Panic! At The Disco: The Meaning

19. I Have Friends in Holy Spaces

  "I Have Friends in Holy Spaces" has themes of familiarity and religion . It paints a majestic scenery to create a Holy  feel to the song, which makes sense as the subject appears to be a biblical presence. Not even the rain can fade the light of the Holy presence.  

Brendon Urie: One night when we were writing another song, I was just playing something on the guitar and we were all were just playing and, like, making up lyrics to it. It just kind of became a ditty so they were like 'You can throw that on the album.' So I was like, 'Alright, sure. Thanks'...That was one of the two songs I got to throw on there 

  You remind me of a former love that I once knew
And you carry a little speech with you
We were holding hands walking through the middle of the street
It's fine with me, I'm just taking in the scenery  

Brendon opens the song addressing someone that reminds him of somebody. As the rest of the song carries out, it seems as if he's being facetious by addressing someone he's known for a long time. He's implying that he doesn't know them at all anymore, but formerly he cared for them very much and knew them well.

The phrase to "carry a piece" of somebody means that someone else metaphorically is part of who you are as a person. This is usually associated to someone's personality or beliefs. Normally the phrase would be used to express an element of growth or impact on your life from someone in a positive light. Brendon is using the phrase to point out that his "former love" is not the same person that they used to be. There are little pieces of them that seem familiar, but they've since changed.

He's content with the similarities, and walks with the reminiscent person through the street, taking in the beautiful surroundings.

  You remind me of a few of my famous friends
Well, that all depends what you qualify as friends
You remind me of a few of my famous friends
Well, that all depends what you qualify as friends  

This section seems to be about Brendon's relationship with God, angels, or another religious symbol. Religious figures might not be considered true "friends," since not everyone believes in them and they're not physically there. In addition, most followers of a certain religion will believe they have a personal connection with the entity they worship. That would be a lot of people for the entity to "befriend," so even if they had a relationship of some sort it wouldn't be a very close one.

In the context of the love story being told, Brendon seems to see this person as a godsend or an angel. He thinks they're heavenly, and can't believe they are real.

Brendon Urie: I still use a lot of good values from growing up in the Church, and there was a sense of community. But you were also being heavily judged by people that wanted to look down on you for not being as great as they are. 

  Take a chance, take your shoes off, dance in the rain
And I was flashing around and the news spread all over town
I'm not complaining that it's raining, I'm just saying that I like it a lot
More than you think, if the sun would come out and sing with me  

Although most people tend to avoid going outdoors in bad weather, Brendon is encouraging the other person to embrace it with him so that they can enjoy themselves. Their splashing around has caused others to notice them.

By taking her shoes off, his lover becomes more vulnerable to the effects of the weather, but at the same time gains more freedom. Dancing in the rain, whether it is a literal storm or a metaphor for hard times, signifies their freedom to enjoy themselves despite any external negativity.

  Brendon may have been expecting a similar freedom from his relationship with God, but he never got it.