Like a bird on a wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my own way to be free
Like a worm on a hook
Like a knight in some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons just for thee
If I have ever been unkind
I hope that you can just let it go by
If I have ever 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, I will make it all up to thee
I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch
Now he said to me, "Don't ever ask for so much."
And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door
She cried out to me, "Why not ask for more?"
Like a bird on a wire
And like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my own way to be free
Oh how I tried
Oh how I tried
Oh how I tried
Oh how I tried
In my plight to be free