I'm the king's thirty second son
Born to him in thirty second's time
Born to him the night still young
Born to him with two eyebrows on
And that's all I was wearing
When I woke up staring at the world

My mom had been around the graves of queens
But not at all a sex machine
She liked to keep her body clean, clean
Thought the world to be quite obscene
But she retired to her chamber
And we remain quite strangers

And to see me made her awful sad
And to touch me made her awful sad
And to see me made her awful
And to touch me made her awful

I'm the king's thirty second son
And all it took was thirty second's time
But a spoiled little prince I was not
Had a chamber maid and a chamber pot
And there's thirty one others just like me
There's thirty one others I can be

Someimtes I'd stand by the royal wall
The sky'd be so big that it broke my soul
And I stood on my toes to catch a glimpse
Of my mother's eyes and my mother's skin
And she retired to her chamber
And we remain quite strangers

And to see me made her awful sad
And to touch me made her awful sad
And to see me made her awful
And to touch me made her awful


And one morning I woke up
And I thought Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus
Then one morning I woke up and I thought Rex, Rex, Rex
Then one morning I woke up
And I thought Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus
Thirty two's still a goddamn number
Thirty two's still counts
Gonna make it count
Gonna make it count
Gonna oh oh

Thirty two's still a goddamn number
Thirty two still counts
Gonna make it count
Gonna make it count
Gonna oh oh

Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the

I'm the king's thirty second son
There's thirty one others just like me
There's thirty one others on the way
There's thirty one others after that

Sometimes I stand by the royal gate
People screaming love and hate
And they scream
And they scream
And they scream
And they scream
Long live the king,
Long live the queen

And to see me made her awful sad
And to touch me made her awful sad
And to see me made her awful
And to touch me made her awful

And one morning I woke up
And I thought Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus
Then one morning I woke up and I thought Rex, Rex, Rex
Then one morning I woke up
And I thought Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus, Oedipus
Thirty two's still a goddamn number
Thirty two's still counts
Gonna make it count
Gonna make it count
Gonna oh oh

Thirty two's still a goddamn number
Thirty two's still a goddamn number
Thirty two's still a goddamn number
Thirty two's still a goddamn number

Thirty two
Thirty two
Thirty two
Thirty two
Thirty two
Thirty two
Thirty two

Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king
Long live the king


Lyrics submitted by medicine, edited by mosthuman

Oedipus Lyrics as written by Regina Spektor

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Oedipus song meanings
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    My Interpretation

    The name 'Regina' comes from Latin meaning 'queen'. So I think that the queen in the song is Regina Spektor herself. The king is the piano she's playing. From the interaction of the queen (Regina) and the king (piano), i.e. playing the piano, the son is born. This son is one of many (thirty two) notes or words. As Purple explained there are 32 words or syllables in (Long Life the King) × 8. I first thought that 32 had something to do with 32 notes in a measure like 32 1/8 notes in a 4/4 measure. Then I thought it might be keys of the piano. However, most modern pianos have 36 black and 54 white keys. And coming back to the piano as king interpretation: the keys are just body parts of the king. So I think it makes sense to see the son as a word or note. This is also compatible with "There's thirty one others just like me There's thirty one others on the way There's thirty one others after that" i.e. the new words/notes keep coming. Regina Spektor has written other songs with at least parts about the process of writing songs ('Making Records', 'Fidelity', 'The Flowers').

    mosthumanon February 02, 2013   Link

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