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.