With Schwarzenbach on guitar and vocals, Bauermeister on bass, and Pfahler on drums, the band gained recognition in the late eighties and early nineties for their melodic yet driven sound built on the foundation for Schwarzenbach's poignant, bleeding-heart lyrics and signature rasp.
The band's first full-length release Unfun was put out by Shredder in 1990. On this, the band stuck close to the sound coming out of their contemporaries in the nascent pop punk scene in their sound, with the exception of Bauermeister's prominent bass lines and Schwarzenbach's lyrics, at times walking the line of the melodramatic.
Unfun was followed by Bivouac on Tupelo/Communion in 1992. Bivouac proved thicker and darker - both thematically and melodically - yet served to elevate the band above a crowd of previously similar acts. This more ambitious release also artfully used pieces of found-audio, in what was becoming one of the band's signatures, weaving it in and out of the ten minute title track, "Bivouac."
Their third release, 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, produced by the ubiquitous Steve Albini, unveiled a sparse pop-punk with more carefully crafted lyrics. This album also holds what has become arguably their best known song, "Boxcar."
Jawbreaker had seemed poised for critical and commercial success by the time of their fourth, and last album, Dear You. Despite a vigorous marketing push, Jawbreaker's album sales were anemic in the wake of a post-Green Day market, and was one of the causes leading to the end of the band's career in 1996.
The group recently reacquired the rights to Dear You and have successfully put the long out-of-print album back into circulation on Pfahler's label, Blackball Records.
The band's cult status as the definitive nineties proto-pop-punk band has grown since its breakup, and songs like "Kiss the Bottle" and "Jet Black" are referenced as influences by bands such as Sparta, Lucero, and Rocky Votolato. In 2003, a Jawbreaker tribute album, Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault was released on Dying Wish Records, and featured covers by 18 bands including Fall Out Boy, Nerf Herder, Sparta, and Face To Face.
Singer Blake Schwarzenbach went on to form the New York City-based band Jets to Brazil, who have also since broken up, and is now an adjunct English professor at Hunter College (CUNY). In the fall of 2008, he debuted his new band, Thorns of Life, formed with Aaron Cometbus of Crimpshrine and Pinhead Gunpowder on drums and ex-Gr'ups bassist Daniela Sea.
Drummer Adam Pfahler is currently drumming in San Francisco-based Whysall Lane, whose LP was released in 2006 on his own Blackball Records.
Bassist Chris Bauermeister has been playing in post-hardcore band Horace Pinker and pop-punk band Shorebirds, which was formed with Matt Canino, formerly of Latterman; Shorebirds split in the summer of 2008.
In 2021, Blake Schwarzenbach teamed up with Joyce Manor on a release.
In spite of the similar name, the band Jawbreaker Reunion is unrelated.
Accident Prone
Jawbreaker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It hasn't been my day for a couple of years
What's a couple more?
And if I go, don't forget the one good thing I almost did
I learned your name without words
I used my eyes, not my hands
To an almost total wreck
And still walk away, all limbs intact?
And when I go, you'll be there crying out, begging me
I won't hear
I'll just go fast into this night on broken legs
A near miss or a close call?
I keep a room at the hospital
I scratch my accidents into the wall
I couldn't wait to breathe your breath
I cut in line
I bled to death
I got to you, there was nothing left
What's the meanest you can be
To the one you claim to love
And still smile to your new found friends?
In the same confusing breath, you pull away and draw me in
I wanted you
You wanted more
I built this life and now it's mine
A near miss or a close call?
I keep a room at the hospital
I scratch my accidents into the wall
I couldn't wait to breathe your breath
I cut in line
I bled to death
I got to you, there was nothing left
A near miss or a close call?
I keep a room at the hospital
I scratch my accidents into the wall
I couldn't wait to breathe your breath
I cut in line
I bled to death
I got to you, there was nothing left
I got to you, there was nothing left
I got to you, there was nothing left
I got to you, there was nothing left
The lyrics to Jawbreaker's "Accident Prone" are about a person who has had a string of bad luck and near-death experiences. The first stanza features the singer asking "What's the furthest place from here?" They follow up that question with "It hasn't been my day for a couple of years" and "What's a couple more?" This implies that the singer has had a rough time recently and doesn't see things getting better any time soon.
Next, the lyrics discuss an event in which the singer almost did something good. They learned someone's name without words, instead using their eyes. This implies that the singer doesn't have the best communication skills or social prowess but was able to make a connection all the same.
The chorus of the song discusses near-death experiences, asking "What's the closest you can come to an almost total wreck and still walk away, all limbs intact?" The repetition of the lines "A near miss or a close call? I keep a room at the hospital, I scratch my accidents into the wall" underscores the theme of repeated bad luck and injury. The singer is carving a tally of their accidents into the wall of their hospital room, emphasizing just how many times they've been hurt.
The final stanza of the song is about a toxic relationship. The singer asks "What's the meanest you can be to the one you claim to love and still smile to your new found friends?" This implies that the singer is in love with someone who treats them poorly in front of others but is still trying to make their relationship work. The chorus repeats one last time, emphasizing the theme of near-death experiences and the singer's many injuries.
Line by Line Meaning
What's the furthest place from here?
I feel lost and far away from where I want to be.
It hasn't been my day for a couple of years
Things have been going wrong for me for a long time now.
What's a couple more?
A few more bad days won't make a difference at this point.
And if I go, don't forget the one good thing I almost did
If I die, I hope you remember the one good thing I almost accomplished in my life.
I learned your name without words
I fell in love with you without ever speaking to you.
I used my eyes, not my hands
I admired you from afar, but never physically touched you without your consent.
What's the closest you can come to an almost total wreck
What is the closest you can come to completely ruining your life?
And still walk away, all limbs intact?
And still be physically unharmed?
And when I go, you'll be there crying out, begging me
When I die, you'll regret not doing more for me.
I won't hear
But I won't be alive to hear your regrets.
I'll just go fast into this night on broken legs
I'll die suddenly and painfully.
A near miss or a close call?
Did I almost avoid disaster or barely escape it?
I keep a room at the hospital
I'm used to getting hurt and needing medical attention.
I scratch my accidents into the wall
I record my injuries on the wall to remind myself of how often I get hurt.
I couldn't wait to breathe your breath
I wanted to be so close to you that I could share your air.
I cut in line
I'm impatient and selfish, putting myself first even if it's not fair to others.
I bled to death
I hurt myself so badly that I died from my own carelessness.
I got to you, there was nothing left
I finally reached out to you, but you didn't want me anymore.
What's the meanest you can be to the one you claim to love
How much can you hurt someone you say you love before it becomes too much?
And still smile to your new found friends?
And still be able to pretend that you're a good person to others?
In the same confusing breath, you pull away and draw me in
You play with my emotions, sending mixed signals that make me feel both wanted and rejected.
I wanted you
But you didn't want me.
You wanted more
You had bigger expectations and desires than just me.
I built this life and now it's mine
I created my own world, but it's not perfect and I still have to deal with challenges and pain.
I got to you, there was nothing left
I reached out to you and you rejected me again.
I got to you, there was nothing left
I finally got to be with you, but you were already emotionally empty and couldn't give me what I needed.
I got to you, there was nothing left
I tried to make things work with you, but it was too late and there was no love or happiness left between us.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Alexander Blake Schwarzenbach, Christopher Charles Wolfgang Bauermeister, Frederick Adam Pfahler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind