Oedipus
Regina Spektor Lyrics

I'm the king's thirty second son
I am the 32nd son of the king

Born to him in thirty second's time
My birth only took 30 seconds

Born to him the night still young
I was born early in the evening

Born to him with two eyebrows on
I was born with fully formed eyebrows

And that's all I was wearing
I was born naked

When I woke up staring at the world
When I was born and opened my eyes for the first time

My mom had been around the graves of queens
My mother had been in the presence of deceased queens

But not at all a sex machine
But she was not promiscuous

She liked to keep her body clean, clean
She took good care of her personal hygiene

Thought the world to be quite obscene
She believed the world to be vulgar and indecent

But she retired to her chamber
But she withdrew to her private quarters

And we remain quite strangers
And we did not have a close relationship

And to see me made her awful sad
Seeing me caused her great distress and sorrow

And to touch me made her awful sad
Touching me caused her great distress and sorrow

And to see me made her awful
Seeing me was unbearable for her

And to touch me made her awful
Touching me was unbearable for her

And all it took was thirty second's time
I was born very quickly

But a spoiled little prince I was not
But I was not a coddled royal child

Had a chamber maid and a chamber pot
I had a servant to attend to my needs and a place to relieve myself

And there's thirty one others just like me
And there are 31 other sons of the king

There's thirty one others I can be
I am just like the other 31 sons, nothing special

Sometimes I'd stand by the royal wall
Sometimes I would stand near the castle walls

The sky'd be so big that it broke my soul
The vastness of the sky overwhelmed me emotionally

And I stood on my toes to catch a glimpse
I stood on my tiptoes to see

Of my mother's eyes and my mother's skin
To catch a glimpse of my mother's face

And one morning I woke up
And one morning I awakened

And I thought Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus
And I thought about Oedipus, a tragic figure in Greek mythology who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother

Then one morning I woke up and I thought Rex, Rex, Rex
Then I thought about the Latin word for 'king'

Thirty two's still a goddamn number
Being the 32nd son is not particularly significant

Thirty two still counts
But I still matter

Gonna make it count
I will make my life meaningful

Gonna oh oh
I am determined to do so

Long live the king
May the king reign for a long time

Long live the queen
May the queen reign for a long time

There's thirty one others on the way
There are more sons yet to be born to the king

There's thirty one others after that
And even more sons after that

Sometimes I stand by the royal gate
Sometimes I would stand at the castle entrance

People screaming love and hate
People outside the castle are shouting both love and hate

And to see me made her awful sad
Seeing me caused my mother great pain

And to touch me made her awful sad
Touching me caused my mother great pain

And to see me made her awful
Seeing me was unbearable for my mother

And to touch me made her awful
Touching me was unbearable for my mother