I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Album

A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

Label

Fueled by Ramen

Genre

Baroque pop

Duration

6:00

Composer(s)

Ryan Ross;Brendon Urie;Spencer Smith

Entered Chart

Mar 18, 2006

Peak Date

Aug 26, 2006

Released

January 16, 2006[1

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Decaydance Digital

This song takes place at a wedding. The groom hears that his bride is cheating on him from a discussion between a bridesmaid and a waiter. His instinct is to tells them to shut the door and keep it to themselves, but he wants to handle it himself and figure it out with "poise and rationality." >> Panic! guitar player and lyricist Ryan Ross came up with the story after breaking up with his girlfriend. He was trying to convey that despite all that happened, it could have been worse. The music video tells the story of a young couple getting married. The bride's family is prim and proper, while the groom's are crazy clowns - literally. In the end, they realize that maybe the idea of a marriage between them was only for the lust, not love, and the bride ends up cheating on the groom after an argument right before the wedding. The narrator is lead singer Brendon Urie, who acts as the groom's conscience. >> One of the instruments used in this song is an accordion. Guitarist Ryan Ross loves the accordion sound and is a big fan of movie soundtracks that use it like Amelie and Nightmare Before Christmas. There's also a harpsichord, which plays the opening notes. The title was inspired by the line in Douglas Coupland's book Shampoo Planet: "What I write are not sins, I write tragedies." >> Many radio stations played a version with the words "god damn" edited out. In the music video, every time Brendan Urie says it, the camera switches to another scene so you never see his mouth form those words. >> The music video was directed by Shane Drake (Plain White T's, Paramore). It won the 2006 MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. Panic! At The Disco had a mere $10,000 budget to record A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, which meant they couldn't afford to pay session musicians, so they recruited middle school band students to play much of the instrumentation. For this song they recorded a girl in her early teens playing cello one note at a time. They sampled the individual notes and used them to craft the track. The song made a big impact on the teenage Taylor Swift. Writing in a 2019 essay about the "power of pop" for Elle UK, Swift recalled: "When I hear 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' by Panic! At The Disco, I'm transported back to being 16 and driving down the streets of Hendersonville, Tennessee, with my best friend Abigail, euphorically screaming the lyrics."

Oh, well imagine
As I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor
And I can't help but to hear
No, I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words

"What a beautiful wedding
What a beautiful wedding", says a bridesmaid to a waiter
"And, yes, but what a shame
What a shame the poor groom's bride is a, shh"

I chime in with a
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the damn door?"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality

I chime in
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the damn door?"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of

Well, in fact
Well, I'll look at it this way
I mean, technically, our marriage is saved
Well, this calls for a toast
So pour the champagne

Oh, well in fact
Well, I'll look at it this way
I mean, technically, our marriage is saved
Well, this calls for a toast
So pour the champagne, pour the champagne

I chime in with a
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the damn door?"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality

I chime in
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the damn door?"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality

Again

I chime in
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the damn door?"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality

I chime in
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the damn door?"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality

Again