first of all, the capitalized "He" refers to a pronoun, so even if dan doesn't believe in it anymore, it's still capitalized. you wouldn't not capitalize Santa just because he doesn't exist (unless you're lazy like me and don't tend to capitalize things, or unless you're going out of your way to make a point, like using "it" as God's pronoun).
anyway, i think the song is less about losing one's religion than losing a girlfriend because of religious differences. as in, she believes in god, finds out dan isn't that religious, and then leaves him. when he throws in the "i believed in the lord / but he don't show up anymore," it's just to sort of say, hey, i did believe once, but now i just realize there's not much reason to.
in the lines:
"If I fell down would you pick me up?
If I don't drink from a silver cup, like you
Would you say "so long, farewell, good luck" "
... it sounds like he's just very bitter about this girl because she acts all high and mighty due to her religion. the sort of pompous, smug arrogance one finds in the religious. because at the end of the day, to be religious necessitates arrogance. there's no rational reason to assume we human beings have an afterlife, or a god that looks after us like a father, or a figure who grants us wishes; this all stems from a basic biological and psychological desire to continue existence and to feel important and needed.
this is not to say, however, that the song implies atheism. he could simply have lost his religion. people far too often draw a false dichotomy: you're either religious, or you're atheist. and that's not true. aside from the obvious example of agnosticism, there are also shades of believers. after all, one need not be religious to believe in "god" or "souls" or "the afterlife." he makes pretty clear in this song that he doesn't believe in the "Lord," but that could merely imply that he no longer believes in the abrahamic god; or, if you infer that he has lost all faith in god entirely, it still in no way implies he has no spiritual side. i just wanted to make this distinction, before people started getting all defensive of their stupid belief systems.
first of all, the capitalized "He" refers to a pronoun, so even if dan doesn't believe in it anymore, it's still capitalized. you wouldn't not capitalize Santa just because he doesn't exist (unless you're lazy like me and don't tend to capitalize things, or unless you're going out of your way to make a point, like using "it" as God's pronoun).
anyway, i think the song is less about losing one's religion than losing a girlfriend because of religious differences. as in, she believes in god, finds out dan isn't that religious, and then leaves him. when he throws in the "i believed in the lord / but he don't show up anymore," it's just to sort of say, hey, i did believe once, but now i just realize there's not much reason to.
in the lines:
"If I fell down would you pick me up? If I don't drink from a silver cup, like you Would you say "so long, farewell, good luck" "
... it sounds like he's just very bitter about this girl because she acts all high and mighty due to her religion. the sort of pompous, smug arrogance one finds in the religious. because at the end of the day, to be religious necessitates arrogance. there's no rational reason to assume we human beings have an afterlife, or a god that looks after us like a father, or a figure who grants us wishes; this all stems from a basic biological and psychological desire to continue existence and to feel important and needed.
this is not to say, however, that the song implies atheism. he could simply have lost his religion. people far too often draw a false dichotomy: you're either religious, or you're atheist. and that's not true. aside from the obvious example of agnosticism, there are also shades of believers. after all, one need not be religious to believe in "god" or "souls" or "the afterlife." he makes pretty clear in this song that he doesn't believe in the "Lord," but that could merely imply that he no longer believes in the abrahamic god; or, if you infer that he has lost all faith in god entirely, it still in no way implies he has no spiritual side. i just wanted to make this distinction, before people started getting all defensive of their stupid belief systems.