What does Build God, Then We'll Talk mean?

Panic! At The Disco: Build God, Then We'll Talk Meaning

Album cover for Build God, Then We'll Talk album cover

Song Released: 2007


Build God, Then We'll Talk Lyrics

It's these substandard motels on the (lalalalala) corner of 4th and Freemont Street.
Appealing only because they are just that un-appealing
Any practiced catholic would cross themselves upon entering.
The rooms have a hint of asbestos and...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 19th 2006 !⃝

    People are not what they seem. We categorise ourselves based on religion or our career, anything but who we are. In this world our values are sold for a chance; for a promotion; for a chance to move forward - so often our morals - the picture of who we are is jeopardised in order to get what we want. In that case - how true are these supposed values to start with. The title says it all - show me god - make him "real" and then we can talk about what everyone hides behind. Just because you are catholic or religious doesn't mean you are a good person....
    The virgin is selling her virginity for a job working for the lawyer - her religion therefore becomes an accessory to be worn rather than a belief to live by.
    The lawyer is using his power to get what he wants.
    The lawyers wife (the mrs) only stays with the lawyer for his money - again putting values aside for security and appearances.
    The virgin fixes her face in her compact - putting her mask back on and trying to get everything back to normal.
    The "badge" constable crashes in - thinking he is busting a prostitute and gets her to empty her bag - hoping to find the payment - but instead he finds drugs (another lost virute or a way to help her deal with the deed she just had to go through) and threatens to arrest her for possession unless she sleeps with him.
    The play on the sound of music words - is dispelling the ideals that losing your virginity (or looking at life in general in the real world) is not about all this sugar and spice - "there are no raindrops on roses...." in real life it is about sleeping with roaches (a metaphor for the men she has just been with and the dirty surroundings we find ourselves in)
    a caricature is a funny or warped view of reality - everything mentioned in the song is showing what a skewiff view of love, commitment and sex the world really has.
    We use and abuse power, our sex, our affection and our titles to get what we want.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 2nd 2006 !⃝

    PLEASE READ! Ok people, the motel is run down because its the kind of place that condones prostitution but that night is different because the girl is not a prostitute but a good little catholic virgin who is forced to screw her boss (the attorney) because she needs the job at his firm. She needs the job because she desperately needs the money from the job, not prostitution. The lawyers wife has no idea or is blinded by his money that her husband is forcing his employees to have sex with him. He just tells her its "strictly business". After the deed is done the lawyer leaves and she is cleaning herself up when police raid the room, breaking down the door("there was a terrible crash"). She drops her things in shock but she holds a different "purse"(a baby in her womb). "What a wonderful caricature of intimacy" talking about the the conditions of how this poor baby was concieved. Thank you people I rock!

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 18th 2006 !⃝

    I think this song just tells a story to show how messed up the world is today..

    it starts by describing the atmosphere of the motels, and the way they choose to describe it gets the image in your head that this place is horrifying...then goes into saying that the tenants of the motel tonight are a lawyer and a "virgin" ...the lyrics show that the lawyer is having an affair with this girl at the motel, the wife knows about it but doesn't really care because she is just using him for his money anyways...
    then to the next story...the same girl is sitting in the room after the lawyer left and a cop shows up because he is suspicious about her and she has sex with him so he won't get her into trouble.

    oh what a wonderful caricature of intimacy.....

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 23rd 2017 !⃝

    The song talks about peoples warped view of the world. The title "Build god, then we'll talk" is saying basically show me god then we can talk about religion and your views. The virgin girl wears a rosary around her neck but is selling herself to her boss to get a job because she needs the money, his wife either doesnt know or doesnt care, showing that the rosary the virgin has and the wedding ring the lawyer and his wife both have are just props they use, and that they dont actually practice the beliefs behind what those symbolic things are meant to represent. After the virgin and the attorney are done, the constable barges into the room as the virgin is fixing herself. The lyrics "she spilled her purse and her bag, and held a 'purse' of a different kind" is refferencing to her spilling her purse and money from the attorney falling out, because "purse" also means "Money, and not the virgin being with child from either the constable or the attorney, because that would be impossible to know right after intercourse if she were pregnant.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 23rd 2017 !⃝

    This song represents the warped view people have of the world. The lawyer is using his power and title to get sex, despite the fact that he's married. He takes advantage of a poor, desperate young woman (the virgin) who tries to get a job working for him. But he'll only give it to her if she has sex with him. So they meet up at a slum motel because that's the kind of place no one would expect someone like the lawyer would go. His wife stays home. It's suggested that she knows what he's doing, and also that this isn't the first time he's done such a thing, but she won't leave him because she married him for the money. Seeing as a caricature is a cartoonish and distorted picture, it makes sense that the affair is described as a "caricature of intimacy". The virgin is wearing a rosary, but it is apparent that it's only an accessory. She doesn't really care about her religion. This symbolizes how religions are just another way people catagorize themselves and most people, especially young people, aren't actually that involved with their religion.

    "And the habit of decomposing right before your very eyes, along with the people inside" represents how their morals are as crumbling and rotten as the motel itself.

    The lawyer leaves the virgin at the motel with the promise of a job. The virgin starts to clean up and take of her smeared makeup, when the constable bursts in. Someone in a nearby room had called and sold her out. But the constable isn't exactly an honest man either. But the constable isn't exactly like the lawyer. Having sex with the lawyer was her decision. Having sex with the constable was not. He grabbed her as she was putting things away, thus knocking over her purse and bad and spilling them, and raped her. The "purse of a different kind" means the constable did not use protection, and left her with a baby.

    "There are no raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses" represents the point in your life when you realize that really, there is no innocence in the world. No true good or purity. "Sleeping with roaches" represents sevral things: the lawyer and constable, and other such men with no morals who would do the unspeakable and are the reason young women fear going out at night; prostitution, selling your body because you have no other choice; the actual roaches in those slums where things like this often happen; rape; and the horrible feeling afterwards of having to live with what's been done.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 18th 2015 !⃝

    It's these substandard motels on the (lalalalala) corner of 4th and Fremont Street.

    *Pretty obvious just talking about a motel

    Appealing only 'cause they are just that un-appealing

    *Telling you the only reason they are appealing are because of what people can do inside of them

    Any practiced catholic would cross themselves upon entering.

    *Telling this is a hot spot for thing that most Catholics disapprove of and don't want to happen

    The rooms have a hint of asbestos and maybe just a dash of formaldehyde,
    And the habit of decomposing right before your very (lalalala) eyes.

    *Telling you these rooms are frequently cleaned because of all the happenings inside of them

    Along with the people inside
    What a wonderful caricature of intimacy

    *At this point you don't know about the Lawyer and the Virgin so I'd say this is telling about the irony of how all this "intimacy" happens and how everyone sees this motel in the big scheme of things (the big picture)

    Inside, what a wonderful caricature of intimacy

    *same thing as above only telling about how the whole place is part of this and not just the people who come inside to do what this place is famous for

    Tonight tenants range from: a lawyer and a virgin

    *telling that in one of the rooms the people inside are a Lawyer and a Virgin (the virgin likely unwilling in the way that she doesn't want to do this but she feels like she has no choice)

    Accessorizing with a rosary tucked inside her lingerie

    *this tells how she doesn't want to do this but feels she spent have a choice

    She's getting a job at the firm come Monday.

    *tells why she's doing this as unwilling as she is

    The Mrs. will stay with the cheating attorney
    moonlighting aside, she really needs his money.

    *I think maybe that this tells that without the "dear" lawyer she could have ended up like the virgin(not so anymore though)

    And not to mention, the constable, and his proposition, for that "virgin"

    *A Police Officer who stumbled across her in this place (maybe in duty but in my mind most likely not)

    Yes, the one the lawyer met with on "strictly business"as he said to the Mrs. Well, only hours before,after he had left, she was fixing her face in a compact.

    *after the lawyer met with her on their "business" she tried to put up a mask to face what she had done and to try to face her family who had no idea what she had to go through to get money

    There was a terrible crash between her and the badge

    *most likely the not-so-virgin-anymore and a ON DUTY cop (a different one) crashed into each other

    She spilled her purse and her bag, and held a "purse" of a different kind.

    *she spilled the stuff she was carrying and the money she got from the two "jobs" she just had to do toppled out

    There are no raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses.
    It's sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses
    At the shade of the sheets and before all the stains
    And a few more of your least favorite things.

    *there is no such thing as innocence and beauty when you grow up, your life can become sleeping with men to get jobs, taking split second guesses of what to do in the face of police, and looking at your life wondering what happened to it along with a few more things you never wanted to think about

    Also may I just point out this is my guess and if you want to kno what it actually means you would have to ask Ryan because he is probably one of the only people who could know

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 6th 2012 !⃝

    The song is about a catholic virgin who desperately needs a job at the lawyers law firm so she decides to sleep with the lawyer who is actually married. The wife is aware of his cheating but needs his money, so she stays. In a motel where prostitution is prominent, the lawyer and girl hook up. After he leaves she cleans herself up, but only a few hours later a policeman goes into the room out of suspicion. When the song says "she spilled her purse and her bag" it means she was searched for drugs, which are found, so the non-virgin (now whore) sleeps with the policeman to avoid trouble. When the song breaks of to the bridge it explains reality to the young whore. For example: when it says "there are no....raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses" it means life isn't all beauty and love and marriage. When it says "it's sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses" it means prostituting is the only way to get anywhere."and a few more of your least favorite things" it means life isn't pleasant.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 1st 2012 !⃝

    Sex should be something very intimate, think about what phsically happens. but when it's used as currancy, a way of getting a job or money it becomes a caricature of 'love making'

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 31st 2012 !⃝

    Again :D

    Build God, Then We'll Talk

    It's these substandard motels on the (lalalalala) corner of 4th and Freemont Street.
    Appealing only because they are just that un-appealing
    Any practiced catholic would cross themselves upon entering.
    The rooms have a hint of asbestos and maybe just a dash of formaldehyde,
    And the habit of decomposing right before your very (lalalala) eyes.
    (It's these cruddy little motels that are so good for prostitution because they're so hideous. Any good religious person would not go in without a prayer. The rooms are gross, old, tainted, and falling apart right in front of you.)

    Along with the people inside
    What a wonderful caricature of intimacy
    Inside, what a wonderful caricature of intimacy
    (Along with the people having sex inside, this place is a great exapmle of warped, distorted love.)

    Tonight tenants range from: a lawyer and a virgin
    accessorizing with a rosary tucked inside her lingerie
    She's getting a job at the firm come Monday.
    The Mrs. will stay with the cheating attorney
    moonlighting aside, she really needs his money.
    Oh, wonderful caricature of intimacy.
    (Tonight the prostitution consists of a lawyer and a good little catholic virgin girl who carries a rosary with her, even when participating in this horrible act. The lawyer's giving her a job starting Monday because of this. His wife doesn't want to leave him because he has so much money. What a great example of warped love.)

    And not to mention, the constable, and his proposition, for that virgin
    Yes, the one the lawyer met with on "strictly business"
    as he said to the Mrs. Well, only hours before,
    after he had left, she was fixing her face in a compact.
    There was a terrible crash (There was a terrible crash)
    Between her and the badge
    She spilled her purse and her bag, and held a purse of a different kind.
    (And the lawyer's proposition for that [no longer] virgin is a job, because he met with her on "strictly business," as he told his wife. Then he left, and she was getting ready for another job [what a slut]. The police broke down the door in a CRASH. In exchange for not arresting her, the policeman slept with her. Then she spilled her things, but still held the "purse" of a child in her womb.)

    There are no raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses.
    It's sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses
    At the shade of the sheets and before all the stains
    And a few more of your least favorite things.
    (There are no truly pefect people. This is life. It's sleeping with creeps you don't know, and they very much don't know you, you "good little catholic virgin." And just a few more imperfections to point out about you.)

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 29th 2011 !⃝

    I may be wrong but when he says "she spilled her purse and her bag, and held a purse of a different kind," he doesn't mean she has a baby in her womb or that there were drugs in her purse. I think it's a little more literal than that: another definition for purse is money offered or awarded to you. So if that's the definition Ryan Ross was using in this song, he's implying that the constable agrees to not arrest the "virgin" if she does a trick for him since he thinks she's a prostitute anyway. This further emphasizes the corruption of our society.

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 16th 2011 !⃝

    she isnt a whore.. she just sleeps with the lawyer for a job! then later she sleeps with the cop (proposition) after she crashed into him (between her and the badge) and the "purse of a different kind" is refuring to her now being pregnant

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 16th 2011 !⃝

    its about a virgin sleeping with her lawyer boss so she can keep her job but his wifey doesnt know..you're welcome :)

  13. thesilentkiller123
    click a star to vote
    May 12th 2011 !⃝

    I think its about a lawyer is solely using his money/power to screw who ever the hell he wants... But to night its different cause its a good little catholic girl that desperately needs a good job but with the wife she just wants the money and reputation that comes with being with a lawyer I think the end of the song

    there are no raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses.
    It's sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses
    at the shade of the sheets and before all the stains
    and a few more of your least favorite things.
    Is talking about the world is not the same as it used to be its all bugs and thers nothing good and pure any more

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 26th 2011 !⃝

    "Appealing only because they are just that un-appealing"
    The beginning is describing the motels. No one would want to go there. Therefore, I good place to go to cheat.

    "And the habit of decomposing right before your very (lalalala) eyes.
    Along with the people inside"
    This is saying that the people there are just as horrid as these motels. The people going there are rotting themselves away by committing sin.

    On that night, a catholic virgin girl decides to sleep with the lawyer to get a good job at the firm on Monday.
    A rosary is tucked in her lingerie because she is a proper religious woman and is probably ashamed of herself and doesn't want to do this, but needs the money.

    The lawyer's wife knows that the lawyer is cheating on her, but will stay with him anyway, "because she really needs his money". This line could also mean that the virgin wants to make the same amount of money that the lawyer makes.

    "Oh, wonderful caricature of intimacy"
    This is stating that the relationship of the wife and the lawyer is a bit fake and that the sex with the virgin doesn't mean much either. The lawyer only thinks of this as "strictly business", as in she sleeps with him and he gives her a good review.

    Then later, after the lawyer has left, the virgin is putting herself back together. The police breaks in hoping to find a prostitute and sees her. He thinks that she's a prostitute too and offers not to arrest her in exchange for sex.

    "She spilled her purse and her bag, and held a purse of a different kind."
    She drops her belongings from shock. The "purse of a different kind" means a "reward". This is saying that she gets paid after this confrontation.

    "There are no raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses."
    This is talking of real life. It's not all perfect and sparkling. There are no pure people.
    "It's sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses"
    This refers to having to sleep the lawyer and the policeman because it's the best thing to do in the situation.
    If it runs in with "At the shade of the sheets and before all the stains", it means that it's impossible to see through what people were like before they committed sin. For example, the policeman would never think that the woman before him was catholic and a virgin before this night.
    It could also mean that it's hard to see the real person through the mask they put up.

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 11th 2011 !⃝

    My interpretation of this is from the line "What a wonderful caricature of intimacy". If you look up the word caricature, it means a representation of something. So I'm thinking that it is about false relationship and so on.
    Also, the part about the woman who apparently is getting a job come Monday, has some meaning about the song, too. I think that part is basically about what people would do to get higher up in there career.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 22nd 2010 !⃝

    I agree with everything but the "holds a purse of a different kind" bit. In my sick minded middle school, we have created some sort of a "secret code" so kids can say wrong things withought getting caught by the teachers and "purse" is "code" for male part girls don't have...so I think the girl who is having sex with the lawyer to get a job had sex with the constable too. I mean seriously, "holds a purse of a different kind." I think it clearly means she had intercourse with the constable. Thanks!!!

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 1st 2010 !⃝

    So an innocent, catholic virgin has to sleep with her lawyer boss so she can get a job at his firm. It takes place in a shady motel and although it's described as a bad place the lyrics also say "Appealing only b/c they are just that un-appealing) meaning despite the looks people are attracted to it. So the song also mentions the boss's wife. He tells her he's meeting with this girl on "strictly business" and how she's overlooking the situation because she wants his money. But anyways after the deed is done and the boss leaves, the girl is fixing herself up(in a compact) when the police burst in. (crash between her and the badge)
    She spills her things out of shock and when she collects herself again she realizes that she is pregnant. (She spilled her purse and her bag, and held a purse of a different kind.) So the song goes on to tell how everything isn't all sweet and nice like you think it is, but it's shady with bad things hidden behind closed doors.
    Oh and "caricature" are those funny cartoon drawings with big heads, which means this whole story of intimacy was just so exaggerated and fake that it's just empty sex with no meaning behind it. Phew! Ok that's what I came up with, hope it helps!

  18. DearEmily
    click a star to vote
    Aug 28th 2010 !⃝

    Ok, so I am just going to go through this song one line at a time, to make the most sense I possibly can! :D

    "It's these substandard motels on the (lalalalala) corner of 4th and Fremont Street." This meaning exactly what it sounds like. Hah, a hotel in Las Vegas.

    "Appealing only because they are just that un-appealing" I think, I could be wrong, that this line is referring to the goings-on at the motel. Its sleazy, and cheap, which means basically one thing. Prostitution. The fact that it is cheap makes the unappealing place more appealing to a person in that position.

    "Any practiced catholic would cross themselves upon entering." I'm sure that this is the part where the irony sets in, because although the song sounds like the woman is innocent, I strongly believe she is a prostitute looking for a way out. So the rosary that will be mentioned later plays off this irony, showing that it is such an awful place that no-one 'upstanding' would enter, but both she and the lawyer meet there.

    "The rooms have a hint of asbestos and maybe just a dash of formaldehyde,
    And the habit of decomposing right before your very (lalalala) eyes." This is playing off the original scene, just basically describing how awful the conditions. Trying to give more in-depth imagination of how grimy this place is. Using asbestos which is really harmful, adn formaldehyde which is used in dead bodies. And it is just falling apart.

    "Along with the people inside" I believe that this line is a comparison between the people who use the motel, and the motel itself. So the motel is rotten as are the people.

    "What a wonderful caricature of intimacy
    Inside, what a wonderful caricature of intimacy" I think that this is meaning that the woman is playing up the relation as much more than it really is, a screw for a job. As in maybe hoping that pretending its ok, somehow makes it. And the 'wonderful caricature' means she is actually believing it.

    "Tonight tenants range from: a lawyer and a 'virgin'" Describing the people who will be there for 'the show' that night.

    "Rising with a rosary tucked inside her lingerie" This cannot be fully interpreted as anything besides the fact that she is in-fact religious. Which means nothing at the point.

    "She's getting a job at the firm come Monday." This gives us the 'why' of the song. Explaining the situation, and how the woman is trying to get out of her position.

    "The Mrs. will stay with the cheating attorney
    moonlighting aside, she really needs his money." I did these lines as only one because it is a complete sentence that can often be misinterpreted. I believe this line indicates that the lawyer is far from loyal, and his wife knows it, but she accepts the fact because she needs the money her cheating husband brings in.

    "Oh, wonderful caricature of intimacy." This is playing off of the wife in the relationship making it to be about more than the money, although it is known that it is not. SHe is also playing up their relationship.

    "And not to mention, the constable, and his proposition, for that "virgin"" I think this is again playing off of irony, calling her a virgin for a second time, indicating she was never one in the beginning. The constable being the police officer has a certain proposition for the woman, almost the same as her proposition from the lawyer, but under different circumstances. She has sex with the cop, to keep from being arrested.

    "Yes, the one the lawyer met with on "strictly business"
    as he said to the Mrs." This meaning that it was the same virgin the lawyer had previously had sex with, but he had only told his wife that it was strictly business, how to make it big in the world.

    "Well, only hours before,
    after he had left, she was fixing her face in a compact." This shows that the woman is fixing herself up after the 'deed' preparing for the next job.

    "There was a terrible crash (There was a terrible crash)" The cop breaks through the door in hopes of busting a prostitution scandal.

    "Between her and the badge
    She spilled her purse and her bag, and held a "purse" of a different kind." She is taken by surprise, spilling her belongings, then she was offered the prop. and held a 'purse' of a different kind, I think this is referring to maybe a condom? That's a complete guess.

    "Along with the people inside." I think it is playing off the 'purse' meaning everyone is in there for that specific reason, to have sex, get paid, and get out.

    "What a wonderful caricature of intimacy
    Inside, what a wonderful caricature of intimacy" I think this is the woman and the officer both playing up the relation to make themselves feel better about. Just like before, only the woman is with a different man.

    "There are no raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses." This meaning that nothing about this is innocent and nothing about the act is pure. It is in-fact the opposite.

    "It's sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses" This could mean any number of things. It might refer to the motel room, or the acts being committed. 'roaches' being the men she sleeps with, and the bad guesses are the woman trying to make it through her life.

    "At the shade of the sheets and before all the stains add a few more of your least favorite things." This could be branching off of the previous line saying bad guessing the sheet color based on motel conditions and what might have gone on. And saying that the room, the situation, the horror, is just what is being displayed by the woman and the men in that same room.

    Thats waht I think it is. I could be wrong thoughh.

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