Greetings,
Years ago, I was having a conversation with a friend about music, what we liked, what we didn't, and everything in between. Since I was a part of this conversation, it's only natural that Amy Grant was eventually brought up. Yeah, I love her. Have since I was a little girl, and she was one of the first people to inspire me to become an artist. Deal with it. Anyway, when I asked my friend if she was also a fan of Amy Grant's, she replied by telling me that she sort of was because she liked Amy's first album, Heart in Motion. Yes, my friend thought that the 1991 album, Heart in Motion, featuring the mega hit, "Baby, Baby", was the first album that Amy Grant released. Oh, dear. Why is it whenever I have a conversation about music with anyone I know I feel like Jack Black in School of Rock as the kids are telling him that their favorite music comes to them via Christina Aguilera and Puff Daddy? Recall the frustration and pure rage on his face? Yeah, me, too. Mind you, this is the same friend who was distraught because, after an exhaustive search, she just could not find the song by The Who called "Teenage Wasteland". Spoiler: it doesn't exist. But she was my very good friend so I kindly informed her that Heart in Motion was not Amy's first album, but more like her ninth. And today, I will be going in depth on one of those first nine albums. Particularly, Unguarded, which I can safely say is my favorite of hers.
Unguarded was released in 1985, and it is the first album that I can recall really getting into. I knew all the songs by heart and sang them on a daily basis. Overall, it sounds like what a pop album of the eighties would be expected to sound like, complete with lots of synth work, but, lyrically, it is clearly from a Christian singer . . . for the most part. Yes, this is the album where Amy Grant began to break out a bit as a "crossover" artist, getting some success in the mainstream. This is thanks, mostly, to the somewhat ambiguous lyrics of a few of the songs. By that, I mean, she is generally talking about things from a Christian perspective, but doesn't always mention Jesus straight out. So people made up their own interpretations on some of the songs. Speaking of which, let's get to those songs.
The album starts off strongly with the track "Love of Another Kind", which, at first, may seem like one of those "it can go either way" songs, but she does eventually say Jesus. So the world had to keep its hands off that one. And did I mention that this one was co-written by the great Rich Mullins? It is followed up by "Find a Way" and "Everywhere I Go". These two are easily the biggest hit singles and the ones that had the mainstream success, both getting radio airplay and the first of which getting its video played heavily on MTV and VH1. These are also the ones that caused the most controversy amongst Amy's alleged Christian fan base. Some of them felt as though, through these songs and their success, she had crossed over too far. Possessive and judgmental much? I was always happy to hear about her crossover success, since I'm pretty sure that means she was reaching more people out in the world. That's a good thing, right?
Another strong standout is "Wise Up", which also had some mainstream success, and yet I rarely heard about this one bothering anyone. Perhaps, because the lyrics were more blatantly Christian. Then, we have the song "Sharayah", because every artist has to do a song where the title is a person's name. Even if that name is one I've never heard of outside of this particular song. Yet somehow, I'm sure there is, at the very least, one girl out there who was named after this. There has to be. Anyway, this song is about someone going through a crisis of faith. Hmmm? I am quite surprised that this did not also cause some kind of uproar, since a boatload of "Christians", at least the ones I know, often like to give off the vibe that we never have any problems. I think it may be their recruiting technique, albeit, an incredibly misleading one.
But, hands down, my favorite song on this album is the closing track entitled "The Prodigal". It is a wonderfully gentle ballad, departing from the electronic sound of the majority of this album. Now, lyrically speaking, it seems to be inspired by the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son, but I think it can become very personalized, since it mostly talks of waiting for someone you love to return, whoever that may be. It is truly a beautiful song and one of Amy's best of all time, which is saying a lot in the midst of a career that has spanned over thirty years.
Now I know that Amy Grant has had plenty of haters over the years, coming at her from all angles. The Christians think she's too secular; the seculars think she's too Christian. It has frustrated me for years, since, no matter how "mainstream" Amy went, she never backed away from her beliefs. Seriously, it is a good thing she has us truly loyal admirers who have stood by her through all of that, and she never fails to show her gratitude. For real, though, Unguarded is a great album. It definitely sounds like its time, but it still holds up today, certainly for me. I'm definitely sure I don't have to recommend this to any true Amy fans since they, no doubt, already own and love it. But if you are not that knowledgeable about her pre-full on pop career and have always been curious, this album is a fantastic place to start.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
