The narrator's exaggerated moral lesson collides with the disastrous family relationships of Oedipus. The song uses dark humor, incest references, and a deliberately distorted final rhyme. All six printed blocks are retained in this author-sheet edition.
From the Bible to the popular song
There's one theme that we find right along.
Of all ideals they hail as good
The most sublime is Motherhood.
There was a man, though, who, it seems,
Once carried this ideal to extremes.
He loved his mother and she loved him,
And yet his story is rather grim:
There once was a man named Oedipus Rex.
You may have heard about his odd complex.
His name appears in Freud's index,
'Cause he loved his mother.
His rivals used to say quite a bit
That as a monarch he was most unfit,
But still and all they had to admit
That he loved his mother.
Yes, he loved his mother
Like no other,
His daughter was his sister, and his son was his brother.
One thing on which you can depend is:
He sure knew who a boy's best friend is.
When he found what he had done,
He tore his eyes out one by one.
A tragic end for a loyal son
Who loved his mother.
So be sweet and kind to mother, now and then have a chat,
Buy her candy or some flowers or a brand new hat,
But maybe you had better let it go at that,
Or you may find yourself with a quite complex complex,
And you may end up like Oedipus ---
I'd rather marry a duck-billed pledipus
Than end up like old Oedipus Rex.