Bird on the Wire est, avec Suzanne, Hallelujah et quelques autres, une chanson phare de Leonard Cohen. Elle est enregistrée le 26 septembre 1968 à Nashville et est incluse dans son deuxième album intitulé Songs from a Room.
Même si Leonard Cohen l'a décrit comme étant « une simple chanson country », les paroles, parlant de le volonté d'être libre en s'affranchissant même de l'amitié et de l'amour des siens, en ont touché plus d'un.
Le morceau Bird on the Wire a eu une grande influence dans le milieu country. Il a été repris par de nombreux artistes tels que Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, ou encore Joe Cocker.

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
For 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