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.