"He Went to Paris" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was first released on his 1973 album A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean and was his fourth and final single from that album. Although it never placed on the charts, it's become one of his most popular songs, having appeared on several of his greatest hits compilations.
Buffett was inspired to write the song after meeting musician Eddie Balchowsky,[2][3][4] a one-armed veteran of the Spanish Civil War he met while playing in Chicago.[5] On the live album You Had to Be There, Buffett mentions this as a favorite song he wrote.
The song appears on Songs You Know By Heart, a greatest hits compilation that includes Buffett's concert favorites ranging from 1973 to 1979. However, "He Went to Paris" was the only song off that album that Buffett rarely played live,[6] until he found out that Bob Dylan likes the song[7] and decided to start playing it on a more frequent basis. Buffett included a live version, recorded in Paris, France in 2009, on his album "Encores".
^"The lasting effects of war". Mediaburn. Archived from the original on May 15, 2015. Retrieved February 11, 2020. Tom introduces "Peat Bog Soldier" by Diane Weyermann. It is a powerful interview with Spanish Civil War veteran Eddie Balchowsky, who suffered a lifelong battle with depression, alcoholism, and drug addiction after a devastating combat injury.
