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 have been unkind
I hope you can just let it go by
If I have been untrue
I hope you know it was never to you

Like a baby still born
Like a beast with his horn
I have torn anyone
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
Like a worm on a hook
Like a knight from some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee