I Write Sins Not Tragedies

I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Panic! at the Disco

“I Write Sins Not Tragedies” is Panic! At The Disco’s second single from their debut studio album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. This song is considered the most popular song of P!ATD. It’s also been covered by many bands, including Fall Out Boy. The title derives from the Douglas Coupland novel Shampoo Planet, wherein says the protagonist, Tyler Johnson:

What I write are not sins; I write tragedies."

“I Write Sins Not Tragedies” was the first song Panic! At The Disco selected specifically as a single for the radio. In an interview, lead singer and frontman, Brendon Urie, describes the moment when Panic! almost decided to not play the song on the radio, and his feeling of euphoria when heard Panic! being played on KROQ for the first time:

We got a call from management, this is half-way through our first tour, and they’re like “hey, the radio is playing five different songs from your album. You need to fucking pick a single, so we just circulate one and build from that.” […] So we had to pick a song, and one of us spoke up and was like “fuck that! We’re not going to go on the radio!” And I was like “What?! There’s no way in hell we’re denying a chance to be played on radio. Especially if we get to pick the single.” […] We picked “I Write Sins” […] and the first time I heard it on the radio it was on KROQ. I was in a friend’s car at the time driving on Santa Monica Boulevard […] I didn’t get it at first, because I heard it and I was like “that sounds familiar. Oh, Shit!” I pulled the window down and was like “this is me! This is me, California!

This song paints a wedding scene with an unfaithful bride – and everyone knows it! The bridesmaid strikes up a conversation with a waiter, where even he, an employee, has caught wind of the bride’s infidelity. The speaker is not fond of his lover’s actions, but decides to take the high road and not stir too much trouble. There can a bright side to anything – like not having to deal with a failed marriage!

One of the primary instruments used in this song is the accordion. Guitarist Ryan Ross loves the accordion and is a big fan of movie soundtracks that use it like “Amélie” and “Nightmare Before Christmas”. There’s also a cello, which plays the opening notes.