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 have been unkind,

Please just let it go by.

If I have been untrue

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.



It was never to you



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.