"But It's Better If You Do" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. It is the ninth track on their debut studio album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, and was released on May 1, 2006, through DCD2 and Fueled by Ramen.
Background[]
The title of the song is a direct quote from the 2004 film "Closer".[2] The line, delivered by Natalie Portman's character, Alice, reads: "Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off... but it's better if you do".
In an interview with MTV, songwriter Ryan Ross elaborated on the song's meaning:
"It’s a song about being in a strip club but not actually liking being in there. So I wanted it to be about the sort of complex inner-monologue. It’s not completely fiction, though. It’s based on a scenario when I was going through a breakup with a girl, and I was in one of these clubs but wishing I didn’t have to be. Because in reality, I don’t like strip clubs. I think they’re kind of ecch. When I wrote it, I never thought about it being played in strip clubs. But I guess it would be kind of a change from what they usually play in there. It would be a surreal experience, for sure. I think the tempo is too fast, though. So maybe someone would have to do a chopped-and-screwed version or something."[3]
On January 15, 2016, Urie wrote annotations for several of Panic! at the Disco's songs on a lyric site called Genius. Urie wrote the following for "But It's Better If You Do":
- 'Now I'm of consenting age / To be forgetting you in a cabaret / Downtown somewhere were a burlesque queen / May even ask my name / As she sheds her skin on stage / I'm seated and sweating to a dance song on the club's PA / The strip joint veteran sits two away / Smirking between dignified sips of his dignified / Peach and lime daiquiri':
"I had never been to a burlesque show. We were so infatuated with Victorian imagery, early 1900s stuff, and like a burlesque show seemed so cool—all the Vaudeville shit. I don’t even think any of us had been to a strip club when we wrote this song.
The first time I went to a strip club, I walked in and saw this one girl, Kelsey, who I went to elementary school with. Instant blast from the past, all these memories flooded back to me. I was like, ‘Kelsey?’ She was like, ‘Brendon? Holy shit. I am going to dance to one of your songs.’ And she danced to “But It’s Better If You Do.” It was awesome."[4]
Music video[]
Video | Credits | |
---|---|---|
Title | Panic! at the Disco: But It's Better If You Do [Official Video] | |
Premiere | Jun 29 2006 (Total Request Live) Jul 18 2006 (YouTube) | |
Length | 3:36 | |
Director | Shane Drake |
Official versions[]
Version | Released on | Date | Length | |
---|---|---|---|---|
[5] | Album/Single | A Fever You Can't Sweat Out • "But It's Better If You Do" | Sept 27 2005 | 3:26 |
Acoustic/Live | ||||
[6] | Live 1 | Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) | Jun 13 2006 | 2:51 |
[7] | Live from Glasgow | "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" UK 7-inch gatefold sleeve | Oct 2006 | - |
[8] | Live 2 | Live in Denver | Nov 14 2006 | ~4:43 |
[9] | Live 3 | ...Live in Chicago | Dec 02 2008 | 3:49 |
[10] | Live 4 | iTunes Live | Sept 27 2011 | 3:27 |
[11] | Live 5 (Partially performed) | All My Friends, We're Glorious: Death of a Bachelor Tour Live | Dec 14 2018 | 4:30 |
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Now I'm of consenting age
To be forgetting you in a cabaret
Somewhere downtown where a burlesque queen
May even ask my name
As she sheds her skin on stage
I'm seated and sweating to a dance song on the club's PA
The strip joint veteran sits two away
Smirking between dignified sips of his dignified
Peach and lime daiquiri
[Chorus]
And isn't this exactly where you'd like me?
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance
And paying in naivety?
Oh, isn't this exactly where you'd like me?
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance
And paying in naivety?
[Verse 2]
Oh, but I'm afraid that I
Well, I may have faked it
And I wouldn't be caught dead
D-dead, d-dead, d-dead in this place
Well, I'm afraid that I
Well, that's right, well, I may have faked it
And I wouldn't be caught dead in this place
[Chorus]
And isn't this exactly where you'd like me?
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance
And paying in naivety?
Oh, isn't this exactly where you'd like me?
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance
And paying in naivety?
[Bridge]
Well, I'm afraid that I
Well, I may have faked it
And I wouldn't be caught dead
D-dead, d-dead, d-dead in this place
Well, I'm afraid that I
Well, that's right, well, I may have faked it
And I wouldn't be caught dead in this place
[Chorus]
And isn't this exactly where you'd like me?
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance
And paying in naivety?
Oh, isn't this exactly where you'd like me?
I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance
And paying in naivety?
Praying for love and paying in naivety
Praying for love and paying in naivety, oh
Track listings[]
1. | "But It's Better If You Do" - 3:03 |
2. | "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (91X Acoustic Session) - 3:09 |
1. | "But It's Better If You Do" (Album Version) - 3:26 |
2. | "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" (Tommie Sunshine Brooklyn Fire Remix) - 3:09 |
1. | "But It's Better If You Do" (Album Version) - 3:26 |
2. | "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (iTunes Session) |
1. | "But It's Better If You Do" |
2. | "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (91X Acoustic Session) - 3:09 |
1. | "But It's Better If You Do" (Album Version) - 3:26 |
2. | "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (91X Acoustic Session) - 3:07 |
3. | "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" (Live in Denver) - 4:10 |
Charts[]
Weekly charts[]
Chart (2006) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[16] | 15 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[citation needed] | 89 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] | 10 |
UK Singles (OCC)[citation needed] | 23 |
UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[citation needed] | 1 |
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[citation needed] | 4 |
US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[18] | 74 |
US Pop 100 (Billboard)[citation needed] | 81 |
Certifications[]
Region | Certification | Sales/shipments |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA)[19] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
‡Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone |
Official audio[]
Credits[]
Lead Vocalist | Brendon Urie |
Background Vocalist | Ryan Ross |
Engineered by | Sean Cornell |
Mastered by | UE Nastasi |
Produced by | Matt Squire |
Additional Production by | Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, Brendon Urie and Brent Wilson |
Written by | Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith and Brendon Urie |
Accordion | Ryan Ross and Brendon Urie |
Bass Guitar | Brent Wilson |
Double Bass | Heather Stebbins |
Drums and Percussion | Spencer Smith |
Trumpet | William Brousserd |
Published by |
|
References[]
- ↑ https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/321712956
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/panicatthedisco/comments/9okq46/references_in_patd_songs_part_1_a_fever_you_cant/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
- ↑ https://www.mtv.com/news/976z4s/panic-at-the-disco-may-have-written-next-stripper-anthem
- ↑ https://genius.com/8385759
- ↑ https://open.spotify.com/track/2ZqTtndqAZDRAWw2vgZwQK?si=4270ae0f6ee54cec
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/but-its-better-if-you-do/157812882?i=157812956
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/release/1505584-Panic-At-The-Disco-I-Write-Sins-Not-Tragedies
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f87-X2DCbE8
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WADcG0a06bE
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/but-its-better-if-you-do-live/466190661?i=466190701
- ↑ https://open.spotify.com/track/7wnYW5zboAaiHE5KBaVc0Z?si=d18c8c3720624af2
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/release/1507929-Panic-At-The-Disco-But-Its-Better-If-You-Do
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/release/732730-Panic-At-The-Disco-But-Its-Better-If-You-Do
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/release/1446878-Panic-At-The-Disco-But-Its-Better-If-You-Do
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/release/11798889-Panic-At-The-Disco-But-Its-Better-If-You-Do
- ↑ https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Panic%21+At+The+Disco&titel=But+It%27s+Better+If+You+Do&cat=s
- ↑ https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Panic%21+At+The+Disco&titel=But+It%27s+Better+If+You+Do&cat=s
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/artist/panic-at-the-disco-2/chart-history/ark/
- ↑ https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=Panic%21+At+The+Disco&ti=But+It%27s+Better+If+You+Do&format=Single&type=#search_section