"Free Man In Paris" by Joni Mitchell
Note: Joni Mitchell changes octaves in the smoothest way ever, and
she often "slides" her voice into the next chord. ie; from regular A,
to barred A, imo. You need to really listen to this song a lot, to get
the rhythm changes of her vocals to match the strum pattern.
The intro and the instrumental are just my "campfire version", with no
intent of exactness.
The "lick" right after verse 1 is probably best skipped for one guitar,
unless you're a pro, which I am not. Your tips are welcomed, as this is my
first tab or chord rendition.
Standard Tuning
[+++++++++++++++++]Odd Chords
Em9 x20002
Asus4 x2220x (or try Am)
bA barred A on the 5th fret
INTRO: (barre the F,G, and A)
One strum: C D F F... F....GxA.
or
F.G.A...Dm.C.A (strumming "barred A" right into verse)
A (/barre A) D
The way I see___ it he said, you just can't win it,
Everybody's [G]in it for their own gain; you can't please 'em all,
There's always [F]somebody calling you [A]down,
I do my best and [bA]I do good [D]business,
There's a lot of people [G]asking for my time,
They're tryin' to get ahead;
they're tryin' to [C]be a good friend [A]of mine__,
(optional lick before chorus) e-----9h10-9-10-9-
B--10------------10
Chorus
[A]I was a [F]free man in Paris,
I felt [G]unfettered and alive,
[C]There was nobody [Asus4]callin' me up for fav[D]ours
and no-ones [A]future to decide,
You know I'd [F]go back there tomorrow
but [G]for the work I've taken on,
[C]stokin' the [Asus4]star maker mach[D]inary behind [A]the popular songs.
(My inaccurate Instrumental)
Em9....A__..... Em9....A__..... Em9....A__.....
[C] [D] [F] [C] [D] [G] [A] [C] [D] [F] [C] [D] [G] [A]
Verse 2:
I deal in [A]drea[bA]mers and telephone scream[D]ers,
Lately I [G]wonder what I do it for; if I had my way,
I'd just [C]walk through those doors, and [bA]wan-der,
down the Champs El[A]ysees;
[D]going cafe to [G]cabaret, thinking
how I'd feel when I find,
that [C]very good friend [A]of mine__,
Chorus:
[A]I was a [F]free man in Paris,
I felt [G]unfettered and alive,
[C]There was nobody [Asus4]callin' me up for fav[D]ours
and no-ones [A]future to decide,
You know I'd [F]go back there tomorrow
but [G]for the work I've taken on,
[C]stokin' the [Asus4]star maker mach[D]inary behind [A]the popular songs.
(Outro Chord bit)
[A] [C] [D] [F] [C] [D] [G] [A]
Note: Joni Mitchell changes octaves in the smoothest way ever, and
she often "slides" her voice into the next chord. ie; from regular A,
to barred A, imo. You need to really listen to this song a lot, to get
the rhythm changes of her vocals to match the strum pattern.
The intro and the instrumental are just my "campfire version", with no
intent of exactness.
The "lick" right after verse 1 is probably best skipped for one guitar,
unless you're a pro, which I am not. Your tips are welcomed, as this is my
first tab or chord rendition.
Standard Tuning
[+++++++++++++++++]Odd Chords
Em9 x20002
Asus4 x2220x (or try Am)
bA barred A on the 5th fret
INTRO: (barre the F,G, and A)
One strum: C D F F... F....GxA.
or
F.G.A...Dm.C.A (strumming "barred A" right into verse)
A (/barre A) D
The way I see___ it he said, you just can't win it,
Everybody's [G]in it for their own gain; you can't please 'em all,
There's always [F]somebody calling you [A]down,
I do my best and [bA]I do good [D]business,
There's a lot of people [G]asking for my time,
They're tryin' to get ahead;
they're tryin' to [C]be a good friend [A]of mine__,
(optional lick before chorus) e-----9h10-9-10-9-
B--10------------10
Chorus
[A]I was a [F]free man in Paris,
I felt [G]unfettered and alive,
[C]There was nobody [Asus4]callin' me up for fav[D]ours
and no-ones [A]future to decide,
You know I'd [F]go back there tomorrow
but [G]for the work I've taken on,
[C]stokin' the [Asus4]star maker mach[D]inary behind [A]the popular songs.
(My inaccurate Instrumental)
Em9....A__..... Em9....A__..... Em9....A__.....
[C] [D] [F] [C] [D] [G] [A] [C] [D] [F] [C] [D] [G] [A]
Verse 2:
I deal in [A]drea[bA]mers and telephone scream[D]ers,
Lately I [G]wonder what I do it for; if I had my way,
I'd just [C]walk through those doors, and [bA]wan-der,
down the Champs El[A]ysees;
[D]going cafe to [G]cabaret, thinking
how I'd feel when I find,
that [C]very good friend [A]of mine__,
Chorus:
[A]I was a [F]free man in Paris,
I felt [G]unfettered and alive,
[C]There was nobody [Asus4]callin' me up for fav[D]ours
and no-ones [A]future to decide,
You know I'd [F]go back there tomorrow
but [G]for the work I've taken on,
[C]stokin' the [Asus4]star maker mach[D]inary behind [A]the popular songs.
(Outro Chord bit)
[A] [C] [D] [F] [C] [D] [G] [A]
