The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate

The last line, "Why not be utterly changed into fire?", comes from one of the sayings of Abba Joseph in the Apophthegmata Patrum, or the Sayings of the Desert Fathers (much of which was translated from the original Coptic, a language of Egypt, into Greek).

“Abbot Lot came to Abbot Joseph and said: ‘Father, to the limit of my ability, I keep my little rule (a monastic structure of prayer, silence, work, and contemplation), my little fast, my prayer, meditation and contemplative silence; and to the limit of my ability, I work to cleanse my heart of thoughts, what more should I do?’ The elder rose up in reply, and stretched out his hands to heaven, and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire. He said: ‘Why not be utterly changed into fire?’” (explanation in parentheses added by me)

The Sayings were likely gathered together in approximately the 5th century following the death and resurrecion of Christ, gathered together from what until that point was largely an oral tradition (or sayings passed along by word of mouth from one monk to the next, or from one early Christian to the next). The Desert Fathers and Mothers were the first Christian monks, or monastics, predominately living in the deserts and wastelands of Egypt, Palestine, and Judea between the 2nd and 6th centuries. taking quite literally the commandment of the Gospels to 'sell all you have and give it to the poor' and leaving behind the trappings of wealth and society to withdraw into the sun and fire of the deserts in their pursuit of God. They went to these deserts in order that they might battle their own demons through prayer and humility, learning with utter honesty about who they were and, in the process, intimately coming to know the grace, love, and constant Presence of God. In many cases, these monks went so far as to seek to become almost one with God, taking on His attributes and characteristics to the point that the negative Passions (i.e. selfishness, pride, lust, anger, vainglory, etc.) were rendered null and void as they became as 'perfect' in love as possible.

Christianity in the West struggles with some of these concepts, as much of them of are remain only found within Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, or Coptic Orthodox theology, practice, and thought.

When I listen to this song, I feel the influence of the Desert Fathers and early monastic thought, particularly built around the last line and stemming backward into other parts of the song ("now distribute my scepter, my crown, and my throne; I'll leave all my wealth to the poor and alone; without further hesitation, without looking back home, the king flew headlong into the blazing unknown.", for instance). From what I can gather, both Weiss brothers have religious influence from both Judaism (through their father) and Sufism (through their mother, who reportedly converted to Sufi Islam from Episcopalianism, if Wikipedia is to be believed). This whole song shows ample influence from Sufi works like those of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, a Sufi mystic and poet. In particular, this song's characters and lyrics are almost drawn directly from Muhaiyaddeen's story on pages 39 and 40 of his book entitled, 'The Divine Luminous Wisdom That Dispels Darkness' (which can be read online here: books.google.com/books).

In short, this song seems to combine direct influence from Sufi mysticism and lesser, but equally poetic influence from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers (which can be read online in partiality if you Google 'Sayings of the Desert Fathers', or purchased through Amazon in their entirety (in a translation edited by Benedicta Ward, an Anglican nun who is a famed expert in the field of early Christian spirituality - amazon.com/Sayings-Desert-Fathers-Cistercian-studies/dp/0879079592).