Who did Joni Mitchell write the song “Free Man in Paris” about?
(Source: Far Out / ARTE France)
The song “Free Man in Paris” is one of Joni Mitchell’s best known and most famous creations and first appeared on her 1974 album Court and Sparks. A tribute to the city it is written about, the song contains elements of jazz, particularly in its distinct syncopated rhythms and harmonized woodwind hook.
Unusually, Mitchell sings the entire song from a male perspective, except for the verb phrase “he said” in the first line, which indicates direct speech. “I was a free man in Paris,” she tells listeners on the track. Obviously, she’s not singing about herself, but speaking these words on behalf of someone else. But whose?
When trying to figure out the subject of a song, the most obvious place to start is the singer’s romantic relationships at the time. Although Mitchell’s ex-boyfriend Graham Nash, of Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash fame, provides backing vocals on “Free Man in Paris,” the song has nothing to do with him.
It is not a love story, but a song Mitchell wrote on behalf of her close friend about her vacation in Paris with two other musicians. She noticed that her boyfriend seemed “loose and alive” on vacation for the first time since she had known him, and she felt moved to write a song about this observation.
“Free Man in Paris” cleverly contrasts the lightness of the vacation with the heaviness of the man’s day job. In this contrast, Mitchell brings a touch of tragedy to an otherwise cheerful and optimistic folk-jazz rocker.
(Source: Far Out / YouTube)
Who does the friend speak for then?
The man Mitchell wrote about is record executive David Geffen. She had met Geffen in Los Angeles in 1967 while trying to get a record deal through her manager, Elliot Roberts, an acquaintance of Geffen’s. The two became friends, especially after Mitchell moved to the West Coast after signing with LA-based Reprise Records.
In 1972, Mitchell signed with Geffen’s new label Asylum Records. Starting with the album For the rosesall studio albums by Mitchell until 1994 Turbulent Indigo would be released by one of Geffen’s labels.
Given their long-standing friendship, it was natural that Geffen and one of his flagship artists would combine work and play. However, there is no doubt that their relationship was more than just friendship, and Geffen came out as gay two decades later.
Mitchell’s song is particularly unique because it takes the perspective of a businessman at the top of the music industry. One of the standout moments is a verse in which she rhymes “dreamers” with “telephone screamers,” juxtaposing the dream of working in the music industry with Geffen’s difficult reality. She emphasizes the weight of responsibility on his shoulders and reminds us that in Paris, he “can’t decide anyone’s future.”
Although it’s hard to feel sorry for billionaire Geffen when it comes to the aspiring musicians he makes or breaks, Joni Mitchell proves once again the enormous range of her talent as a songwriter with this subject. And she turns it into an innovative soft rock classic.
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