It first appeared in the 1971 film Cold Turkey, for which it served as a sort of theme song and played during the opening and closing credits.
It opens with the delicate sounds of a string section and is maintained by Newman's piano in a slow "four to the bar" tempo.
As Newman himself is an atheist and regularly included satire in his compositions, the song can be interpreted through that lens as a sarcastic critique of religion, as it portrays a god who witnesses human suffering but merely "gives us all his love" while doing nothing tangible to intervene.
The song has sometimes been taken at face value, however, and has been covered by Wanda Jackson and Sherie Rene Scott, both born-again Christians.
In the first version as played over the film's opening credits, the song segues into a choral gospel number called "I Love the Lord"; this portion is omitted from the soundtrack.