"The way I see it," he said

"You just can't win it...

Everybody's in it for their own gain

You can't please 'em all

There's always somebody calling you down

I do my best

And I do good business

There's a lot of people asking for my time

They're trying to get ahead

They're trying to be a good friend of mine



I was a free man in Paris

I felt unfettered and alive

There was nobody calling me up for favors

And no one's future to decide

You know I'd go back there tomorrow

But for the work I've taken on

Stoking the star maker machinery

Behind the popular song



I deal in dreamers

And telephone screamers

Lately I wonder what I do it for

If l had my way

I'd just walk out those doors

And wander

Down the Champs Elysees

Going cafe to cabaret

Thinking how I'll feel when I find

That very good friend of mine



I was a free man in Paris

I felt unfettered and alive

Nobody was calling me up for favors

No one's future to decide

You know I'd go back there tomorrow

But for the work I've taken on

Stoking the star maker machinery

Behind the popular song.