They’re letting my Uncle Sid out of the slammer! (photo of Sid at the link… copies prohibited.)

Sid’s great escape from the Portobello Aquarium is about to become permanent.
.
.
.
“We are still trying to catch a new octopus to replace Sid, who will then be set free.”

Bummer for the new guy, of course, but good news for Uncle Sid!

…of course, as PZ points out, Sid has a short life expectancy, so it was probably time to go looking for a replacement anyway, before some little visitor to the aquarium asks why Sid has turned gray and started floating upside-down… So it turns out that freedom’s just another word for no much time to live.

Hey, that’s catchy…

Busted flat in Portobello, hiding in a drain
He was feeling just as trapped as he could be
Sid escaped from his little tank and tried to make it plain
He’d rather spend his last days in the sea

Five days later, Sid was seen… heading for the door
He didn’t make it, but you know, at least he tried
He saw an open doorway and he knew what it was for
He knew it had to lead to the other side

Freedom’s just another word for not much time to live
But better than the drainpipe where he hid
They couldn’t make him happy, so they gave what they could give
And it’s good enough to do what they just did
Good enough for me, and my octopus, Sid.

From the warm New Zealand ocean, to the Portobello tank
Hey, Sid, he was an underwater star
But even if they fed him, he couldn’t give them thanks
It ain’t free food, if jail is where you are.

And now that Sid is growing old, and soon is going to die
(They don’t live very long, like you or me)
His keepers soon will let him go, and he won’t ask them why—
If you’re gonna die, you might as well die free.

Freedom’s just another word for not much time to live
But better than the drainpipe where he hid
They couldn’t make him happy, so they gave what they could give
And it’s good enough to do what they just did
Good enough for me, and my octopus, Sid.

(la la la la…)