Songoftheday 4/28/20 - But if I can't swim after 40 days and my mind is crushed by the crashing waves lift me up...

"Flood" - Jars Of Clay
from the album Jars Of Clay (1995)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37 (four weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 5

Today's song of the day comes from the Christian Rock band Jars Of Clay, who came together in rural Illinois in the early 1990s. Led by singer Dan Haseltine, the group relocated to Nashville to record their self-titled debut album. The lead single, "Flood", was written by Haseltine with bandmates Charlie Lowell, Matt Odmark, and Stephen Mason, and was produced by King Crimson/David Bowie guitarist Adrian Belew. Belew bestowed a sheen to the track that helped it cross over to mainstream radio; as opposed to the early-90s Christian-pop boom that saw Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and Kathy Troccoli hit the pop charts, this song was embraced by rock radio, where its dramatic yet vague imagery fit the modern rock mold, before getting over to pop stations. After reaching #4 on Billboard's Contemporary Christian Rock (CCR) chart, it became their first and biggest mainstream success...

"Flood" became Jars Of Clay's first and only top-40 pop hit in June of 1996. The song was a big rock radio success, reaching both the Mainstream (#16) and Alternative (#12) format charts. It even crossed over to the Adult Top-40 list at #29. Internationally, the song did even better in Canada, where it spent a week at #3. The Jars Of Clay album rose to #12, selling over two million copies. At the 1996 Grammy Awards, the record was nominated for best Rock Gospel Album, which went to Ashley Cleveland for Lesson Of Love.

The band returned the following year with their sophomore effort Much Afraid, which was their first and only top ten album at #8. However, this time pop radio wasn't that ready, with single "Crazy Times" nicking the Alternative Rock chart at #38. Still, the set sold over a million, not bad for a Christian-based act, and won a Grammy Award for best Pop/Rock Christian Album. In 1999, the group came back with a third release, If I Left The Zoo. First single "Unforgetful You" was a hit on the Adult-Top 40 format, spending a week at #40, their most recent pop singles chart performance. Still, it also won the Best Pop/Rock Gospel Album, as did their follow-up in 2003, The Eleventh Hour, which actually made the top-40 on the albums chart at #28. The group has continued with the same lineup since, recording a number of studio albums, with 2010's The Long Fall Back To Earth also making the top-40 at #29 and getting nominated for Best Pop/Rock Christian Album (which they lost to Israel Houghton's The Power Of One). Their most recent studio record came in 2014, with their 20 disc. The group is still active but hasn't had new material since then, though Haseltine has guested on many projects, most notably the Plumb single "Drifting", which went to #5 on the Dance Club Play chart in 2012.

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Here's the original video for "Flood", when it was being promoted to Christian radio...