Panic! At The Disco: The Meaning

2. The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage

The title is a quote from the Chuck Palahniuk novel, Survivor.

Ryan Ross criticizes artists who make music that seems to be racy or controversial only to gain fame. Cluing in from the song's title, these artists are "martyrs" for their art, suffering criticism from perhaps more conservative voices. Yet, Ross calls them out as merely self-absorbed fame-mongers. They swear to "shake it up" (societal norms) as long as the fans "swear to listen." In Ross' estimation, they are not who think, merely donning the appearance of art-makers, a practice that requires suffering and criticism.

The title could also be interpreted as a criticism of the media's tendency to fixate on tragedies of celebrities, while almost completely ignoring the deaths of anyone they cannot exploit for their own gain.
The implicit message of the title is simply that whether a person's death is deemed important or not is independent of that person's personal merit, the reason they died, or even how many people know of the death initially. All that matters is how much the media tells you to care about it.

As on how Panic! At The Disco came up with the title:

  "Ever since our first album I try to shorten up the titles—when we were playing live I would just forget titles. For this whole album, we were all sitting around and choosing quotes from commercials, movies, books. It was all inside jokes. We would be watching a movie together and be like, 'Oh, that would be funny,' because that describes this song kind of. Now I'm like "Just have it in shorthand and type it in after you're done."

  Sit tight, I'm gonna need you to keep time
C'mon, just snap, snap, snap your fingers for me
Good, good, now we're making some progress
Come on just tap, tap, tap your toes to the beat  

The scene is set much like a play, not unlike a Shakespearean  screenplay. Urie speaks directly to the audience and asks them to keep musical time . This song, being written in 4/4 time , would induce a simple 1-2-3-4 snap from the audience. Often times you'll see a band try to provoke an audience to clap during a live performance. This usually isn't to help them to keep time, but to rather include audience participation in the performance.

Not only do they want the audience to snap their fingers to keep time, but also tap their toes. This may resonate to the cry for attention represented throughout this song. They don't want people to be remotely interested, they want people to be obsessed.

  And I believe
This may call for a proper introduction, and well
Don't you see?
I'm the narrator, and this is just the prologue  

Brendon Urie: "The song is about fantasizing what the fuck are we going to do about it if this band gets big and worrying about that—future-tripping basically. It was so pretentious because we hadn't done anything." 

  Swear to shake it up, and you swear to listen  

They'll bring new sounds to the music scene, but only if the audience is dedicated to their music.

The phrase "Shake It Up" is not just a former Disney Channel Show , but instead is a major goal that the band is trying to accomplish. They want to "shake up" the music scene and create a lasting impact. Although, they're taking the slightly egotistical view and are only willing to provide jaw-dropping tracks if their fanbase is loyal. This once again attributes to the arrogance this song portrays.

You could say that they were a huge part of shaking up the music scene, as they were a major part of making this type of music temporarily mainstream in 2005. Notable other bands that were a part of this surge of "emo" music are Fall Out Boy  and Paramore.

  Oh, we're still so young, desperate for attention  

This is Panic! At The Disco's first album and second song off the album, so this is one of the first songs a fan will hear — they want to give a good impression to their new audience. The band is just getting started and are ready to become something bigger, but they need attention and a fan base to grow. They want to be at the forefront of your mind when thinking about music.

This could have double meaning. The band is young, but the band members are literally young in age. Lead singer, Brendon Urie, was only 17 at the time of release! They have enough foresight to release that youth are in constant desperation for attention — and they even realize the attention they're demanding.

  I aim to be your eyes, trophy boys, trophy wives  

While this could be seen as the band asking for all eyes to be on them and complete control, one could also take it to be seen as a desire to be seen as perfect sons and families.

A "trophy wife" is a term to describe a wife who's described as being young and attractive. Trophy boys would most likely be the same idea, but be descriptive to how they want others to see them. This once again highlights the egocentric viewpoint of the band at this stage.

  Applause, applause, no, wait, wait
Dear studio audience, I've an announcement to make
It seems the artists these days are not who you think
So we'll pick back up on that on another page  

He's not done speaking to his 'Audience' yet. He appreciates their applause for his efforts, but the show hasn't even begun yet.

These days, artists and actors try to fit in to societal norms. Most of the time, it's not really who they are. Take Ke$ha  for example: she's portrayed in the media as a party girl, but if you listen to her sing without autotune (what they don't play on the radio), she's actually quite a different person.

This could also be taken to mean that the artists we think are all light and good could be absolute terrors. This is satirical, saying 'oh no! They're not what we think? How could this be?'