The key to singing this song is to mumble those lines. That's what I've done all these years. I must admit, it does sound like poverty is in there. I've been told the line is "your cage will be with purest gold, with doors of ivory," but it just doesn't feel right when I sing it that way. Why's a smart little bird like that going to get suckered into a cage, just because it has doors of ivory. It's still a cage.

I know why the caged bird sings. He wants to get out, not in.