Panic! At The Disco: The Meaning

15. Nine in the Afternoon

The debut single of Pretty. Odd. describes what it feels like to be high with a significant other. It was the first song written after the group decided to scrap Cricket & Clover  which was meant to be their sophomore album. The cover art disappointed fans due to the absence of the exclamation point after "Panic," but the punctuation was brought back for the next album

The song was certified double-platinum  by the RIAA on February 26, 2018.

Ryan Ross: This is the first song we wrote. It's a song we all wrote together. It's basically about our situation for the past few years, just kind of looking at it all in a good way, and as a positive thing. It's one of the most straightforward songs we've ever had, lyrically. We wanted to have a song people could just get on the first listen.....It was one of those spur-of-the-moment songs that came together in a couple of hours. It's just a fun song; it's not really meant to be taken seriously. 

  Back to the streets where we began  

Brendon Urie: We'd been living for two months in this cabin, about 45 minutes outside of Vegas, up in Mt. Charleston. We rented it after being on tour for almost two years straight. We were just like, tired. We wanted to get away and write a record, just isolate ourselves from any society. We ended up going crazy. We ended up just partying, by ourselves up in this cabin, which was supposedly haunted—just a bunch of guys on psychedelics. 

Feeling as good as lovers can, you knowWell, now we're feeling so goodPickin' up things we shouldn't readIt looks like the end of history as we knowIt's just the end of the world

  They feel all the positive feelings of somebody enjoying being at the peak of being in love with somebody else. They are likely in the "honeymoon period" of their relationship, the initial time after a couple begins where everything seems absolutely perfect.  

Brendon goes on to sarcastically say, "it's just the end of the world," which is a response to the rude critics, who insist their career could be over. They're pushing aside the bad feelings and disappointment sparked by these criticisms so they can feel good and focus on making music.

  Into a place, where thoughts can bloom
Into a room where it's nine in the afternoon  

Brendon Urie: The title came from our drummer, Spencer Smith—we were high and he was like, "Yeah, I don't know what time it is but it feels like nine in the afternoon." And we just thought that was hilarious, and after cracking up for 20 minutes that became the hook for this song.

"Nine in the afternoon" refers to a time that is impossible, so the place they are going to is one where the impossible becomes possible, such as their imaginations. And where is this place for a band? The recording studio or another location where they write their songs.

Panic! were high while writing the song, as Brendon Urie told Genius in the annotation above, so the drugs they were experimenting with probably gave them some interesting song ideas.

  And we know that it could be
And we know that it should
And you know that you feel it too  

The band rejects that it's impossible for it to ever be nine in the afternoon. For them, in the moment that Spencer made that comment, nine in the afternoon was a real time. The idea made them laugh and feel happy which is how they should feel during the songwriting process. They involve the listener in the last line, implying their happiness is evoked through their music and that we feel it too.

  Your eyes are the size of the moon  

Brendon Urie: After the cabin , we went back down to the practice space where we wrote our first record, this place called TK Productions. The street was Desert Inn Drive, in Valley View. We were really high on mushrooms. We locked ourselves in the studio. Everybody was staring at everybody else, like "Are you okay man?" We still felt a sense of togetherness, we started to feel like we are friends again. 

Brendon is using the analogy of the moon to describe how large the pupils of the other person's eyes are. While there are many possible causes  of pupil dilation, drug use is most likely the reason for this person's wide-eyed look.

Wide eyes can also be a sign of interest in someone or something, and some researchers believe  that people with larger pupils are generally considered to be more attractive.

  Back to the street
Down to our feet
Losing the feeling of feeling unique
Do you know what I mean?  

Certain drugs like marijuana, mushrooms, LSD, etc., often invoke a sense of euphoria, which could be described as feeling an exaggerated sense of uniqueness.

Therefore, "losing the feeling of feeling unique" likely refers to coming down from the high – being "down to our feet." As for the next line, Brendon asks "do you know what I mean?" because he's still partially under the influence of the drugs, so even he's unsure of how to describe what he's feeling.

  Back to the street, back to the place,
Back to the room where it all began
Back to the street, back to the place,
Back to the room where it all began  

  Place attachment is the emotional bond between a person and a place. Again, Brendon is referring to them coming back to practice space where they made their first album. He's reminiscing about the positive vibes and emotions the band felt during the writing processes of their debut album. The last line represents the "oh yeah" moment when Urie remembers what it felt like writing & creating music now that they are doing it again on this second album.  

  You could 'cause you can so you do
We're feeling so good  

  This line evokes the confidence and happiness Brendon feels in this environment. The room, the time, his band mates; it's all giving him this "high" (to follow the theme of the song) and putting him in a mindset where everything seems to come naturally, or even effortlessly. He doesn't have to overthink his work here, he just does it.