the glory of the atom begs a reverent word the primary design of the whole universe yes let us sing its praises let us bow our heads in prayer at the magnificent consciousness incarnate there the smallest unit of matter with its orbiting electrons echoing off the solar system like a hawk in the hills at dawn the smallest unit of matter uniting bird and rock and tree and you and me oh holy is the atom the truly intelligent design to which all of evolution is graciously aligned the one single structure to which everything distills the air the wood smoke there and the hills leave me here surrounded by everything that s real far outside the boundaries of the digitized ordeal leave me here awake leave me here to heal human beings are a cross between monkeys and ants you can see us from your spaceship melting the polar ice caps with our arrogance summon a congress of angels dressed in riot gear we got ourselves a serious situation down here i have this great great uncle who worked on the atomic bomb he got a nobel prize in physics and a place in this song and i bet there were no windows and no women in the room when they applied themselves to the pure science of boom yes messing with the atom is the highest form of blasphemy whether you are making weapons or simple electricity someone fashion me a pulpit i have been called to engage with the maniacal heretics of the nuclear age let the religious get religion let consumers get a clue let scientists get perspective let activists get their due let industry get a conscience let the earth inherit the meek let the divinity of nature speak the glory of the atom begs a reverent word the primary design of the whole universe yes let us sing its praises let us bow our heads in prayer at the magnificent consciousness incarnate there