Time To Dance

Album: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is about the novel by Chuck Palahniuk called Invisible Monsters. This is evidenced by the lyrics "Walls line the bullet holes" (the book opens with a shooting), as well as, "Give me envy, give me malice, give me your attention." This is the prose Palahniuk uses in the book, mocking a photographer telling the model how to feel. Also, "Boys will be boys hiding in estrogen" refers to the transgender individual in the novel, and "Wearing aubergine dreams" refers to that character's favorite color of makeup. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Richard - Orlando, FL
  • Palahniuk's most famous book is Fight Club, which was later turned into a movie with Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, but he has written quite a few very intriguing books. His uniquely strange style has given him somewhat of a cult following, and Panic At The Disco are huge fans. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bryan - Sacramento, CA

Comments: 39

  • Your Sister Is Gay from Lesbian IslandI guess I'm a boy being a boy hiding in estrogen and wearing aubergine dreams
  • Dude from BasementI love that song, but it's transphobic. Why?
  • Justin L from Virginia Oh crap , I feel like an idiot , I kinda just heard him explaining a girls depression and then giving her directions to properly shoot herself, preferably with a shotgun.
  • Cherilyn from Estherville, IaPanic! At the disco is my favorite band! Listen to the song lets kill tonight
  • Katee from Huntsville, AlThis song is writtin in parrallel to the book Invisible Monster, it's actaully quite interesting how they went about it! loveee
  • Ellen from Rotorua, New ZealandI know theres the whole shooting aspect but like is it also refering to a shotgun wedding when a guy gets a girl pregnant so they get married or am i way off target?
  • Heather from Radford, VaTom--

    What right do you have to try and tell people what they should and shouldn't listen to? Everyone's different and has their own opinions, so stop acting like your opinion is the only one that matters. Whether you like them or not, it doesn't matter. Just don't try and tell people what to listen to.

  • Emerald from Places, IlThis is an awesome song.. and u can accually make sense of it!!! lol
    PATD forever!
  • Z from Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Waok, Kris, these guys are not emo. They are just REALLY REALLY WEIRD and that's why some poeple like them so much. They talk about things in their songs that make people uncomfortable, put themselves in other people's danger zones and dance around in there until you go completely insane if you don't like them, insanely happy if you do. People DO die, things like what is mentioned in this song DO happen, but it's not emo. Just insane. ~~Ta~~
  • Dominique from --, Nyi agree with - :: Christine ::, Longview, WA. it makes sense. couldn't of said it better my self! so yeah. i agree with you. this song is aswome. i love it.
  • Kathleen from Miami, FlWhat i think, could be totally different from what the song really does mean, but this is my take on it: i think that basically the song talks about a lot of things. i think one of the main issues it covers, is about getting a girl pregnat and than having to take responsibility for it- "when i say shotgun, you say wedding". another clue to support this throey, is the part that goes "have some composure where is your posture"- i think they mean have some calmness, but realize to step up to the plate. sorry if my take is like totally off the wall, but take what i said into consideration and it could make some sense to you. i <3 ryan!
  • :: Christine :: from Longview, WaOk so...MY take on the song was that there was this popular girl who just kinda went off the edge a bit and cut herself or tried to commit suicide. When it says "fashion magazines line the walls now" it is because she looks at them and finds that she can't BE that, she can't be pretty like that or perfect like that, or maybe a boy said something like she wasn't pretty enough or hot enough or whatever. Hence the "boys will be boys" part.. So she decides it wasn't worthy to live. So she shoots herself. "Walls" meaning the magazine lined walls "line the bullet holes" give her incentive. "Have some composure, where is your posture...you're pulling the trigger, pulling the trigger all wrong" that means that a normally poised girl was losing her perfect composure by acting like this...and "pulling the trigger all wrong" meant that her reasoning was stupid and completely wrong. Then the part where it says "She didn't choose this role..." so on and so forth, means that she didn't want to be this pretty popular girl, but she acted as so normally to be what other wanted her to be. Which led to her unhappiness. And then there is the "this is screaming photo op"...which is pretty obvious; it means that you don't see miss "teen queen" putting down her guard like this everyday, and you should see it while it lasts, even if she has hurt herself just to get people to see her unhappiness.

    That is just MY take on it. I have read a lot about this book that the words came from, I am going to need to read this book, it sounds good.
  • Carrie-la from Rockford, IlWhy are we even debating about song meaning? If you've read Invisible Monsters, it's pretty obvious what everything means. I didn't even know the two were related when I was reading the book the first time, and as I'm going, I'm like whoa, this sounds so much like Time to Dance, the song could have been written after it [xD wonder why?] Snaps to Panic! at the Disco for writing about literature, it's an amazing influence. Invisible Monsters is my favorite Chuck P. book so far, and I can understand why they'd write a song about it. Everything about it just stays with you.
    <3 Carrie-la

    P.S. If you hate Panic! at the Disco... why are you here? o.o I wish I had that much free time.
  • Alex from New York, NyI think "time to dance," "I write sins not tragedies," and "lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off" go together in their meanings there all about weddings and cheating.
  • Emma from Dorset, Vtalright yeah this is based on Invisible Monsters..great book btw. inspiring and powerful. and whoever said "its just emo crap" or w/e is stupid bcuz yeah ryan ross, who wrote this song, had a messed up life. his loser dad was an alcoholic and abused ryan. he has every right to be depressed.
  • Jess from Hemel Hempstead, United StatesI've found 3 different versions of it's time to dance
  • Kris from Oconomowoc, Wiwith in the first 45 seconds of this song, i heard at least 3 over emo statements. their lives arent that bad, dont listen to their sedistic lies and HOLD ON TO YOUR LIVES AND RUN FROM THIS BAND!!!
  • Lohla from New York, Nythe demo versions of the song are MUCH, MUCH better.
  • Lauren from Philadelphia, Pait's about the book Invisible monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
  • Sabrina from Halifax, MaI thought shotgun wedding was when your forced to marry the person, due to anyt reason.
  • Josh from New York, Nygetting married out of wedlock is technically impossible... just based on what the phrase "out of wedlock" means.

    a shotgun wedding is equivalent to going to vegas for a weekend and getting hitched.
  • Tabby from Here, TnDoesn't shot gun wedding mean your getting married out of wedlock?
  • Jessie from Somewhere, United StatesI find the music today great. Some people are just afraid to listen to new bands. They only judge bands by stereotypes.
  • Galina from New London, Ctmary, i think your a little off. this song is more about a popular girl who gets shot at a dance and she being made fun of during her death... oh nevermind carly already said it...
  • Mary from Yellowknife, CanadaI think the songs means..." Well, she?s not bleeding on the ballroom floor " that there was a wedding and after the wedding...the feast and when the groom and bride were dancing the bride got shot " When I say "Shotgun" you say "Wedding" "Shotgun" , "Wedding" , "Shotgun" , "Wedding" "
    "Give me envy ,Give me malice, Give me your attention" there's some love triangle going on. The other guy wins and gets to marry the girl. "Come on this is screaming Photo op" probably the photographers taking pictures. Of course the girl is popular...so if she's popular, many guys will of course like her
  • Galina from New London, CtTom, I live in new london, so if we ever meet, lets have a talk.:( If you go elms, chances are my mom is your french teacher. P!ATD is a great band, and they are really creative, and besides, dont critisize other peoples opinions, because theat makes you lame and totally stupid. I dont like rush, but then again Im not being mean about it. So, in conclusion, grow some balls and shut up.
  • Rachel from South Point, OhThere was a House episode where a fashion model turned out to be a boy, but nobody (including him) knew it because his hormones were 100% pure estrogen. This song always makes me think of it.
  • Alicia from Usa, CaTom I have a sugestion, maybe you should stop telling peopl what they can and can't listen to. :]
  • Lucius from Gaston, InTom...do you not have anything better to do than insult other people's tastes? Kind of pathetic, really.
  • Tom from East Lyme, CtOk, Panic! at the disco is NOT at ALL a good band in any way, listen to Led Zeppelin and Rush and all the GOOD bands (the name is horrible too)
  • Michelle from Marshfield, Wiah! panic! at the disco is fantastic! i love them a lot.
  • Meagan from Lebanon, Ohthis song has a lot to do with jealousy.
    wanting to be somebody else.
  • Carly from Greeley, Cowow, you are all making this way to complicated, the song is the popular girl getting shot at a dance, and getting her attention like she always got. when they say " have some composure, where is your posture" i think they mean the nerdy kid who shot the popular girl is sort of moking her, while she is dying. He also says "this is screaming photo op" he wants people to take pictures of the popular person while they look like crap, not all perfect as usual. Thats just what I thought.
  • Allister from ..., NyWhy does it say NY instead of United States now?
  • Allister from ..., Nylol...I didn't really listen. I just wanted to post something and sound intelligent about it. Darn it.
  • Casey from Newport Beach, CaAllister: I think the line is actually "You sure, you sure you let her have it".
  • Allister from ...., United StatesThere are two versions of the song- the album version, and another which can be found on LimeWire. The second version has a different sound, with far less acoustic instrument, and more of a synthetic sound. It also includes the title in it, when the words "time to dance" are played after the chorus, heavily distorted. This other version also includes the words "you sure, you sure you never had it" after the first verse.
  • Ruben from Wenatchee, WaThis song sounds pretty cool
  • Allister from ...., United Statessounds like a book I should read.
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