I always thought that this song resonated in a rising morning sun. It takes me back to Nashville, when I would take my son, Paul, to school en route to my work downtown. I'd peek over at him while I played this music, to see how it was affecting my boy on the outside. But, it's the inside that matters.
Atheism is relative, meaning, as Ricky Gervais points out, we are all atheists relative to some 3,000 religions that have existed over time. Nowadays in America, disbelief in the bible constitutes atheism. In that respect, I am a hard core atheist. However, when the aperture is expanded to include all systems of faith-based belief, unsupported by empirical facts on the ground, I am not. Belief in a human-esque God seems to be the reference point for Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Nonsense.