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

This song is about the fight for popularity in the music world. Pete owns the label that produced bands like Panic! Th The Disco who were big at this time. It didn't matter who won the fight for popularity cause he would still get money. This is also a response song to non other than P!ATD's smash hit " I write Sins Not Tragedies."

I think all of the "I"s in this song refer to FOB as a whole.

"I am an arms dealer fitting you with weapons in the form of words And (don't really care which side wins) As long as the room keeps singing that's just the business I'm in"

This is basically saying that FOB is making different types of songs AND THEY KNOW IT.

It also means that they don't give a f*ck about who wins the fight over whether it's a change for the better or it's selling out. They just care about the music and if it sounds good, not about who listens to it. I'M NOT SAYING THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THEIR FANS;

I'm simply saying that as long as someone (be they rock fans, be they pop fans) is enjoying their music and they themselves like it, FOB is fine (and making money).

"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race"

This could have more than one meaning. It may mean that FOB and their music are not a "scene" (uh, like one and only one style to be, ie. hip hop, emo, punk, etc.), they're just a band that's trying to make it all the way.

And then again, it may mean that the "scene" that FOB is already representing is now full of phonies and they are all trying to be the, uh, "scene"est. If that makes any sense.

That line could mean a lot more, but I like these two the most. They both seem to fit in at different places in the song, so maybe it's both ideas fused.

"I'm not a shoulder to cry on, but I digress"

This means that FOB is not the one to go and bitch and moan to about their 'drastic change'. The "but I digress part" just means, but I'm geeting off topic. You should know that. :/ And if you still don't understand, here's an example. Say I was talking about bananas:

A banana is a fruit. A banana is yellow. The sun is also yellow, but I digress. XD

"I wrote the gospel on giving up (and LOOKED pretty sinking) But the real bombshells have already sunk (prima donnas of the gutter)"

The lyrics are wrong. This means just what it says; FOB wrote the gospel on giving up and they got a lot of fans for it, but they never really "sunk". They're saying that the people that really gave up and the ones that were really, and I'm defining bombshell, explosive and wild have already "sunk", or hit their all time low. FOB is saying that these people are the Queen Btches of the, for lack of better words, depressed teenage crowd. An example most should know is Jeffree Star. NO, I am NOT saying that FOB and J have anything to do with each other!!! I'm just saying that J* is (or dubs himself the) the leader of 'mannequins' and cross dressers and such.

"At night we're painting your trash gold, while you sleep Crashing not like hips or cars, NO more like p-p-p-parties"

(Ahem, wrong again) I think this means that now their in the spotlight so more people know about their, uh, "scene" (which I think they referred to as trash). And that while they said they were all for doing one thing, they were doing another. Or it could mean that they're now going to polish up pop, so it gains some depth and meaning.

"Bandwagon's full, please catch another"

I think this means that they are tired of all of the phonies FOB fans that only like them because it's cool right now. This goes with my second idea about the part of the song that its title came from.

"All the boys who the dance floor didn't love, and all the girls whose lips couldn't move fast enough, sing until your lungs give out"

This...this is a bit vague. Who knows what the girls' lips couldn't move fast enough for? Not me. But I can guess. :] This line may mean that all of the people that didn't automatically side with one scene, and all the ones that haven't become the center of attention in their scene of choice, the ones that are on the outside looking in can see that THIS AIN'T A SCENE, IT'S A GODDAMN ARMS RACE!

"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race (Now You)"

When he says "Now You" he points to a character from the "A Little Less Sixteen Candles..." video. Then the character lip synchs "this ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race". This matches up with my first idea about that part.

"I'm the leading man And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate"

I skipped this part until now for a reason. This, to me, says:

We, Fall Out Boy, started this crowd, and we did it by saying al lot of things that only sounded pretty.

I personally think this song is wonderful, from the beginning to the end.

(I think it's kinda funny how a lot of people say that don't like the beginning and in the video, FOB was being made fun of until the "I'm the leading man" jazz started, haha. That seems like something a band that listens to its fans would do. :])

(I also like how in the very end of the video, they're preforming for their "scene", and saying the part about lying and then he dives into the crowd. Great symbolism.)

I just heard this song for the first time tonight. It's so different than anything on any of their previous albums but it's Fall Out Boy. Like, no matter how they grow and change, you can always pick them out of a crowd. Personally, I'm not positive if I love it yet, but I'm glad they took a chance and did something different, instead of making the same album over again. At least their trying, and you gotta give them credit.

Why would FOB make a song about the gangster/rap/hip-hop scene? To me this is definitely about the pop/punk scene.

Hey parker, if you don't like the song why comment on it? What a "GAY" thing to do.

I really don't think this is ALL that different from their old stuff. And who cares, it's still Fall Out Boy. ANYWAY. If you don't like it just because it's different, shove it up your ass, no one wants to hear it. Don't bother commenting on things you don't like; it wastes everyone's time and it's just going to spark arguments [[kind of like this]]. Nobody's going to like every song they hear; what's the point of going and starting something like this? Just to get debate and disagreement? POINTLESS. Personally, I love this song. I think it's amazing. It is a little poppy, but it's still a good song. Besides, no offense to a lot of pop music fans, but I'm not sure that half of them even know what the word intricate means. I have a feeling they might end up claiming to like it, but have no idea of what the song actually means.

I don't get what everyone's saying about this being overly poppy. So it's not TTTYG or FUCT. Isn't that supposed to be...oh I don't know...GOOD? It's different, but really, it's got the same elements as every other single of theirs that was eqaully poppy: "Grand Theft Autumn", "Sugar, We're Goin' Down", "Dance Dance", "A Little Less Sixteen Candles", and "Saturday" (My favorite) : A good hook, an extremely catchy chorus, a drum beat that won't quit, incredible background vocals, and some great guitars...so don't be saying they've gone pop this time. Because it's just like before. So until they start rapping or singing stuff the record label wrote for them (Fall Out Boy CLEARLY wrote this, and no, Guitarpunk150, it's not "completly abandoning what you stand for to let record companies force you to write completely radio friendly songs") It's Fall Out Boy. It's maturity. It's growth. They're expanding into new sounds. I think they call it being creative or something. Now I'll get off my soapbox. The meaning: I think this one line sums it up "Bandwagon's full, please catch another," telling people/bands etc to stop jumping on the bandwagon. Because really, FOB was the first of the 'scene' to make it mainstream that I know of. And now all these other bands are making music exactly like theirs. Yeah, I'm done with my rant. Sorry for length.

Does the quote, "My pen is the barrel of my gun remind me of which side you should be on," come to mind? Arrogance of how much his words can do comparing it to weapons which is a great concept because these days words can kill i.e. wiki-leaks.

"All the boys who the dancefloor didn't love, and all the girls whose lips couldn't move fast enough"

I always took these lines as people being uncomfortable with their gender roles.

-The boy, who's been told his whole life that he should be self-sufficient and emotionless is alone on the dance floor (and possibly self-conscious about that)

-The girl, who is being hit on by some creepy dude, is trying to talk her talk her way out of the situation (and possibly, darker themes, as her lips 'couldn't move fast enough')

i don't know, those are just my thoughts :>

I'd like to add my personal interpretation to this song:

"I am an arms dealer fitting you with weapons in the form of words. And I don't really care which side wins, as long as the room keeps singing that's just the business I'm in. This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!"

An arms race is two or more sides of a war participating in interactive or competitive production of better weapons. It's a sort of call-and-response to keep topping what the other one just produced.

This phenomenon also occurs in music business, when bands produce songs inspired by music dropped by another band, trying to better what they did. For example: the Beach Boys made Pet Sounds in reaction to hearing The Beatles' Rubber Soul, but then the Beatles created Sgt. Pepper's as a reaction to Pet Sounds. Or, like @Jayybuchanan said, Fall Out Boy made this song in response to P!atD's "I write tragedies not sins".

There can't ever be a winner in these things though. In a nuclear arms race everyone loses (because we all die), and in a musical arms race everyone wins, because there's more music!

I get how this can be frustrating for a musician though. They might feel pressure to keep creating something better than their peers in the scene time after time, and journalists or fans can make it seem like it's a matter of life or death; of winning or losing. Hence, the comparison to an arms race.

So to me, what they're saying in this first verse is: "take a chill pill, we're just here to have a good time." Like, Pete Wentz literally said once: "Fall Out Boy was never supposed to get this big. We just wanted some pizza and to play songs fast." That's what he's saying in this verse.

"I'm not a shoulder to cry on, but I digress."

To be fair, I don't understand this part. I feel like this isn't digressing at all, it fits rather well with the rest of the theme (the theme being to get off of their case).

It might mean "we're not emo! we're not here to make angsty teens feel better! we're here to be the best band we can be!" It might also mean "don't come running to us about this scene being so competitive."

"I'm a leading man and the lies I weave are oh so intricate."

A leading man is the main actor in a movie or play. To me this means they feel like they're playing a big part in their music scene, but they're not quite sure if they belong their; if they should be in the lead for that particular scene. They're starting to feel caged or like phonies.

"I wrote the gospel on giving up (and looked pretty sinking), but the real bombshells have already sunk (Primadonnas of the gutter)."

First off, I freaking love the visual of 'prima donnas of the gutter'. I adore pete's writing so so much.

I feel like with this, they're saying "yeah, we used to be a wreck and made a great album because of it, but that sort of thing doesn't have a future." I might be digging to deep with this, but the "real bombshells" to me means "even greater albums/bands" and "have already sunk" sounds like they have gone off the deep end in some way or form. And it's true: in the past we have seen lots of bombshell musicians drowning :'( I'm terribly grateful Pete didn't go this route - but I digress.

"At night we're painting your trash gold, while you sleep."

They feel like they pick apart the trash songs other sucky bands produce and use it to make their own much better songs, and people are not even noticing them doing it.

"Crashing not like hips or cars - no, more like p-p-parties."

Have I mentioned how much I love them? Anywho, might be my dirty mind, but "crashing hips" sounds to me like having sex; "crashing cars" seems a way to say "being careless with yourself, breaking/ruining yourself," while "crashing parties" means to turn up uninvited. So to me this bit means they're not in this scene to get wrecked or laid; they're here to have a good time.

"Bandwagon's full, please catch another."

Jumping on the bandwagon means to hitchhike along with another one's succes without having to do anything yourself. They're frustrated with the flunkies.

"All the boys who the dance floor didn't love, and all the girls whose lips couldn't move fast enough: sing, until your lungs give out."

I want to interpret this as loving, cause I'm a dweeb. So I take this as if they're saying "hey fans, we can still see you through this recent fog of people only liking us because we're supposedly emo, and we love you so so much!" :))

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk <3 I really like bands.

^How can you say this song is a "Justin Timberlake club hit"? It's a well made pop song, and I'm sorry if you think that it automatically makes it for fans of Justin. I love this song. It's so catchy, the lyrics are fun to yell and it will be their next hit. I'm so excited for this album.