Behind the Sea

I'm wondering if "We're all too smart to talk to God" is really athiestic - as in, we're too smart for all this religion business - or sarcastic - as in, society acts like it's outgrown God and Faith is SO 1999.

I wondered if this had some reference to 'The Wizard Of Oz' actually.

"We're all too small to talk to god." God = Wizard and small refering to the Munchkins. If I remember rightly, Dorothy and the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow were the only ones in Oz able to get in and talk to the Wizard. The Munchkins couldn't.

And the whole song seems to be about another land or world. I think it's about a dream, which would fit in with 'The Wizard Of Oz.'

Either that or it's about feeling ordinary and not special enough to talk and be helped through god and faith?

I dunno. Maybe I've just talked rubbish... Ryan's vocals are lovely though! :)

this is my favorite panic song.ever

oh, and ryan sings backup in a lot of the songs, and in "She Had the World" he sings a whole verse.

What was the alternative one like? And is he saying "small" or "smart?" B/c that makes a huge difference. And what is he singing at the end? It sounds like "waves are pulling waves" lol.

So, the first verse sounds like he is either a scarescrow, or a toy soldier (anyone remember that story?). And his head literally falls off into the water (or in the toy soldier's case, a pool of wax since he melts in the story). And he is the telling the story of what he sees while he is floating in the water.

And the whole "The men all played along to marching drums and boy did they have fun behind the sea. They sang, 'so our matching legs are marching clocks and we’re all too small to talk to God.'" totally reminds me of toy soldiers.

Not sure what the whole watermelon part is about though...

Call me crazy, but I sort of feel like this song is about one of the World Wars.

'Behind the Sea' Itself could be a reference to either the German front (in either of the World Wars, I lean towards believing this is WWI based off of the imagery in the song) or the Pacific. Since Panic! is an American band, either is plausible.

The opening of the song is a little bit difficult. I get the impression of a marionette, which in many ways can also be interpreted as a 'soldier', the 'puppet' of a cause or an ideology. Here we have him 'daydreaming', which to me might mean he's having flashback as he sits in the darkness, lit only by the glow of candles (hence me thinking this is WWI, and we are dealing with someone who is working poor/ lower class. Many homes were lit by gas and some electricity. Poorer families couldn't afford that, so candles would do).

"The men all played along to marching drums and boy did they have fun behind the sea"

To me, that sounds like a tongue in cheek reference to war. We get the idea that maybe the men are marching along, and they had 'fun' or rather -the exact opposite, and many Panic! songs tend to be ironic in nature- 'behind the sea'.

"They sang, So our matching legs are marching clocks and we're all too small to talk to god Yes, we're all too smart to talk to god"

Singing and marching is an age-old way for keeping up morale while soldiers march. It is a sort of way to pass the time. The reference to god here could indicate a loss of faith and innocence brought on by WWI, and in some ways, feeling that you're 'playing god' yourself.

"Toast the fine folks casting silver crumbs to us from the dock."

The visual is someone saying bon voyage, as if it's a leisurely situation. Again, I believe that this is meant to be ironic. 'Toasting the fine folks' could be reference to the 'big-wigs' who chose to send you over 'in their place'
Silver crumbs could mean a great deal many things. One idea is that it is confetti, but I don't quite buy that. Silver crumbs might mean that they're loading bullets onto a supply ship with the guys they're sending over.

"Jinxed things ringing as they leak through tiny cracks in the boardwalk."

The working poor, 'jinxed' by the rich, slipping through the cracks and being sent off to fight for something they're not quite sure they believe in.

"Scarecrow now it's time to hatch sprouting suns and ageless daughters."

A scarecrow is a dummy or a fake. Something put up to ward off a threat, but isn't actually that effective. This brings me to politics and the rich. The ones who weren't killed in the war get the luxury of offspring.

The 'watermelon smiles' part does confuse me a little. One thought I had would be a memory of 'home', of a summer day at home, eating watermelon. This is possibly a representation of youth, which can't 'ripen' into adulthood because the water cut it short.

When I first heard these vocals, it's hard to believe it's Panic. But after a few listens, I really like it.

"We're all too smart to talk to God."

Love it, haha.

I like it, but I'm more used to Brendon's voice.

I like it a lot, I think his voice is nice.

woah

i was shocked to hear ryan singing

its great that the band is so talented that they have two amazing singers

can't wait to hear the rest of the albulm