My Top 20: Plumb - "Unforgivable"

Song: "Unforgivable"
Artist: Plumb
Album: Plumb
Year: 1997
Label: Essential Records
Players:

Tiffany Arbuckle - Vocals, Songwriter; Stephen Leiweke - Guitar; J.J. Plasencio - Bass; Joe Porter - Drums; Matt Stanfield - Keyboards; Matt Brownleewe - Songwriter, Producer; Dan Haseltine - Producer

Produced by Jars Of Clay's Dan Haseltine, Plumb's self-titled debut burst onto the Christian rock scene in 1997. Rock singles like "Crazy" and "Unforgivable" were meant to provide a gospel equivalent to Garbage, only the band also flirted with more experimental sounds than the CCM market was used to. Thanks to the faux-Alanis sounds of Rebecca St. James's God the year before, gospel radio was ready for a edgier female voice, after years of the more Adult Contemprary sounds of Amy Grant and Twila Paris.

It was the video for "Unforgivable" that first turned me on the exciting world of Plumb. It was at the end of the WoW 1998 video compilation of Christian music videos, along with other up-and-coming artists like Smalltown Poets and Miss Angie. The strangeness of the video, with it's jars of water and small rubbery discs with words printed on them intrigued my 14-year-old self. The lyrics were some of the most powerful I'd heard as a youngster, "Never told that I am pretty/never told that I am kind... Ashamed and alone/from all that's been done to me/It's not my fault I remind myself" and the brutal chorus of "You say food will be on the table/and birds in the sky... I'm hungry/So hungry/And it's cloudy outside" had the singer questioning God, something I didn't even know was allowed. Perhaps it's only colored by my personal perspective, but this song always felt it came from a place of sexual or emotional abuse. At the ago of 14, I had uncovered a new love. Between Plumb and God I was hooked on chick-rock, an obsession that continues today.

After the success of this album and the Dove-winning follow-up candycoatedwaterdroplets, Plumb (the band) became Plumb (the solo artist) and released The Best of Plumb to fulfill her Essential contract. Jumping to Nashville-based label Curb, Plumb released three more albums, including last year's Blink. That album of lullabies produced her club hit, a remix of "In My Arms" which was number one single on the Billboard Dance Charts. But in my mind, "Unforgivable" is the greatest song Plumb has ever recorded.