Every Grain of Sand

"Every Grain of Sand" is a song written by Bob Dylan, recorded in Los Angeles in the spring of 1981 and released in August of that year on Dylan's album Shot of Love. It was subsequently included on the compilation Biograph. An early version of the song, recorded in September 1980 and featuring Jennifer Warnes on backing vocal, was released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.

Background and composition

Dylan had, according to his biographer Ian Bell, become a

The song is well known for its haunting imagery, which has been compared to that of William Blake.^[3] Although it is filled with numerous biblical references, it may also have been partly inspired by the following lines from Blake's "Auguries of Innocence":

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.^[4]

Critical reception

"Every Grain of Sand" is "perhaps his most sublime work to date", writes Clinton Heylin, "the summation of a number of attempts to express what the promise of redemption meant to him personally. One of his most intensely personal songs, it also remains one of his most universal. Detailing 'the time of my confession/the hour of my deepest need,' the song marks the conclusion of his evangelical period as a songwriter, something its position at the conclusion of Shot of Love tacitly acknowledges."

Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone called it "the 'Chimes of Freedom' and 'Mr. Tambourine Man' of Bob Dylan's Christian period...it has surety and strength all down the line. Also vulnerability...Dylan's beautifully idiosyncratic harmonica playing has metamorphosed into an archetype that pierces the heart and moistens the eye. And, for once, the lyrics don't let you down. The artist's Christianity is both palpable and comprehensible...For a moment or two, he touches you, and the gates of heaven dissolve into a universality that has nothing to do with most of the LP."

A 2015 Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs" placed it 10th. An article accompanying the list calls it a "spellbinding ballad" that is "equal parts Blakean mysticism and biblical resonance" and quotes U2 singer Bono who compares it to "the great Psalms of David".^[5]

Tim Riley described "Every Grain of Sand" as, "a prayer that inhabits the same intuitive zone as 'Blowin' in the Wind' - you'd swear it was a hymn passed down through the ages."

Rock critic Milo Miles wrote, "This is the one Dylan song in ten years...in which he examines a pop-culture paradox (that legendary stars in particular have to believe in ideals greater than themselves) more eloquently than any other performer has."

When

A 2021 Guardian article included it on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know".^[8]

Cover versions

The

The song appeared on the soundtrack for the 1998 film Another Day in Paradise^[13] and in the premiere episode of Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight (2022).^[14] It is also the source of the title of a fictional movie about a Dylanesque singer within Todd Haynes' 2007 film I'm Not There.^[15]

References