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.
The Boat Dreams from the Hill
Jawbreaker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Anchored to a fixer upper's dream.
This boat is beat, never gonna be a boat now.
Thirsty, sees the sea from high on ice plant.
He keeps patching it and painting.
Thinking about his pension plan.
But the boat is out to pasture.
I want to be a boat.
I want to learn to swim.
Then I'll learn to float.
Then begin again.
Begin again.
Boat remembers the carpenter's sure hand.
Missing fishy flutter on it's rudder.
Sold at an auction, on the dolly ever since.
Sometimes rainy days drop boyish wonder.
He keeps patching it and painting.
Thinking about his pension plan.
But the boat is out to pasture.
Seems it never had a chance.
I want to be a boat.
I want to learn to swim.
Then I'll learn to float.
Then begin again.
Begin again.
The Boat Dreams from the Hill by Jawbreaker presents a sad metaphor about a boat that has never left the shore, anchored to the hill, and stuck in its dock. The first stanza of the song paints a picture of a boat on a hill, far from the sea, and unable ever to touch its desired destination. The boat is an old fixer-upper that cannot be salvaged anymore, and its dream is gone.
The second stanza is about the boat owner, who keeps working on it, investing in it, and dreaming of a pension plan. Nevertheless, he knows that the boat can never sail, and that it is hopeless, out to pasture, and beyond repair. The third stanza is where the song takes a turn. The singer expresses his desire to be a boat, to learn to swim, float, and begin anew.
The song is probably about chasing dreams and how, sometimes, people tend to hold onto something that is stagnant and never going to move forward. It could be about letting go of unattainable dreams and finding new ways to start over. The last stanza represents a symbolic search for a new beginning, a fresh start, and the hope that the boat dreams again.
Line by Line Meaning
Boat on a hill, never going to sea.
The boat is situated on a hill and it never gets to go to the ocean.
Anchored to a fixer upper's dream.
The boat is anchored to the hope of being fixed and rebuilt by someone.
This boat is beat, never gonna be a boat now.
The boat is in bad shape and it won't be able to function as a boat anymore.
Thirsty, sees the sea from high on ice plant.
The boat is thirsty for the sea and it only gets to see it from afar.
He keeps patching it and painting.
The owner keeps trying to repair and maintain the boat.
Thinking about his pension plan.
The owner is also concerned about his financial security for the future.
But the boat is out to pasture.
Despite efforts to fix it, the boat is no longer seaworthy.
Seems it never had a chance.
It appears that the boat was doomed from the start and was never meant to fulfill its purpose.
I want to be a boat.
The artist expresses the desire to be like the boat and fulfill their own purpose.
I want to learn to swim.
The artist wants to learn how to navigate through life.
Then I'll learn to float.
Once they have learned the basic skills, they can then start to enjoy and appreciate the experience of living.
Then begin again.
The artist plans to use their newly acquired skills to start over and make their life meaningful again.
Boat remembers the carpenter's sure hand.
The boat retains the memory of the skilled craftsmanship that went into its creation.
Missing fishy flutter on it's rudder.
The boat's rudder is no longer functional and it can no longer steer like it used to.
Sold at an auction, on the dolly ever since.
The boat was sold to someone else and has been sitting on a dolly ever since.
Sometimes rainy days drop boyish wonder.
The boat can still evoke a sense of childlike wonder on rainy days.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
futurecrunk
one of the finest examples of lyricism in music history.
Devil Doll
Granted you have the lyric sheet handy.
Kuniotchi
My first and favorite Jawbreaker song! Always having a place inside me
imagerystorm
remember when Jawbreaker was kicking ass 20 years ago? Yeah, nothing has changed. :)
BananaMasterRace
"do you remember when Jawbreaker rocked "the boat", I'm sure you do"
konakick
The best band most people have never heard of. Awesome that people still remember...
bstokes1975
one of my favorite albums of all time
River V
i saw them live today! amazing!
infokicker
Sweet! I would have never heard of this band or album had it not been for a roommate of mine who played this album non-stop when it came out. This album grew on me and this track is by far the best on the album. GREAT tune.
ghostly
i was listening to hüsker dü then this band popped up in my recommendations
one of the best bands i discovered thanks to youtube <3