Like a straw in the wind
I go whirling around
Like a bird who's just learnin' to fly
Feet are not on the ground

Drift from pillar to post, so helplessly
What wanted the most, winds up a ghostly memory

My man is gone and when your man is gone
Your world just falls apart
Nothing you try to do
Helps you to comfort your heart

Don't yo' heart get all the bricks
Where your hopes come unpinned
Trouble steps in and make you feel
Like a straw in the wind

Like a straw in the wind, free and easy
That's my style, I go whirling around
Howdy-do me? Watch me smile
Like a bird who's just learned to fly
Fare the well me after a while

Feet are not on the ground
So I gotta roam, drift from pillar to post
Sweetenin' water, cherry wine
So helplessly, thank you
Kindly suits me fine

What I wanted the most, winds up a ghostly memory
My man is gone and when your man is gone
Your world just falls apart
So any place I hang my hat is home

Birds roostin' in a tree
Pick up and go, and the goin' proves
That's how it oughta be
I pick up too

When the spirit moves me
Cross the river, run the bend
Howdy stranger? So long friend
There is a voice in the lonesome wind

I hear a-whisperin' roam
I'm goin' where a welcome mat is
No matter where that is
'Cause any place I hang my hat is home

Copyright: BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Writer(s): HAROLD ARLEN, TED KOEHLER