Shot of Love released: Aug 12, 1981 BUY

After the hellfire and brimstone of Saved, 1981’s Shot of Love seems easier to listen to than the previous record. Some of the railing-prophet energy seems to have burned off, and the beauty and humility and meditative quality of the devotional “Every Grain of Sand” could be said to reflect a more mellowed relation to his newfound faith. A number of the other songs on the album could be read ambiguously, serving either as songs of religious faith or as songs of earthly love, although the message in “Property of Jesus” and “Dead Man, Dead Man” is unambiguous enough. When the album was originally issued it did not contain “The Groom’s Still Waiting At The Altar”; a millennial song with scorching lyrics and imagery that bounces back and forth between Middle East Armageddon and a frustrated love affair. Shot of Love | listen | Heart of Mine | listen | Property of Jesus | listen | Lenny Bruce | listen | Watered Down Love | listen | The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar | listen | Dead Man, Dead Man | listen | In the Summertime | listen | Trouble | listen | Every Grain of Sand | listen |