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 the hook like a knight from some old-fashiond book I have saved all my ribbons for thee and if I have been unkind I hope that you will just let it go by and if I have been untrue I hope you know it was never to you like a babe 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 the pretty woman leaning in her darkened door she cried to me "hey, why not ask for more?" like a bird on the wire like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free