Joe Jonas Compared The JoBros’ Breakup To A Meme & Nick Didn't *Quite* Get It

The Jonas Brothers have returned, and for longtime fans, happiness has truly begun — literally. The boys’ first studio album in over a decade, Happiness Begins, arrives on Friday, June 7, and fans are counting down to the moment they can finally listen. But even though both the fans and the JoBros are in a very good place now, it wasn’t always this rosy for them. Joe Jonas compared the Jonas Brothers’ break-up to a viral meme in a new interview, and while it’s certainly an unexpected correlation, it’s actually somewhat fitting — and completely hilarious.

When talking about the JoBros’ tumultuous 2013 break-up in an interview for Harper’s Bazaar, Joe said that the tension and communication between the band and its team got so bad that he likened the situation to the infamous viral meme of a cartoon dog sitting in a house on fire, with the caption “This is fine”.

“At some point [the band] got so dysfunctional that we didn’t even let in outside writers,” Joe said. “We didn’t have a producer. We didn’t have a label. We were like, ‘We’re good with this.’ Not to speak of memes, but it was like that dog and the burning house: ‘This is fine.’” It’s an apt description for many problems in life, quite frankly.

Hilariously, his brother Nick didn't seem to know what meme he was referring to. “Which meme?” Nick asked, before Joe responded, “It’s a dog in a burning house. He’s a smiling cartoon dog, and he’s like, ‘This is fine.’ That was us.” And Nick did not particularly disagree. “I love that you just referenced a meme in an interview,” he said.

It seemed that Nick's response wasn't enough to convince Joe that he understood the meme he was referring to. “It’s a very popular meme, Nick,” Joe concluded. That phrase itself is about to become the next viral meme.

It appears that Joe and Kevin were so content with the burning house that they got very heated when Nick finally announced that he was done with the band, despite their slow tour and music sales, as they told the outlet. “It was like, ‘You’re joking,’” Joe explained. “And then it was like, ‘F*ck this. And f*ck you guys. I’m going to go figure out what’s next for me and this will never happen again.’” The split affected him even when he started his next musical endeavor, DNCE, which spawned hit single “Cake By the Ocean." “I couldn’t even play one of our songs on stage with DNCE… even just to nod to the past,” he said.

Now, Nick takes responsibility for the way that he broke things off with the band and admitted that he regretted, “I felt guilty for having been so honest,” he said. “I could have done a better job of communicating the way I felt. I’d had a month or two to live with this decision I’d made, and they hadn’t.” But he doesn’t regret the break-up itself. “I was also aware that [the split] was absolutely what needed to be done.”

In this case, time made the heart grow fonder, and the music stronger, and for that, the world is eternally grateful. A world with new Jonas Brothers music is, most definitely, fine.