Be As The Trees

I spoke with the golden camel
And he told me to be as the trees
Take nothing from someone who has taken from me.


The first reference here is, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche which describes such themes as the "death of god", the Ubermensch, morality, etc, etc. The "golden camel" is Zoroaster, which his name roughly translates into golden camel. Furthermore this translation was picked to pay homage to "Gold Lion" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which is one of my personal favorite songs and of which had shamanic qualities that I wanted to emulate.
Trees throughout history have generally symbolized life, death, decay, and resurrection, however being as a tree means a few things in this context, first it refers to ancient beliefs and particularly Buddhist beliefs that trees can be a conduit from which demons and spirits can exist in. Taking in this case thus refers to the individuals making an atonement before cutting the tree to make sure that the tree does not take from the individual (such as wealth). The second reference here is a biblical one, from Ezekiel 15:6 which states that Jerusalem has become a vine among trees, and is thusly punished, with trees having many uses and vines not. The third reference is from the childhoods book The Giving Tree which tells of a selfless tree, which gives everything is has with no materialistic return from the taker. In essence being as the tree is to be unselfish, bringing one closer to the Ubermensch.


In the valley the thousand snake
Turned to bone and died
Your snake may be dead but mine is still alive.


Snakes too have heavy symbolist overtones. The thousand snake refers to the Yamata no Orochi, a massive 8-headed serpent said to be the size of a valley which has taken one daughter from the "Earthly Deities" for seven years and was then about to take the eighth before he is killed by the Japanese storm god Susanoo. The snake that is still alive is Mucalinda which protected the Buddha for 7 days from a storm as he meditated. Mucalinda is also used in Aldous Huxley's novel Island to represent the "communion of humans and nature." The snake that has died refers to snakes used in mythology in negative views, an example being the snake that tempted Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis. Furthermore, there is a heavy relationship between trees and snakes in mythology, typically with the snake protecting or coiled around any given Tree of Life and such.


She's a death angel and your a god too
But even space has its limits
And you still could cross them, could you?

There is no implicit reference here, but a vague kind of meaning can be individuals thinking that they are of the high order of man, engaging in animalistic acts of rape and sexual harrassment, this passage serves to introduce corruption in this narrative.

So as you grow, let the roots take hold of you
Its the only thing that you can allow to happen
And it hurts to know, that our lives mean nothing
We are just termites compared to Doctor Manhattan
And its something that I could never reach
Even through my snake because god is dead
To this end, sons of Cain
Make it the trend
Or so the golden said.

This passage is one of realization, in that we are verily incapable of achieving the higher state, where the verse was declaring what would be wanted, this one admits that its not possible, even with the help of Mucalinda are we incapable of reaching a higher state of enlightenment as did Buddha. The roots here, referring to evil, states it as an inevitablity.
Dr. Manhattan, of course, is the character from the Watchmen comic books as an example of an Ubermensch, or 'Superman', with the line "we are just termites" a reference to the line from the comic in which Dr. Manhatten says to Ozymandias, "And this world's smartest man means no more to me than does its smartest termite." This serves as a conversation between Ubermensch and man. The sons of Cain is another biblical reference, to which Cain murders his brother Abel, and is thus cursed to wander the earth as all humans are, uncapable of achieving the next step as is done in Childhood's End where man is allowed to leave Earth upon reaching the next step in evolution.

Of course, this is just a interpretation, I wrote this to be vague for a reason, so that each person can fill in their own puzzle pieces, and I have heard a few different ones. I discourage individuals reading my interpretation and thinking that it is the be-all-end-all.