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Song Parodies -> "The Rex of the Oedipus Peril"
Original Song Title:
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
Original Performer:
Gordon Lightfoot
Parody Song Title:
"The Rex of the Oedipus Peril"
Parody Written by:
Michael Pacholek
The Lyrics
They say this cat Oedipus was a bad mother... (Shut your mouth!)
The legend lives on from from old Sophocles on down
of the Rex, that's to say "King" in Latin.
Though he wrote in Greek, for the theater geeks
in the seats, it was marble they sat in.
With a load of old lore, 2,500 years more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald's yet gave us.
The Greeks liked heroes, and from humble ranks rose
men like Theseus, Perseus to save us.
Those guys were the pride of the Athenian side
and then there was protagonist Theban.
He gave some good thinks to beat riddle of Sphinx
and he gave them something to believe in.
Concluding some terms that would make people squirm
did the king and queen act so pathetic.
They left son to cry and to suffer and die
to avoid a great curse so prophetic.
The blind seer (really!) made a tattletale sound
after Oedipus had coronation.
He became incensed at the bad pestilence
that had cut a swath of devastation.
The King Laius, late, met a terrible fate
when he drunkenly fought man he knew not.
Jocasta, his Queen, stepped back into his scene
but to marry that man, ma'am, you do not!
When pestilence came, Oedipus came on deck
saying, "Fellas, let's blame this on Creon."
But when he figured out, he did whine and did pout
saying, "Fellas, you're not putting me on!"
The Queen hanged herself on incestuous shelf
and much sadder is Sophocles' carol.
Into the eyes, "Ouch!" with his dear late wife's brooch
went the Rex of the Oedipus Peril!
Does anyone know why the love of Mom goes?
Is it ultimate in degradation?
The modern shrinks say that it's only a play.
It's a Sigmund of imagination!
Oed might have cracked up when he put out his eyes
and they're leaking blood and pus and water.
And all that remains is the losses and pains
of Antigone, his baby/granddaughter!
The Aegean rolls while Sophocles sings
of the tragedy in Thebes' royal mansion.
Colonus, it seems, was the site of some screams.
'Twas where Creon had sent hitman-horsemen!
And farther below, his poor daughter loved so.
Unlike sons, fatherly love could send her.
But watch it, you bums, that thought, it never comes.
That's Electra, as you should remember!
In a musty old hall at some college it's played
in its theater, not its cathedral.
The chorus, it chimes out old Sophocles' lines
of the Rex of the Oedipus Peril!
The legend lives on from from old Sophocles on down
of the great king whose life became icky.
But Theseus, it's said, gave him peace 'til he's dead.
Unlike Socrates, not slipped a mickey!
of the Rex, that's to say "King" in Latin.
Though he wrote in Greek, for the theater geeks
in the seats, it was marble they sat in.
With a load of old lore, 2,500 years more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald's yet gave us.
The Greeks liked heroes, and from humble ranks rose
men like Theseus, Perseus to save us.
Those guys were the pride of the Athenian side
and then there was protagonist Theban.
He gave some good thinks to beat riddle of Sphinx
and he gave them something to believe in.
Concluding some terms that would make people squirm
did the king and queen act so pathetic.
They left son to cry and to suffer and die
to avoid a great curse so prophetic.
The blind seer (really!) made a tattletale sound
after Oedipus had coronation.
He became incensed at the bad pestilence
that had cut a swath of devastation.
The King Laius, late, met a terrible fate
when he drunkenly fought man he knew not.
Jocasta, his Queen, stepped back into his scene
but to marry that man, ma'am, you do not!
When pestilence came, Oedipus came on deck
saying, "Fellas, let's blame this on Creon."
But when he figured out, he did whine and did pout
saying, "Fellas, you're not putting me on!"
The Queen hanged herself on incestuous shelf
and much sadder is Sophocles' carol.
Into the eyes, "Ouch!" with his dear late wife's brooch
went the Rex of the Oedipus Peril!
Does anyone know why the love of Mom goes?
Is it ultimate in degradation?
The modern shrinks say that it's only a play.
It's a Sigmund of imagination!
Oed might have cracked up when he put out his eyes
and they're leaking blood and pus and water.
And all that remains is the losses and pains
of Antigone, his baby/granddaughter!
The Aegean rolls while Sophocles sings
of the tragedy in Thebes' royal mansion.
Colonus, it seems, was the site of some screams.
'Twas where Creon had sent hitman-horsemen!
And farther below, his poor daughter loved so.
Unlike sons, fatherly love could send her.
But watch it, you bums, that thought, it never comes.
That's Electra, as you should remember!
In a musty old hall at some college it's played
in its theater, not its cathedral.
The chorus, it chimes out old Sophocles' lines
of the Rex of the Oedipus Peril!
The legend lives on from from old Sophocles on down
of the great king whose life became icky.
But Theseus, it's said, gave him peace 'til he's dead.
Unlike Socrates, not slipped a mickey!
Just in case you were wondering... Both of my parents are still alive, and my mother knows I have feelings for someone else. (Yes, she knows about my Zeta jones. But I've never told her of my torrid correspondence with the Elf Princess.)
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Voting Breakdown
The following represent how many people voted for each category.
| Pacing | How Funny | Overall Rating | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 12 | 12 | ||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| 5 | 20 | 10 | 11 |
User Comments
Comments are subject to review, and can be removed by the administration of the site at any time and for any reason.
That's one problem my little brother doesn't have. This one, I actually like.
Well done, MP, particularly the "Sigmund of imagination" and "baby/granddaughter" lines.
nice bit of infotainment...a mother of a parody...liked the "ouch"
Funny from the Header to the Footnote! Five Drachmas!
Thank you. Bernard: Coming from you, that's one hell of a compliment. John: I have to admit, "A Sigmund of your imagination" is an old joke. I think I got it from the "M*A*S*H" shrink Sidney Freedman (Allan Arbus). Alvin: I had to look much of the story up, and when I saw the word "brooch," well, as I've said before, sometimes you just gotta get out of the way and let it write. TJC: I appreciate the rating, but drachmas were 3,000 to one dollar before the Euro, which is one reason it took Europe a while to pass us in economics again. (Having Bush running our economy also "helped.")
+
I was the only one with a lick o' sense in the whole play... :-P Anyway, excellent job.
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