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.
this is beautiful my generation will never understand the art of music art like this the art of meaning the art of conveying a message of something meaningful i am 13 and i was the only one who even knew who johnny cash or Leonard cohen even was it is truly sad that we are all this artistically blind in our doomed generation