Lyric discussion by Tiaja 

Cover art for King Of Pain lyrics by Sting

It's about greek predestination with a heavy reference to Oedipus Rex. It discusses the fact that, in that system of belief, no matter who you are or how hard you try, your fate is your fate, your destiny is your destiny, and even then most beautiful butterfly is trapped by a web, even a great and powerfull whale is beached by a simple ebb of the tide.