The bird is in the birdcage
Oh, the cruelest fate
To take for your delight his gift of flight away

A lover with no love life
A groom kept from his bride
Just beyond the walls and prison bars that hold him tightly by and by
Is there ever any wonder why the caged bird cries?

He retreats like frost in sunlight
Melts like wax beneath a flame
A kindly dog, when cornered, bites

He must be caged if he can't be tamed
(If he can't, if he can't, if he can't be tamed)
If he can't, if he can't be tamed
(If he can't, if he can't, if he can't be tamed)
He must be caged if he can't be tamed
(If he can't, if he can't, if he can't be tamed)
If he can't, if he can't be tamed

The hatter's in the madhouse
Must you the beast arouse?
The mercury will rise and burn his mind, by his delusion he's confined
Who could ever know what oddities he holds inside?