Free Man in Paris - wikipedia Free Man in Paris `` Free Man in Paris '' Single by Joni Mitchell from the album Court 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 ) `` Help Me '' ( 1974 ) `` Free Man in Paris '' ( 1974 ) `` Big Yellow Taxi ( live ) '' ( 1974 ) Court and Spark track listing `` Help Me '' ( 2 ) `` Free Man in Paris '' ( 3 ) `` People 's Parties '' ( 4 ) `` Free Man In Paris '' is a song written by Canadian singer - songwriter Joni Mitchell. It appeared on her 1974 album Court and Spark, as well as her live album Shadows and Light. It is one of her most popular songs. The song is about music agent / promoter David Geffen, a close friend of Mitchell in the early 1970s, and describes Geffen during a trip the two made to Paris with Robbie and Dominique Robertson. 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. '' `` Free Man in Paris '' went to number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and to number two on the Easy Listening chart. Contents 1 Composition and style 2 Notable versions and covers 3 Personnel 4 References 5 External links Composition and style The home key of the song is A-major. The frequent substitution of `` flatted '' scale degrees ( flat - 6 and flat - 7 ; that is, in A-major, F - natural and G - natural in place of F# and G# ) adds a jazzy folky sound to the song. The time signature is 4 / 4 except the compound quintuple meter intro counted as 15 / 8 or simply 2 bars of 6 / 8 plus 3 eighth notes. The opening melodic lick E-F # - E-E-A ( set to the words `` The way I see it '' ) is the fundamental source of the song 's vocal line. It also foreshadows some of the dramatic chord progressions. The pattern is composed of two simple motions. The first is E-F # - E, a neighbouring - tone pattern in which the upward step to F#, and immediate return to E serve to embellish the E. The second is the upward motion from E to A in which the upward skip to A embellishes the E. Through both these simple motions, the primary melodic tone E is said to be prolonged over the entire lick. In scale step notation, these motions can be notated as 5 - 6 - 5, and 5 - 1. Notable versions and covers In the 1970s, an instrumental version of the song was the theme music used for CBC Television 's The Saturday Evening News, which aired at 6 p.m. till 1982 when it was replaced with Saturday Report. `` Free Man In Paris '' has been covered by Aimee Mann, Neil Diamond, Sufjan Stevens ( on the album A Tribute to Joni Mitchell ), Adrienne Young, Phish, Elton John, Alanis Morissette and JoJo who changed the title to `` White Girl in Paris ''. It is ranked # 470 on Rolling Stone 's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In April 2000 the song was performed by Elton John at an all - star celebration of Mitchell, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, presented by the TNT network. Personnel 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 References Jump up ^ Joni Mitchell looks at both sides now : her hits -- and misses, by Robert Hilburn, Los Angeles Times, 7 December 1996. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2002 ). Top Adult Contemporary : 1961 - 2001. Record Research. p. 172. Jump up ^ `` Jun 25, 2010 Setlist ''. Phish.net. 2010 - 06 - 25. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 09. Jump up ^ `` Joni Mitchell - A Chronology of Appearances ''. Retrieved September 3, 2016. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Joni Mitchell Studio albums Song to a Seagull ( 1968 ) Clouds ( 1969 ) Ladies of the Canyon ( 1970 ) Blue ( 1971 ) For the Roses ( 1972 ) Court and Spark ( 1974 ) The Hissing of Summer Lawns ( 1975 ) Hejira ( 1976 ) Don Juan 's Reckless Daughter ( 1977 ) Mingus ( 1979 ) Wild Things Run Fast ( 1982 ) Dog Eat Dog ( 1985 ) Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm ( 1988 ) Night Ride Home ( 1991 ) Turbulent Indigo ( 1994 ) Taming the Tiger ( 1998 ) Both Sides Now ( 2000 ) Travelogue ( 2002 ) Shine ( 2007 ) Live albums Miles of Aisles Shadows and Light Amchitka, The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace Compilation albums Hits Misses The Beginning of Survival Dreamland Songs of a Prairie Girl Love Has Many Faces : A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced Singles & key songs `` Both Sides, Now '' `` Chelsea Morning '' `` Big Yellow Taxi '' `` Woodstock '' `` Little Green '' `` Carey '' `` California '' `` This Flight Tonight '' `` River '' `` The Last Time I Saw Richard '' `` You Turn Me On, I 'm a Radio '' `` Help Me '' `` Free Man in Paris '' `` Down to You '' `` Coyote '' Collaborations `` You 've Got a Friend '' `` You Can Close Your Eyes '' `` Long Ago and Far Away '' The Last Waltz The Wall -- Live in Berlin `` Got ' til It 's Gone '' River : The Joni Letters Related articles Discography Albums Songs Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_Man_in_Paris&oldid=809666340 '' Categories : 1974 songs 1974 singles Folk songs Joni Mitchell songs Songs written by Joni Mitchell Songs about Paris Song recordings produced by Joni Mitchell Hidden categories : Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2012 Articles with unsourced statements from November 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk nynorsk Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 10 November 2017, at 16 : 42. 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Question: who was a free man in paris written about
Answer: music agent/promoter David Geffen