Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in some old midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free

Like a worm on a hook
Like a monk bending over the book
It was the shape, the shape of our love, twisted me

If I have been unkind
I hope you can just let it go right on by
If I have been untrue
It's just that I thought a lover had to be some kind of liar too

[guitar solo]

Like a baby stillborn
Like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me

But I swear, I swear by this song
I swear by all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee

I saw a beggar
He was standing there on his wooden crutch
Cries out to me
"You must learn not to ask for so much"
Another pretty woman
Yeah, waiting there in her darkened door
She cries out to me
"Why not ask for just a little bit more"

Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in some old midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free