| "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Panic! at the Disco | ||||
| from the album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out | ||||
| Released | January 16, 2006[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:06 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Composer(s) | ||||
| Lyricist(s) | Ryan Ross | |||
| Producer(s) | Matt Squire | |||
| Panic! at the Disco singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" on YouTube | ||||
"I Write Sins Not Tragedies" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. It is the second single from their debut studio album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005), and was released in the United States as a digital download on November 16, 2005. The song is built upon a pizzicato cello motif that was played by session musician Heather Stebbins. It reached a peak of No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the band's only top-40 hit until the release of "Hallelujah" in 2015, and only top-10 hit until "High Hopes" in 2018. While the song failed to reach the top 10 of the Modern Rock Tracks chart, peaking at No. 12, the song's success on the Hot 100 and Mainstream Top 40 (at No. 2) made the song one of the biggest modern rock hits of 2006, and it is still one of the band's most-played songs on alternative radio stations.[8]
In the United Kingdom, the song was released on February 27, 2006, as a limited-edition single with a free sticker. Because the sticker was included with the CD single, the song was not eligible for the UK Singles Chart; Official Charts Company rules state that stickers are not allowed in single releases. Later, due to the popularity of the track and following further single releases of "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" and "But It's Better If You Do" reaching the top 40, the single was re-released on October 30, 2006. Despite receiving significant radio airplay upon its re-release, the single reached only No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart.
Many US radio stations, in response to the language found in the song, wanted an edited version. The lyrics "The poor groom's bride is a whore" and "Haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?" were changed by replacing "whore" with a "shhh" sound and removing "god" in "goddamn". Some stations – generally modern rock stations – still play the original version. "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" was ranked No. 3 in Billboard's Best 2000s Video poll,[9] and Variety ranked it as one of the best emo songs of all time in 2022.[10] The song was covered by Fall Out Boy, fellow Decaydance band, for their live album, Live in Phoenix. Fall Out Boy commonly uses the song's chorus as a lead-in to "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" in concert.[11]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
riaawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Tamsyn Wilce. "Track by track: Panic! At The Disco – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die". gigwise.com.
- ^ Gamboa, Glenn (September 2, 2013). "Panic! At the Disco's 'This Is Gospel' review: Unstoppable". Retrieved June 1, 2022.
- ^ Lowry, Candace (October 21, 2014). "Songs Every Former Emo Kid Will Never Forget Crying To". BuzzFeed. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
- ^ Crane, Matt (September 25, 2015). "Vinyl Theatre cover Panic! At The Disco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (exclusive)". Alternative press. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ^ Phillips, Maya (September 27, 2020). "Panic! at the Disco's Flourishes Weren't Just Dramatic. They Were Theater". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
- ^ "Billboard". January 8, 2011. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
- ^ "The 10 Best '00s Music Videos: Poll Results". Billboard. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ^ "The 25 Best Emo Songs of All Time". Variety. October 18, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
- ^ "I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic! At the Disco". secondhandsongs.