What are your favorite songs that have a message about atheism?
I think the first song I remember hearing that had a clearly atheistic message was Freewill, by Rush.
I found this one more recently: Shine a Little Light, by The Black Keys. I like The Black Keys, but hadn’t heard this album before. The lyrics are describing a person struggling with their faith. I like the part in the second verse about not being recognized by your old community.
All these comments and nobody’s basic-bitch enough to mention Imagine by John Lennon? I don’t know if it’s the best song, but it’s the obvious first one I thought of when I read the question.
Heh. I played this at a Christmas street party years ago, and I had a gaggle of bitter old women march towards me, intent on causing trouble. They told me the song’s satanic because “imagine no religion” is exactly the same thing as “imagine no God/spiritual presence”. I replied that the song is actually about the kind of religion that turns people nasty, like them. I turned around to get support from my band, only to see them half a mile down the road. Very memorable Christmas street party, that one.