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.
Seventeener
The Lawrence Arms Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But it's too late now,
My heart has grown so cold.
And the corpse I leave behind
Ain't gonna be,
No pretty boy
It's a sick sack of disease.
Ways we'd love to go.
High and beautiful,
And fucking in the snow.
On New Years Day or Christmas Eve,
On a warm November night buried beneath the orange leaves.
It's a few dreams on the ways that we could leave.
My heart got kicked out of all its homes,
And dying young just didn't work and so I guess I'm dying old
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
And yesterday I woke up to find,
The black in my beard had turn to white.
And the pretty girls that used to smile at me,
Just stared off straight ahead or looked down at their feet.
So tonight I'll sit up here
With these street lights and these seventeen beers.
Straight from the page of a teenage diary,
Underneath these shitty stars like I was seventeen.
(I mean)
That my heart got kicked out of all its homes,
And dying young just didn't work and so I guess I'm dying old
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
The Lawrence Arms's song Seventeener is a poignant and reflective exploration of the complexities of ageing, life and death. The lyrics offer a bleak assessment of the singer's journey, as they contemplate their own mortality, having grown old and tired of life. The opening lines, "I never wanted to die old, but it's too late now, my heart has grown so cold" speak to the idea that perhaps the singer envisioned their life in a certain way, but the reality of aging has left them disillusioned and disconnected.
As the song progresses, the singer reflects on the different scenarios in which they may have wanted to die, from "High and beautiful, and fucking in the snow" to "buried beneath the orange leaves." These musings are juxtaposed against the harsh reality of the singer's current state, as they note the physical changes in their appearance and the way that others see them. The line "And the pretty girls that used to smile at me, just stared off straight ahead or looked down at their feet" is particularly poignant, highlighting the singer's sense of loss and disillusionment with the passage of time.
Ultimately, Seventeener is a song about the effects of time and aging on the human experience. The singer has come to terms with their own mortality, but the pain of living on and losing parts of themselves along the way is a profound one.
Line by Line Meaning
I never wanted to die old,
I didn't desire to live long and age, but it's too late now.
But it's too late now,
I missed my chance to die young.
My heart has grown so cold.
My emotions have become distant and unfeeling.
And the corpse I leave behind
The remains of my body after death.
Ain't gonna be,
Won't be
No pretty boy
It won't be a beautiful corpse.
It's a sick sack of disease.
It will be a repulsive body with diseases.
We thought about
We considered
Ways we'd love to go.
Different ways to die that we would enjoy.
High and beautiful,
A drug-fueled, euphoric death.
And fucking in the snow.
Sex in a winter wonderland before dying.
On New Years Day or Christmas Eve,
Death on a holiday.
On a warm November night buried beneath the orange leaves.
A peaceful death and burial in autumn.
It's a few dreams on the ways that we could leave.
These are only some of the imagined ways we could die.
My heart got kicked out of all its homes,
My heart has been broken by all my failed relationships.
And dying young just didn't work and so I guess I'm dying old
I wanted to die young, but it didn't happen, so I am facing old age and death.
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
There is nowhere else to turn for comfort.
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
All the people I have loved prefer to be alone instead of being with me.
And yesterday I woke up to find,
I woke up and saw the changes in my appearance.
The black in my beard had turn to white.
My hair has started to gray with age.
And the pretty girls that used to smile at me,
Women who used to be attracted to me.
Just stared off straight ahead or looked down at their feet.
Now avoid me or are no longer interested.
So tonight I'll sit up here
I will spend the night sitting here.
With these street lights and these seventeen beers.
Drinking and being alone with the street lights.
Straight from the page of a teenage diary,
Feels like I am reliving the same feelings from my adolescence.
Underneath these shitty stars like I was seventeen.
Feeling like a teenager again, looking at the same ordinary stars.
(I mean)
That my heart got kicked out of all its homes,
Repeats that my heart has been broken by failed relationships.
And dying young just didn't work and so I guess I'm dying old
Repeats that I couldn't die young and am now facing old age and death.
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
Repeats that there is no escape from this reality.
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
Repeats that I am alone due to failed relationships.
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
Repeats that there is no escape from my current situation.
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
Repeats that all the people I loved have left me alone.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Brandon Cheek
I never wanted to die old,
But it's too late now,
My heart has grown so cold.
And the corpse I leave behind
Ain't gonna be,
No pretty boy
It's a sick sack of disease.
We thought about
Ways we'd love to go.
High and beautiful,
And fucking in the snow.
On New Years Day or Christmas Eve,
On a warm November night buried beneath the orange leaves.
It's a few dreams on the ways that we could leave.
My heart got kicked out of all its homes,
And dying young just didn't work and so I guess I'm dying old
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
And yesterday I woke up to find,
The black in my beard had turn to white.
And the pretty girls that used to smile at me,
Just stared off straight ahead or looked down at their feet.
So tonight I'll sit up here
With these street lights and these seventeen beers.
Straight from the page of a teenage diary,
Underneath these shitty stars like I was seventeen.
(I mean)
That my heart got kicked out of all its homes,
And dying young just didn't work and so I guess I'm dying old
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
Eric Buhl
BrenMan94
My Interpretation:
The song is about growing up. Simple. The title, "17th and 37th" refer to the age Brendan was when he started Slapstick and how old he is now (at the time the record was released).
Seventeener (17th And 37th)"
I never wanted to die old,
But it's too late now,
My heart has grown so cold.
And the corpse I leave behind
Ain't gonna be,
No pretty boy
It's a sick sack of disease.
We thought about
Ways we'd love to go.
High and beautiful,
And fucking in the snow.
On New Years Day or Christmas Eve,
On a warm November night buried beneath the orange leaves.
It's a few dreams on the ways that we could leave.
My heart got kicked out of all its homes,
And dying young just didn't work and so I guess I'm dying old
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
And yesterday I woke up to find,
The black in my beard had turn to white.
And the pretty girls that used to smile at me,
Just stared off straight ahead or looked down at their feet.
So tonight I'll sit up here
With these street lights and these seventeen beers.
Straight from the page of a teenage diary,
Underneath these shitty stars like I was seventeen.
(I mean)
That my heart got kicked out of all its homes,
And dying young just didn't work and so I guess I'm dying old
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
And there ain't nowhere left to go,
'Cause all my loves would rather be alone.
Chris Manthey
No song better conveys the innate acceptance one must go through when they realize they are getting old.
Joey Woodpieces
I'm hoping that all the dislikes are from people that are currently still young and beautiful ... Because this song is absolutely dead on! Love these guys!
Mike. Larose
I'll be 48 next week. Bought DK give me convenience.... at12. Suicidal at 13 and leave home by Ramones. Small Town skate kid. South county Massachusetts. 87 changed my life. Forever. Still laughing still listening still learning. Still drinking. Let's go!
Abraham Arroyo
This song hits so hard when you're over 30
Matt R
Or 40… 🥲
Mimi Simpjoy
I'm 27 approaching 30 freaking the FUCK out
Mimi Simpjoy
Punk doesn't help. It's real nostalgic reminds me of being young
trebjmike
The "When I Come Around" part is awesome. What a great band/song/video
Edward F. Pignataro IV
I totally noticed that.
kevinbeatzeus
I saw that. It’s when I come around, ruby soho and all the small things.