Leonard Cohen schreef Bird On A Wire tijdens zijn verblijf op het Griekse eiland Hydra, waar hij in 1960 een woning had gekocht, zonder elektriciteit en stromend water. Hij ontmoette er zijn muze Marianne Ihlen, met wie hij een relatie begon. Cohen en Ihlen gingen in 1967 ieder hun eigen weg, maar ze bleven tot hun beider dood in 2016 contact houden.
Cohen schreef Bird On A Wire toen hij een vogel op een telefoondraad zag zitten en besefte dat de beschaving hem – helaas – had ingehaald: “It was begun in Greece because there were no wires on the island where I was living to a certain moment. There were no telephone wires. There were no telephones. There was no electricity. So at a certain point they put in these telephone poles, and you wouldn’t notice them now, but when they first went up, it was about all I did – stare out the window at these telephone wires and think how civilization had caught up with me and I wasn’t going to be able to escape after all.”
De song is indirect gericht tot Ihlen. Cohen stond bekend om zijn veelvuldige affaires met andere vrouwen, iets wat hem uiteraard niet in dank werd afgenomen door zijn partner. Uiteindelijk zou het (mede) aanleiding zijn tot hun scheiding.
Cohen opende zijn concerten vrijwel altijd met Bird On A Wire: “It’s that one verse where I say that I swear by this song, and by all that I have done wrong, I’ll make it all up to thee. In that verse it’s a vow that I’ll try and redeem everything that’s gone wrong. I think I’ve made it too many times now, but l like to keep renewing it.”
Kort voordat Ihlen in juli 2016 overleed aan leukemie, stuurde Cohen haar een afscheidsbrief:
Marianne Ihlen overleed op 28 juli 2016. Cohen volgde haar op 7 november van hetzelfde jaar.
[Verse 1]
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
[Bridge]
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
[Verse 2]
Oh 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
[Bridge]
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?”
[Outro]
Oh like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free
