Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.

Like a worm on a hook,
like a knight from some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee.

If I, if I have been unkind,
I hope that you can just let it go by.
If I, if I have been untrue

I hope you know it was never to you.
Like a baby, stillborn,
like a beast with his horn

I have torn everyone who reached out for me.
But I swear by this song
and by all that I have done wrong

I will make it all up to thee.
I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch,
he said to me, "You must not ask for so much."

And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door,
she cried to me, "Hey, why not ask for more?"


Oh like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.