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.
Fine day
Jawbreaker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then I'd never go outside.
And if you completely showed yourself to me,
Then I'd never go outside.
Fine day if you're not me.
Fine day to sleep.
If the sun came and it wouldn't go away,
Then I'd never go outside.
I've got no time for your Sunday afternoons,
And I'll never go outside.
Fine day...
The lyrics of Jawbreaker's song "Fine Day" convey a sense of reluctance to be influenced by another person's opinions and perspectives. The singer is assertive in their position of not being swayed by external influence and is comfortable in their own solitude. The opening line, "If I believed everything that you said, then I'd never go outside" reflects the singer's stance on being individualistic and not following the norms of society. The following line "And if you completely showed yourself to me, then I'd never go outside" carries similar sentiments of not wanting to be molded by someone else's beliefs or attributes.
The chorus exclaims "Fine day if you're not me. Fine day to sleep." which is an ironic commentary on how blissful it is to be unaware or uninfluenced by any sort of external stimulus. The singer suggests that sometimes it's a good thing to be disconnected from society and to take some time off to relax and rejuvenate.
Overall, the song is about being true to oneself and remaining unaffected by external pressures. It encourages listeners to break away from the conformist mindset and to pursue their own individual journeys.
Line by Line Meaning
If I believed everything that you said,
If I blindly trust every word you say, I'll end up being too scared to go outside.
Then I'd never go outside.
I'll never leave my comfort zone if I rely solely on your words.
And if you completely showed yourself to me,
Even if you reveal your true self to me, I still won't step out of my comfort zone.
Fine day if you're not me.
It's a good day for everyone else, except for me who's stuck indoors.
Fine day to sleep.
I might as well just sleep through the day instead of venturing outside.
If the sun came and it wouldn't go away,
Even if something good and positive happens, I'll still be too scared to leave my comfort zone.
Then I'd never go outside.
It's certain that I won't be leaving the house.
I've got no time for your Sunday afternoons,
I'm not interested in the usual leisure time activities that people indulge in.
And I'll never go outside.
I'm too stuck in my ways to change and step out of my comfort zone.
Fine day...
It's just another ordinary day for me, stuck indoors.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tintadawn2756
This is how you get thru Covid
@davidmiyamoto8928
Awesome sauce from l.a california. Thankyousomuch
@charliejenkins4315
This is so good
@91jmda
addicted... to... this... song...
@DolefulLions
weird to think i first saw this band 20 years ago.
@lowlustre1
Feels like I'm 19 again.
@mattjones3963
Just as revant now as back in the day. This song has saved me from many holes in the walls and road rage
@carnalito81
top post!
@Andrewmaster0
Does anyone know what the old recording is saying in the background at the end of the song starting at about @3:37 ? It's something like "Oh, yes, me, I am ________ I am falling apart" and some other stuff. Anybody know? It seems like they liked referencing a lot of old TV shows/old movies in their songs. I love it.
@reverendaero
I've been wondering this for years. I remember finding the source for the excerpt from Bivouac a long time ago but totally forgot it. There was also something from The Twilight Zone or Outer Limits in some other song.