Needles in the Camel's Eye

The title plays off of the parable that it is harder for a rich man to cross through the gates of heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. The painful image of the needle in the eye of the camel is a witty revenge against this, and as Brian Eno is a meta-rocker, I think here he is poking fun at the limitations of conventional morality and humility in favor of a rock and roll lifestyle. Rockers aren't concerned with the why, and the mysteries of existence, just the by and by of fun and pleasure seeking.

Eno can say whatever he wants about his lyrics, this one seems pretty coherent: "Those who know" are like gods or creators (omniscient). They "hide" the purpose or the meaning of life and yet they throw you into life and expect you to put the pieces together and sort it out. So the biblical camel will not only have a hard time to get through the needle, he's actually being ****ed over by the powers that be. So nevermind solving the mysteries of the universe, do something else, dont "ask why", don't obey those capricious gods. The punk-ish / in-your-face / mocking tune goes along with this sort of easy atheism. It also fits in with Eno's taste for post-modernism and rejection of "big truths" (check out his published diary A Year... on that matter) I personnaly think this kind of philosophy is too simplistic, yet it's a great song with a clear message. Any thoughts? cheers

The first song I heard by Eno, and probably favorite.

the guitar bridge is sublime

I would like to point out to everyone including Eno that just because something is written quickly and/or doesn't have any meaning to the author, doesn't mean that it doesn't have meaning. From my experience, sometimes those actually have the most important message.

No idea what it means except maybe it's about doing and discovering the impossible. I didn't understand a word of what was being sung until I looked up the lyrics, but it's a totally wonderfully completely brilliant song :D

needles in the camel's eye is a goofy combination of the phrases 'needle in a haystack' and 'the straw that broke the camel's back' isnt it???

needles in the camel's eye is a goofy combination of the phrases 'needle in a haystack' and 'the straw that broke the camel's back' isnt it???

what would we do without our rockstars?!

Well, Eno claims that he wrote this song in less time than it takes to sing it, and since most of the other lyrics on Here Come the Warm Jets were derived from him saying gibberish into a microphone, reversing it, and picking out the more intelligible phrases, I'd say this song doesn't mean a damn thing.