bird on the wire

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.

(bkz: leonard cohen)