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