Fly away little pretty bird Fly, fly away Fly away little pretty bird And pretty you'll always stay
I see in your eyes a promise Your own tender love you'll bring But fly away little pretty bird Cold runneth the spring
Love's own tender flames warm this meeting And love's tender song you sing But fly away little pretty bird And pretty you'll always sing
I cannot make you no promise Love is such a delicate thing Fly away little pretty bird For he'd only clip your wings
Fly away little pretty bird Fly, fly away Fly away little pretty bird And pretty you'll always stay
Fly far beyond the dark mountains To where you'll be free evermore Fly away little pretty bird Where the cold winter winds don't blow
Source: booklet accompanying Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard 'Hazel and Alice' Rounder LP 0027.
Note by Hazel Dickens: 'When I wrote "Pretty Bird" I was going through a lot of changes. Women have always been so put down and conditioned to believe certain lies about themselves that when I finally met a supposedly liberated man who was willing to accept me on an equal basis, I found it difficult to believe. Out of all these mixed feelings and ponderings, I wrote "Pretty Bird"'.