Members of the Lawrence Arms have also played in The Broadways, Slapstick, Tricky Dick and Baxter.
The three musicians came together to form the Lawrence Arms in 1999. Although punk rock bands in their infancy generally start out by releasing EPs and 7" vinyl singles, the band members used their existing relationship with Asian Man Records to immediately begin recording a full-length album, a guided tour of chicago, which was released later that year. A second album, ghost stories, followed in 2000. Both albums focused heavily on the members' own stories of growing up and living in Chicago.
The band's next two releases were split EPs with other bands. The first, a split with Shady View Terrace, was released in 2000 and was their first release to be recorded by Matt Allison, who would continue to record and produce all of their subsequent releases. A second EP, Present Day Memories, was released in 2001 and was a split with The Chinkees.
The band's records and touring schedule had brought them to the attention of Fat Mike of NOFX, who signed them to his label Fat Wreck Chords in late 2001. Their first release on the label was a 7" vinyl single, part of the label's "Fat Club" series of 7" records. This was followed by the full-length album apathy and exhaustion, released in 2002. The album spawned the band's first music video, for the song porno and snuff films and they toured extensively with NOFX and other bands from the label.
Their next album was 2003's the greatest story ever told. Arguably their most ambitious album to date, it demonstrated the band members' continued growth as musicians and songwriters and included extensive footnotes to the lyrics detailing their many references to history, literature and pop culture. It also showed an evolution in the band's vocal style. Kelly had sung most of the vocals on their first album, while on subsequent releases he and McCaughan had split vocal duties almost equally from one song to the next, with Kelly's voice tending to sound more harsh and urgent while McCaughan's sounds more relaxed and melodic. With this release, however, the two began to move towards more of a duet style of singing which would feature prominently on their next album. Extensive touring following the album's release saw the band on the road for much of 2003 and 2004. They also contributed a song to the Fat Wreck Chords Rock Against Bush, Volume 2 compilation, leading up to the 2004 presidential election and became involved with the Punk Voter campaign.
In December of 2004 Kelly and Hennessy joined with fellow Chicago natives Dan Andriano of Alkaline Trio (who had played with Kelly in Slapstick) and Todd Mohney, formerly of Rise Against, to form The Falcon, and released an EP on Red Scare. Meanwhile, with interest in the Lawrence Arms increasing and their EPs out of print, Asian Man Records planned a CD release of the band's EP tracks. The resulting compilation album, Cocktails & Dreams, was released on Asian Man in June of 2005 and included their songs from both EPs along with nearly all of their compilation tracks, rare songs and b-sides.
The Lawrence Arms re-entered the studio in October and November of 2005 and recorded the album oh! calcutta!, which was released on Fat Wreck Chords in March of 2006. It had an overall faster and more urgent feel to it than their previous album, and demonstrated another step in the development of their singing as Kelly and McCaughan shared vocals in a duet style on nearly every song. They filmed a music video for the song the devil's takin' names.
The Lawrence Arms spent most of 2006 touring extensively alongside bands such as NOFX, Alkaline Trio, The Draft, Lagwagon, and A Wilhelm Scream. The full-length debut by the Falcon was released that fall on Red Scare. In December, the Lawrence Arms embarked on their first headlining tour of Australia, also playing supporting shows with Frenzal Rhomb.
In March of 2007, guitarist Chris McCaughan released the debut album from his acoustic side project Sundowner, entitled four one five two.
The band toured again in 2007, with their side projects The Falcon and Sundowner as openers along with the recently reunited American Steel.
The 2010s saw minimal studio activity by the band, but for one album. 2014's Metropole was received well, and marked the band's first full-length in eight years. The band took another extended break in between albums again, taking six years before releasing their seventh album Skeleton Coast in 2020.
Demons
The Lawrence Arms Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I said some creepy things and I staggered around
And even though your best man had to kick me out
It was a pretty good time either way
It seems a fight broke out and an old man was yelling
'Cause no one was buying all the bullshit he was selling
And he threw all his keepsakes on the ground and walked away
And the dying ain't gonna stop
Just because you walk away
And you can cry for the things that you've lost
But you're never gonna bring back these days
I hate the Mondays and the Fridays 'cause they always define
The endless march of pushing ruthlessly to the light
Well, if I'm gonna be dying then I'm gonna get high
And scream until I'm not feeling the pain
Let's burn a bridge for the fuck of it and kill this night
With some beers down at the pits with whiskey lips and we'll try
To love for a moment and forget for the night
That life doesn't usually feel great
And the dying ain't gonna stop
Just because you walk away
And you can cry for the things that you've lost
But you're never gonna bring back these days
Where we gonna go now that everything's shut down?
I can't go home, so where do you want to go now?
Let's bring it back around
To where everybody's singing that
The dying ain't gonna stop
Just because you walk away
And you can cry for the things that you've lost
But you're never gonna bring back these days
You're never gonna bring back these days
The Lawrence Arms's song, Demons, is a song that reflects on the fleeting nature of youth and moments in life. The song begins with the singer recalling getting too drunk at a wedding, making a scene, and getting kicked out. Despite this, the singer remarks that it was still a "pretty good time." The song then shifts to an old man at the wedding who's upset that no one is buying the "bullshit he was selling." He throws his keepsakes on the ground and walks away cursing, wishing to bring back the past.
Throughout the song, the theme of the inevitability of death is present. The chorus repeats the line "the dying ain't gonna stop, just because you walk away" and "you're never gonna bring back these days." The verses detail moments of trying to forget about life's problems and trying to make the most of the fleeting moments of joy that life has to offer.
In the end, the song comes full circle, and the singer asks where they're going to go now that everything has shut down. The song emphasizes the point of appreciating the moments that life has to offer and not dwelling on the past as the past is something that can never be changed.
Line by Line Meaning
I got too drunk at your wedding and my voice got loud
I drank too much at the wedding and spoke too loudly
And I said some creepy things and I staggered around
I made people uncomfortable with my behavior and couldn't walk straight
And even though your best man had to kick me out
Your friend had to remove me from the wedding because of my behavior
It was a pretty good time either way
Despite everything, I still had a good time at the wedding
It seems a fight broke out and an old man was yelling
A brawl started and an old man was shouting
'Cause no one was buying all the bullshit he was selling
Because people weren't accepting his nonsense
And he threw all his keepsakes on the ground and walked away
He threw his belongings on the floor and left
Cursing hard to bring back yesterday
He was swearing, wishing he could go back to the past
And the dying ain't gonna stop
Death is a constant part of life
Just because you walk away
Ignoring it won't make it go away
And you can cry for the things that you've lost
You can mourn what you've lost
But you're never gonna bring back these days
But you can't bring back the past
I hate the Mondays and the Fridays 'cause they always define
I don't like Mondays and Fridays because they make the week stand out
The endless march of pushing ruthlessly to the light
The constant struggle of moving towards a goal
Well, if I'm gonna be dying then I'm gonna get high
If death is inevitable, I'd rather be high when it comes
And scream until I'm not feeling the pain
Screaming helps me forget the pain for a while
Let's burn a bridge for the fuck of it and kill this night
Let's destroy a connection for no reason and make this night memorable
With some beers down at the pits with whiskey lips and we'll try
Drinking beer and whiskey and trying to enjoy ourselves
To love for a moment and forget for the night
To experience love and forget our problems for the night
That life doesn't usually feel great
Life is usually difficult
Where we gonna go now that everything's shut down?
Now that everything is closed, where do we go?
I can't go home, so where do you want to go now?
I can't go home, so where should we go?
Let's bring it back around
Let's revisit what we've been talking about
To where everybody's singing that
The place where everyone is singing
You're never gonna bring back these days
The past cannot be changed
Contributed by Taylor H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
LeaderPhantom
i constantly sing this song...constantly.... its amazing, especially cause a campfire+me+my guitar=DRUNK WEDDINGS ALL THE WAYYY
Filbunkish
this EP is really amazing!
analcarbomb
the song isn't on the record