitars
• Wilton Felder – bass
• John Guerin – drums
• David Crosby and Graham Nash – backing vocals

• Robertson, Robbie (November 19, 2012)."Free Man in Paris Interpreted".PBS.

• Songs about Paris
• 1973 songs
• 1974 singles
• Joni Mitchell songs
• Songs written by Joni Mitchell
• Song recordings produced by Joni Mitchell
• Asylum Records singles

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