This is a cover version of Joni Mitchell’s, “Free Man in Paris” that was originally released on her 1974 album Court and Spark.
This track can be found on a 2007 tribute to Joni Mitchell compilation. 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.”
[audio:http://highrize.wordpress.com/files/2007/11/sufjan-stevens-free-man-in-paris.mp3][download]
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