Alternative Character Interpretation: The song "When the Day Met the Night" features two characters, the sun and the moon, one being described as explicitly female and the other as explicitly male. But the lyrics are written ambiguously enough that people have interpreted the moon as male and the sun as female as well as the moon as female and the sun as male.
Audience-Alienating Premise: The band's 2008 album Pretty. Odd. turned out to be this for the band's fanbase at the time. An emo-pop band doing a throwback to 1960s baroque pop and psychedelic pop (particularly The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)? It just didn't fly with their fans. It ultimately resulted in half the band departing to form a new band.
On their cover of "Skid Row" from Little Shop of Horrors, Brendon does one hell of a job doing the opening, which is typically belted out torch singer-style.
"This is Gospel" is widely considered to be one of their best for a reason. It's hard not to belt "If you love me, let me GOOOOOO!" right along with Brendon every time.
"When the Day Met the Night" is simply incredible in every way.
"LA Devotee" is just fun. Once you get to the chorus, it's hard not to scream along, especially if you're hearing it live.
"High Hopes" is one of the best tracks on Pray for the Wicked, especially with the blaring horns, and the slower, quieter build-up to the chorus.
"Say Amen (Saturday Night)" quickly became one of the band's most beloved songs, and not just because of the kickass music video.
Their cover of "The Greatest Show." Just try to listen to it without smiling... or scream-singing along.
Just about all of "Death of a Bachelor" is this, including "House of Memories", "Emperor's New Clothes", "Victorious", the Title Track and "LA Devotee".
Pretty. Odd. proved divisive on several fronts; its Beatles-esque sound alienated many fans wanting the pop-punk/dance style of A Fever You Can't Sweat back, and the band notably dropped the exclamation mark from their name for the album. This reaction was renewed when they brought the exclamation mark back.
Ryan and Jon leaving to form their own band, The Young Veins.
Mention of any of the member's wives/girlfriends can evoke anything from adoration to vitriolic hatred. This is probably caused by fans' Dry Docking and Die for Our Ship mentalities. Mentions of Brendon's wife, Sara, are most susceptible to this, as Brendon is the band's most notable example of a Mr. Fanservice. (Fortunately, the Sara hate decreased over time.) The only other "official" member with a significant other is Dallon Weekes, who is focused upon much less and has been Happily Married to his wife for several years.
The band having Brendon as the only official band member as of 2016 put another rift in the fanbase.
Pray for the Wicked was either a great followup to Death of a Bachelor with the Kinky Boots influence warmly received, or a mainstream letdown full of Album Filler.
Crazy Is Cool: Brendon, in the video for "Say Amen". With the use of an Artifact of Doom, he kills a number of people breaking into his house in increasingly ridiculous ways, ranging from dragging one into a fan using a tie, to playing guitar, to blowing up his own microwave for the hell of it.
Creepy Awesome: If the videos for "LA Devotee," "Emperor's New Clothes," or "Say Amen (Saturday Night)" have taught us anything, it's that Brendon Urie is always awesome, no matter what creepy, unnatural thing he's doing.
A lot of the things Brendon says on stage can qualify as this, but one example is when Brendon was performing with a bad cold and said something along the lines of "This might be a paradox, guys, but I think God is punishing me for being an atheist."
The aforementioned "April Fools, motherfuckers!" incident.
Crosses the Line Twice: Some of the things Brendon says onstage indulge in this from time to time.
A story about his mother at a few shows started with "It's not just because [my mother is] incredibly smart and incredibly sexy. I can say that because I will never date her." It ended with him saying that he told her, "I am just so fucking glad I came out of YOUR vagina."
One of their tour videos featured a the band traveling in car and happening upon a Christian music station playing a song that featured the line "Christ is behind me." Brendon noticed the Accidental Innuendo and started shouting "Christ inside me! Christ, get deep inside me! Put your love inside me! SHOVE IT all up inside me!" It got to the point that even Dallon, the band's Token Religious Teammate, couldn't help but crack up.
Everyone Is Satan in Hell: Naturally the music video for The Emperor's New Clothes gotten this from Christian conspiarcy theorists. To their credit, it's all but lifted from Paradise Lost.
Some fans have theorized that "This Is Gospel" is about Brendon rejecting religion — specifically, the Mormon religion he grew up with — and "Emperor's New Clothes" is about him being denied access to Heaven and morphing into a demon before happily entering what appears to be Hell.
Fan Nickname: Brendon: Bden, Brenny Bear, and Beebo. Ryan: Ryro and (by his detractors) Ryho. Jon Walker: Jwalk. Ian Crawford: Een.
Faux Symbolism: In concert, "This is Gospel" has been performed in front of screens displaying stained glass windows, very much like ones you would see in a church. Although this looks pretty cool, it's not very fitting. The song was not written to contain any religious themes and even if you examined the lyrics, they do not reference religion. The fact that Brendon is a devout atheist makes this even more baffling.
Fridge Brilliance: One can notice that Brendon is wearing his wedding ring during the music video for 'Nicotine', which was probably an accident, as the character is supposed to be bringing flowers to his lover (which could unintentionally imply adultery). But when his lover is revealed to have been Dead All Along, one could interpret that she was his wife and he still wears his wedding ring
Friendly Fandoms: Fall Out Boy and Panic! fans often overlap. This isn't surprising considering their similar music styles, shared origins and penchant for long titles. They overlap a lot with the My Chemical Romance fanbase, too. This is probably due to the witty and intelligent rebellion lyrics. It's more like, which one did you become a fan of first.
Growing the Beard: Brendon took leaps and bounds lyrically between "Vices&Virtues" and "Too Weird To Live". It's a noticeable difference if you read the lyrics right after one another. The topics get more mature too.
"Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks'" chorus opening lyric can sound very eerie during Spencer Smith's final years in the band, owing to his drug and alcoholism misuse in 2013. It doesn't help that it was about Ryan Ross' father's death of substance abuse and is already more of a tearjerker than it was back then; Spencer then took time off during the "Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!" tour to get help and quit the band two years later in 2015.
Brendon: Prescribed pills to offset the shakes, to offset the pills, you know you should take it a day at a ti-i-me
Brendon and Spencer produced "New Perspective" with no input from Ryan or Jon, as Brendon recorded a weird dream and made a demo before he forgot it. As it was already completed, it was the best option to be used when they were asked to submit a song to Jennifer's Body. The split had happened by the time the single was released months later.
Not to mention that the music video for "New Perspective" had Spencer being dimmed down in obscurity as Brendon gained the spotlight, which would later foreshadow his drug and alcoholism misuse in 2013 before officially leaving the band in 2015.
"Folkin' Around"'s lyrical content became this after Ryan Ross left the band.
Also, the lyric in the aforementioned song, "I'm putting out the lantern, find your own way back home", can upset diehard fans after Panic! disbanded in 2023.
Their New Sound Album (Pretty.Odd.) begins with a track that assures the listener that they are "still the same band." Half of the band left after the album's release, and even later, after Spencer's departure, Brendon was the only remaining original member.
A video that was made as a teaser for the album Vices and Virtues focuses on 'letting go of 'baggage' so you can move on and become a better person.' By the end of the video, Brendon and Spencer are the only ones left and willing to 'move on and then this exchange happens
Brendon: ...It's just us... Spencer: It always has been.
At the time, it was simply an odd video full of Mind Screw and Faux Symbolism. After the album's release, Spencer came out about his substance abuse problems and stopped touring with the band. This could make the video a Tear Jerker if it weren't already.
"The End of All Things" is a lot more depressing to listen to nearly ten years after the release of this song.
Even this lyric on "High Hopes" takes a whole new meaning four years later:
Brendon: So I got one more run, and it's gonna be a sight to see-eh-eh-eh
"Roaring 20s" lyric in the chorus may come across as a shock to some fans at first because Brendon was feeling nervous about his first Broadway performance. He disbands Panic! completely less than five years after the fact.
Brendon: Roll me like a blunt, cause I wanna go home
Just watching the "Do It to Death" music video and maybe even listening to the entire album of "Viva Las Vengeance" is enough to be spine-chilling when you realise that said song was not only the band's final song and aforementioned final album before Panic! disbanded in 2023 but the music video showcases Brendon passing out from exhaustion, leading to his death. It doesn't even help that the album's music videos have him either suffering from depression, getting injured brutally or outright killed, as it centres around the theme of death, and there were 42 mentions of this theme in "Viva Las Vengeance".
He Really Can Act: Brendon pulled this off in his role in Razia's Shadow, which is an actual story-driven musical rather than a standard album.
He also showcased this when playing Charlie Price in the musical version of Kinky Boots.
Many people have noted that the groom◊ in the music video "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" bears a remarkable resemblance to bassist Dallon Weekes◊, who didn't join until years later.
In the band's early years, an interviewer had Brendon and Ryan do a 'Mad Libs' type game, resulting in a ridiculous love letter that began with the "My nasty love..." Brendon and Ryan joked that they would make a song out of it. Several years later, the biggest hit of Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die was the song "Miss Jackson" which repeatedly features the line "...are you nasty?" in the chorus.
The chorus from "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage", "Swear to shake it up if you swear to listen", has Panic! telling the audience they will bring new sounds to the music industry and create a lasting impact. Returning to this chorus becomes much more funnier to listen to now that there has been a Genre Shift between every album the band (now a solo project) has made.
Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! - electronic dance and Synth-Pop
Death of a Bachelor - pure rock with electronic pop-rock, jazz and Queen influences
Pray for the Wicked - pop with strong jazz and broadway influences
Viva Las Vengeance - 70s rock and roll with pop-rock and Queen aesthetics
The lyric "but I make these high heels work" in "Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time" became this when Brendon starred in the musical version of Kinky Boots.
In-Joke: There are a lot of jokes about milk in the fandom. Don'task. note If you really want an explanation, (warning, next sentence contains major Squick) it's a reference to the infamous fan fiction that features Brendon giving Ryan a milk enema. It became so popular that even Brendon had heard of it and addressed it in an Instagram video.
On the YouTube page for The Ballad Of Mona Lisa, a frequent comment is about the netgun used to capture Mary at the end.
Closing the goddamn door.
A post circulating around the internet joking that the song "I Constantly Thank God for Esteban" actually referred to the character from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody has been popular as well.
The song 'Northern Downpour' is so notorious for its Tear Jerker qualities that one just needs to type "brendon urie c" into the youtube search bar to have " brendon urie crying during northern downpour" be one of the recommended searches. The song has also been jokingly referred to as "Northern Frownpour" by fans.
Jokes about Brendon secretly wanting Ryan to come back are also popular.
No one really gives much thought anymore to original bassist Brent Wilson (Probably because Jon Walker was around longer and much more willing to smile in photo shoots).
Additionally Jon Walker himself ended up falling victim of this to an extent once Dallon Weekes joined as a full-time member in 2012. While most fans still love Jon, it's widely agreed that Dallon was the best bassist the band ever had to date.
The videos for "Miss Jackson" and "This is Gospel"
The video for "Emperor's New Clothes" counts as well.
The video for "LA Devotee" features a group of Satanists torturing a boy, up to and including electrifying him. It doesn't help that Noah Schnapp, the boy in question, is most well-known for playing Will Byers.
Replacement Scrappy: It seemed like Dallon Weekes and Ian Crawford were about to become this, after Ross' and Walker's departure. Though many fans adore them, many are still quite bitter over the split. At least for Dallon, it seems largely averted.
Portmanteau Couple Name: Rydon/Ryden (Ryan/Brendon), still very popular despite the split. Joncer (Jon/Spencer), usually a case of Pair the Spares. After the split, Brencer (Brendon/Spencer) was formed.
Now introducing Brallon (Brendon/Dallon)(amusingly, people have mentioned this ship name could refer to the pair of Dallon and his wife as well, as her name is Breezy)
"High Hopes" also count as this due to being the most well-known Panic! song nowadays, in fact the song is actually the biggest hit the band ever had to date.
"Emperor's New Clothes", "Hey Look Ma, I Made It", and "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" is also rather well known.
Sophomore Slump: Apart from "Northern Downpour," Pretty. Odd. was much less well-received both critically and commercially than the debut A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, due in large part to the dramatic shift in sound. Vices & Virtues, while not being lauded, was better-received critically and enjoyed better album sales, though a true return to positive reception wouldn't come until Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!, which even attracted people who were ambivalent about the first three albums.
Pretty. Odd. gets one in Take A Vacation! by The Young Veins, the band formed by half the band when they split. The album closely resembles the style of Pretty. Odd..
The video for "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" seems to suggest the song as a sequel to "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", taking place in the same church. Last time it was for a wedding; this time it's a funeral.
Similarly, "Emperor's New Clothes" was revealed by its music video to be one to "This Is Gospel". A close listen reveals a slight alteration on the melody of "Gospel"'s Ohs being used in "Emperor"'s verses.
"LA Devotee" on Death of a Bachelor succeeds the last album's Location Song, "Vegas Lights", as Brendon's Creator Provincialism makes way for the Hollywood stardom explored in Bachelor and Pray for the Wicked.
And Wicked follows up with "Dying in LA," almost a direct Sequel Song to "LA Devotee".
"Dancing's Not a Crime" on Pray for the Wicked is this to "Girls/Girls/Boys", answering GGB's "'Cause I don't ever wanna be your boyfriend" with
'Cause I just wanna be Your boyfriend/girlfriend
Sweet Dreams Fuel: Pretty much all of Pretty. Odd.. Especially "Behind The Sea", "She Had The World", and "When The Day Met The Night".
What some fans thought when Pretty. Odd. came out.
Also when the band removed the exclamation mark after "Panic" in the name. The exclamation mark has since returned.
They Copied It, So It Sucks!: The band got a lot of heat for their blatant similarities to Fall Out Boy. The fact that they were huge fans before they were even a band and got signed by Pete Wentz is a good explanation of this.
Vindicated by History: Pretty. Odd. was received poorly both commercially and critically, seen as a strange and unfavorable follow-up to A Fever You Can't Sweat Out and a letdown to many who waited years for the follow-up. It's since gained a loyal cult following, and its reputation in general improved when future albums firmly established the band's sound and proved the album to be an interesting experiment in sound rather than a permanent and alienating genre shift.
Visual Effects of Awesome: The entire music video for "Emperor's New Clothes" is about Brendon slowly transforming into a demon, and is a beauty of editing and makeup effects.
, which is typically belted out torch singer-style.
