The song is about humanity and its tendency to never learn from its mistakes. The first king hogged all the wealth of the kingdom to himself, leaving his subjects to starve and rot away on the streets. He forced his queen to bear him a child and she died giving birth to him. His son grew up and left...
[Verse 1]
There was a king
Living carefree
He wanted the world he wanted everything
He ruled with a fist
His people were starved
He watched as they begged behind his castle guards
Diamonds and pearls
Emeralds and gold
He bathed in the riches only he could know
But with time came age
His health in decline
The fate of his legacy left to the tidеs
So he ran to his queen and demanded a child
Plantеd his seed then he cast her aside
Several moons later she bore him a son
But died just to give him his own flesh and blood
Ooh
Ooh
[Verse 2]
The son grew like weeds
He soon was eighteen
He ventured outside of the castle to see
The faces so gaunt
The dead in the streets
They cried out for help but nobody could hear
Deep down inside him something had stirred
He laughed at the ruins his father incurred
Fire in his veins he stormed back to the throne
Stared down the king with a rage still unknown
Ooh-ooh-ooh
[Verse 3]
The father decreed
The new rule of law
His son to be banished outside of the walls
But the son had a plan
And his heart was convinced
There'd never be room for both king and a prince
He rallied the people and charged through the gates
Shield in one hand but the other a blade
With one fell swoop his own father deposed
He sat on the throne and adorned his new crown
Ooh
[Verse 4]
The son was elated
The kingdom was his
Diamonds and emeralds and gold-plated bliss
But what of the people
The legends don't say
Just like a memory
They faded away
[Outro]
There was a king
Living carefree
He wanted the world he wanted everything