The way I see it, 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 And 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 was unfettered and alive There was nobody to call 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 Stokin' the star maker machinery Behind the popular song I deal in dreamers And telephone schemers Lately I wonder what I do it for If l had my way, I'd walk through that door 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 was unfettered and alive There was nobody to call 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 Stokin' the star maker machinery Behind the popular song I deal in dreamers And telephone schemers Lately I wonder what I do it for If l had my way I'd walk through that door And wander down the Champs Elysees Going cafe to cabaret Thinking how I'll feel when I find That very good friend of mine