FEATURE SONG – FREE MAN IN PARIS by JONI MITCHELL

I’ve never been the world’s biggest Joni Mitchell, but this is one of a handful of her songs that I really like. Having said that, it never occurred to me until just yesterday to Google the meaning of it. By that I mean find out who the song is about. I can’t believe I haven’t done that before, especially since, in my forthcoming sequel to Papa Do Run, I devote a whole chapter to songs about “real” people. Duh-uh! Anyway, I’ve made up for lost time. I now know whom this song is about. You may have known the person behind the lyrics for donkey’s years, but I’m a bit of a late bloomer sometimes, so go easy on me SVP, as we say in Canada (short for s’il vous plait). Here, from Wikipedia:

"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 more popular songs...(and) is about music agent/promoter David Geffen, a close friend in the early 1970s and a trip they made to Paris with Robbie and Dominique Robertson.

Now, I think that’s pretty cool. I don’t usually go in for much celebraity gossip, but I do like to know about song enigmas, etc. However, this next part of the Wiki entry leaves me stymied. Read on:

In 2007 the song was covered by Sufjan Stevens for a tribute to Joni Mitchell compilation. Similar to his cover of The Beatles "What Goes On", Stevens kept only the lyrics and let the words inspire him to write a new arrangement and melody for the song Stevens has stated that with his cover he "decided to conjure up a party song, with strings and trumpets and trombones and vibraphones marching in a parade down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, all lit up with fireworks."

I don’t get it. To be totally honest here, this just ticks me off. You take a nice song like Free Man in Paris, with not only wonderful lyrics, but a great melody, and when you decide to cover it, you change half of it??!! Why would you do that? Why?? If mean, why not just write a whole new song, your own song, about a parade in the Champs Elysees? Maybe because I’m not a musician you can say that I just don’t understand. No argument from me. In my defense, I have to say that when I like a song, I really like it and don’t like to see it messed with. Okay, I know you all are familiar with this one, but here’s a nice video of it so we can all sing along, picture David Geffen with a phone receiver on each ear, and enjoy Joni’s brilliant lyrics AND melody.







Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Video by YT member hanbanxxx

Some additional thoughts and a question about covers

The two artists who are most heavily represented in the non-oldies section side of my CD shelf are Neil Young and Emmylou Harris. Those are two voices I will simply never get tired of hearing. Which segways perfectly into my question about covers. Just how free, exactly, are artists when they set out record someone else's song? This is a mystery to me on par with Eleusis in the ancient world, or, if you want a more contemporary comparison, how they get the centers in the Caramilk bars. Okay, here's the music example.

One of Neil's more popular songs is his sweet elegy for his first car (hearse, actually), "Long May You Run," released in 1976. Presumably he wrote down exactly what he wanted to say about it. I'll just make note of the lyrics in question for you:

It was back in Blind River in 1962 When I last saw you alive But we missed that shift on the long decline... Maybe the Beach Boys have got you now With those waves singing "Caroline No" Rollin' down that empty ocean road Gettin' to the surf on time...

Well, what could be more clear, really. Plus it's lovely song; no wonder Emmylou wanted to record it. You can find it on her 1982 album, "Last Date." But, astonishingly (to me at least) the lyrics are quite different:

Well it was back in Blind River in 1962 When I last saw you alive Rollin' down that empty ocean road Gettin' to the surf on time...

That's it. No shift, no Beach Boys. What gives? Now, don't get me wrong, I totally like both versions. This is not about which one is better. I'm just curious (not being a songwriter, or a song coverer, or a copyright lawyer, or any other kind of person who might have an interest in such matters) about how these kinds of lyrics-cut-and-paste jobs happen. Like, did Emmylou say to Neil, "Hey man, I really like your song and want to record it, but I just want to make a couple of teensy-weensy changes, 'kay?" And then Neil said, "Sure Emmy, do whatever you like." Hmm. Why wouldn't Neil (who has a rep for being pretty fussy about things) say, "Take it as is, or leave it"? If anyone out there can clear this up, by all means, let me hear from you.

Has everything finally been written?

Recently I was looking at a TV news station's website when an article caught my eye. It said My Sweet Lord Makes Waves Again. My first thought was, "My goodness, is someone suing George Harrison's estate?!" Death, taxes, and lawsuits?! With a quick click of the mouse I discovered the article was actually about that weird chocolate life-sized (at least as far as anyone knows for sure) Jesus. But it got me thinking again about a subject that crosses my mind every time I hear certain songs: Just what is the line between plagiarism and...and...not-plagiarism? George Harrison had to pony up beaucoup bucks when it was decided that even though he had "subconsciously" and "unintentionally" copied "He's So Fine" when he wrote "My Sweet Lord" - copy it he did. Well, we've already seen the Twinkie Defense, so why not this? Still, it makes me wonder- is there any combination of musical notes and phrases (in Western music at least) that hasn't been previously used by somebody? Just to be clear, I'm not talking about song titles. You can use the same title over and over as long as it's a completely different song. Take, for example, "Runaway." According to my Google search (and this was just the first 12 pages) that title has been applied to songs by the following artists: Avril Lavigne. Bon Jovi, Bubba Sparxxx, Cartel, The Corrs, Del Shannon, Jamiroquai, Jefferson Starship, Linkin Park, Nelly Furtado, Pandora, Pink, Tech N9NW, The Thompson Twins, Wyclef Jean, and Zebrahead. I didn't go over all of them with the proverbial fine-toothed comb, but I'm reasonably sure each one is a totally different song. And BTW, for the baby boomers out there, it took until page 10 for Del Shannon to show up! How things do change! Meanwhile, beside titles, copy-catting of song words and melodies also happens. Gary US Bonds even wrote a song complaining about it, although it seems to me that he kind of copied his own songs as much as anyone else. That's not particularly a criticism; I really like all his songs. It's just an observation.

Okay. The following are pairs of songs, mostly from the vintage years, that I think sound an awful lot alike, either in whole or in part, but to my knowledge did not end up in court. And hey, I sincerely hope I don't get anybody in trouble or anything...

Chuck Berry "Havana Moon"
The Kingsmen "Louie Louie"

Chicago "I'm a Man"
The Doobie Brothers "Long Train Running"

Airplane "Jane"
Toto "Make Believe"

Bobby Rydell "I Wanna Thank You"
Huey Piano Smith "Don't You Just Know It"

Johnny Ace "Pledging My Love"
The Shells "Better Forget Him"

The Harptones "Sunday Kind of Love"
Tim Tam & the Turn Ons "Wait a Minute"

Elvis "Suppose"
John Lennon "Imagine"

Ral Donner "Run Little Linda"
Dion & The Belmonts "Runaround Sue"

Well, there you go, that's my list. But I think the question still remains open. What do you think?