This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race

"This Ain't a Scene" redirects here. For the emo rap song, see Jxdn.
"This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race"
Single by Fall Out Boy
from the album Infinity on High
B-side
  • "G.I.N.A.S.F.S"
  • "It's Hard to Say "I Do", When I Don't"
ReleasedDecember 5, 2006
Length3:32
LabelIsland
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Neal Avron
Fall Out Boy singles chronology
"The Carpal Tunnel of Love"
(2006) 		"This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race"
(2006) 		"Thnks fr th Mmrs"
(2007)
Remix featuring Kanye West

"This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" is a song by American rock band Fall Out Boy and the second single from their commercially successful third studio album Infinity on High (2007).[1] The song officially debuted on November 21 at the American Music Awards and impacted US radio on December 5.[2] The music was composed by vocalist and guitarist Patrick Stump and the lyrics were penned by bassist Pete Wentz, following the band's songwriting approach which first began with some songs on their 2003 album Take This to Your Grave. Production was handled by Neal Avron, who also produced the band's previous From Under the Cork Tree album. Commenting on the band's decision to pick the track as the first single, Wentz said "There may be other songs on the record that would be bigger radio hits, but this one had the right message."

The track was a commercial success and the band's major international breakthrough. "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with 162,000 first week sales and broke various records, along with being the band’s highest charting single to date. It is the group's first single to chart worldwide in countries including Australia, New Zealand and most of the European nations, where it reached the top five in many. After its Platinum RIAA and ARIA certifications in 2007, in 2013 it was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for 200,000 sales.[3] In Australia, it spent nine consecutive weeks at either No. 4 or No. 5.[4]

The song was released as a downloadable track for the video game Rock Band on May 6, 2008, and is also on Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2.[5] The January 2009 issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine lists Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" as second on its list of Rock Band's Five Most Unexpectedly Rockin' Downloadable Songs.[6] The song is also available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero 5.

  1. ^ John Norris (June 5, 2006). "MTV News Raw: Fall Out Boy". MTV.com (Podcast). Archived from the original on December 10, 2006.
  2. ^ "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. November 28, 2006. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  3. ^ "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original (To access, enter the search parameter "Fall Out Boy") on August 1, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  4. ^ "Fall Out Boy - This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race (Song)". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  5. ^ DLC Week of May 6th – Rock Band – Forums Archived 2008-05-05 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Rock Band’s Five Most Unexpectedly Rockin' Downloadable Songs", PlayStation: The Official Magazine (January 2009): 58.