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


Get "Build God, Then We'll Talk" on MP3: Get MP3 from iTunes

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. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 11th 2010 !⃝

    I think it's saying there's a virgin who wants to get a job at the lawyer's firm, but he won't give her the job unless she sleeps with him. The wife knows, but needs the money. So the virgin sleeps with the lawyer and he leaves, but she sticks around for a while. She finds out she's pregnant(twins). A cop bursts in and she sleeps with him so he won't arrest her. "No raindrops...least favorite things" symbolizes the loss of her innocence and that her life won't ever be the same. Now she's doomed to raising her unwanted children alone, and won't ever get over what she had to do for a job that soon means little to her. She feels to bad to ever try to have a good life because she thinks she doesn't deserve it, so she might as well get the worst of it.
    I probably got that wrong.

  2. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 29th 2010 !⃝

    For me, once the police man enters she also has sex with him to stay out of trouble. The purse of a different kind is the money the police gives her. Also it is hinted that the girl is not actually a virgin and is merely posing as one. Trying to make it out to be that she's a virgin and ONLY having sex with him for money, that she'd never doing it otherwise.

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 13th 2010 !⃝

    actually i think that he is actually making fun of GOD in the sense that he says that

    "There are no raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses.
    It's sleeping with the roaches and taking best guesses"

    which means that "hey GOD you supposedly created this wonderful world but where are the persons' actions to show for it. ie. the virgin girl who is a strong catholic, but is still willing to sleep for money which defies her belief in abstinence til marriage."
    also when he says that there are no more girls in white dresses which means "GOD, even your purest 'child' is not following what she beleives and that reflects on you"

    he also says that peolple aren't who they claim to be and your basically sleeping with roaches because the like the catholic girl she is full of sin when she decides to sleep with her boss. "you dont know what your dealing with because society has become so corrupt nowadays that even religious people are being part of and you have to 'guess' what's happening and who you're with"

    the title itself foreshaodws what it means
    "Build God, Then We'll Talk"
    basically says
    "GOD, first you have to create a perfect world to brag about how good your children are and then i'll admit that your great and all"

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 26th 2010 !⃝

    for the part:
    "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."
    its talking about the "virgin" who is no longer the sweet catholic girl she was before. the white dresses reference the church and sleeping with roaches is referencing how she has been sleeping with sleezy guys for money and things like that. the sheets represent her virginity that has been ruined or "stained"

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 21st 2010 !⃝

    I honestly think the lawyer represents the government, the virgin Catholic girl represents religion. Religion and the government aren't supposed to collide, but they do anyways and the girl and the lawyer sleeping together is symbolic of this. The lawyer's wife represents the other people of society; either unknowing about this or knowing full aware about this but not doing anything about it. "Strictly business" could mean that that's an excuse religion and the government use to combine with each other, even though they're not supposed to. "A purse of a different kind", the virgin Catholic girl is pregnant, and the baby could be symbolic of the fact that because the government and religion got involved with each other, they're creating a new world accidentally. "There was a terrible crash" could be either the police coming in or the wife, which would be symbolic of the people of today revolting against the church and the government getting involved together. "What a wonderful caricature of intimacy", the artist could be using sarcasm for, "The church and the government, what an unfortunate love story."

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 14th 2010 !⃝

    Yah, the whole, a "purse" of a different kind thing? Totally sex with the police officer. And virgin to "virgin", duh, she had sex w/ the lawyer, then she wasn't a virgin anymore. also I luv this song! <3<3<3<3<3

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 21st 2010 !⃝

    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.

    A "purse" is also a word for a sum of MONEY. Do with that what you will.

  8. aSensationalist
    click a star to vote
    Nov 25th 2009 !⃝

    Don't know if anyone's mentioned this yet, but "arrested on possession"? Drugs, right? And she's not such an innocent catholic girl if she sleeps with him to get out of trouble. Besides, sleeping with the lawyer for money isn't something a "good little catholic girl" would do in the first place.

    Oh, and on a side note, I was very disappointed to go to the corner of 4th and Freemont st. yet no run down hotels. Ryan lied to us!

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 5th 2009 !⃝

    The first interpretation was pretty accurate, actually. The only thing I have to correct was "and held a purse of a different kind"

    a purse can either be a handbag, money, or a facial expression (i.e. pursed in frustration/confusion)

    i don't think a baby would fit in either of those definitions, so obviously she "held a purse", that being an expression

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 6th 2009 !⃝

    Alrite well heres my interpretation.
    i don't get why people are saying there is a part in the lyric booklet that says something about being arrested for possession, cause they definitely don't sing it so why would they publish it? and if she's a catholic virgin, why would she be a druggie?
    but my interpretation - a girl whos innocent, virginal, and catholic (maybe she actually is a virgin, maybe she isn't but they call her one to further the image of her being an innocent and good person) agrees to have sex with an attorney in order to get a job at his law firm. the attorney is married and althou he claims he's out on business, his wife knows he is cheating and doesn't do anything about it because she likes his money.
    so the catholic virgin girl and the cheating attorney go to a run down motel together (the asbestos and formaldehyde have nothing to do with murder, they are to emphasize the bad conditions at the sleezy motel)
    so they are at the motel and she has sex with the attorney.
    after they have sex when she is fixing herself up with her make up, a cop knew she was there and crashes into the room.
    he tells her he won't bust her for prostitution if she has sex with him.
    "between her and the badge, she spilt her purse and her bag, and held a purse of a different kind"
    this part is refering to her agreeing to have sex with the cop, the purse of a different kind is a condom, she's getting out a condom to have sex with the cop.
    the raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses is to symbolize the ideal romance and intimacy that happens out of love and not as a business deal.
    the sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses is to symbolize the way things really are, that sex isn't based off dreamy romance and loving passion, but rather what a person can get out of it. The taking best guesses is trying to figure out whats the right thing to do. It brings irony to the story because the catholic virgin girl's best guess is to have sex for a job and then again to not be arrested, when in reality the right thing to do would have been to keep her innocence and dignity and not have sex with either of them
    "shades of the sheets before all the stains" is to represent who a person really is before he/she loses himself/herself to corruption (the stains)
    "and a few more of your least favorite things" is summing up all the other things bad and wrong in the world

    overall, this song is about:
    desperation - giving up her morals to get a job
    taking advantage of others and preying on the innocent - knows she needs the job so he takes advantage to get sex
    deceit - he's cheating on his wife
    greed - she stays with an unfaithful husband cause he's rich
    a lack of ethics and morals in everyone, even people who are supposed to be good - the "good" catholic girl lacks ethics and morals when she gives in to desperation, the cop lacks ethics and morals when he offers to not arrest a person for prostitution if she prostitutes herself to him (and he's a cop, cops are supposed to be law abiding, trustworthy, good people, who think of the community before themselves, but not in this song)
    reality - life isn't what we dream it to be (raindrops on roses) but rather a tragedy of inhumanity where people are desperate and the powerful people prey upon their desperation (sleeping with roaches)

    this song is titled "Build God. Then We'll Talk" basically to say that God doesn't exist, for how can God exist and let the world become the way it has, and that until someone "builds God", there isn't anything to discuss/debate about His lack of existance with the world the way it is
    I'm christian and do believe in God, but in this song, its painting a portrait of a girl who puts aside her faith and beliefs for survival and that a man wants sex out of her to give her a job and another man wants sex out of her to not arrest her. and it all takes place in a sleezy run down motel. it paints this picture in order to say, if this is the kind of world we live in, where we are sleeping with roaches, and taking best guesses at what is right for us to do, and allowing ourselves to be stained by the corruption of the world around us, then how can God exist? if God is real, why does He allow an innocent virgin who believes in Him and has faith to reduce herself to prostitution just for a job? if He existed, wouldn't He want better for this loyal religious girl, yet He has given her no other option, or else she wouldn't stoop this low, she wouldn't be so desperate for a job if God had provided her with a choice in the matter.

    this song is very true.
    it shows what a disgusting corrupt world we live in where peole are just trying to survive and lose themselves along the way. and that the people we give power to will use it against us. It shows that people can't be trusted.
    its saying that our world is rotting from within because this is what is happening behind the scenes, behind closed doors.
    and the religious aspects are just to point out that how could God let the world come to this if He existed and cared for people...



    personally, I believe in God as a higher power (not necessarily the story of the Bible and all, but of God being a force greater than mankind who plays a part in our destinies). I believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe when life presents us with a challenge, it is testing our strength as people to stay true to who we are and to persevere. and I believe that people start off basically good and trustworthy.
    but the realist in me also knows that people as a whole have lost a lot of ethics and morals and humanity and dignity. The world overall possesses such disgusting corruption and insane and pathatic amounts of inhumanity that it puts one to shame to truly think about.
    and although I love God and believe in Him as a higher power, along with destiny and fate, the obvious lack of ethics and morals in the world presented in this song with this title does make a person stop and think about their beliefs

    bravo p!atd, great song, beautiful music, deep and symbolic lyrics that really make a person think. good work, boys!
    :)

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 19th 2009 !⃝

    It's the same as the top rated one, but the virgin had sex with the officer, and that was how her baby was conceived

  12. HowCouldYou
    click a star to vote
    Apr 26th 2009 !⃝

    Build God, Then We'll Talk by Panic At The Disco refers to illegal acts of a sex
    trade operation taking place within the building of a legitimate religious
    establishment to exemplify why someone might question the existence of God,
    the sanctity of marriage, and the strength or existence of one's relationship with God.

    The first part of the title, 'Build God', is referencing the integrity of the building
    intended for righteous acts, prayers, the acceptance that God or 'higher being' is in control
    of our lives, and in marriage to another person with the blessings of God and those people
    they feel are close to God and mutually respect the male and female joining as one.

    The acts within the building were sacriligous, but one does not build God, God exists and
    at the very least a higher being exists that controls our destiny for good or bad. We can do
    the best we can and still fail, we can overcome the greatest of obstacles and still be denied
    entry to institutions that we desire to be accepted by, and we can do so much and still some
    things will never be possible for whatever the reason. Those things that we may not attain when
    we want or as we want do not change what we want. And sometimes God shows us that in order to
    obtain what we think we want, we have to be patient. Sometimes the reasons we do not get what
    we want do make sense at first but may be explained to us through another instrument that we
    never thought possible and suddenly everything makes sense.

    The title and the lyrics say, these things happened, they were not great but they make us
    stronger, and perhaps some gain more and some less, they happened within a place of trust but
    ultimately the building is not God, and people that made poor choices based on their best
    instincts, the acts, and their bodies are not God, but you have to build yourself from the
    inside and so long as you know you are true to yourself and do the best you can to protect
    those you love based on your best instincts, you are as close to God as you can get, and that
    is what Building God means, and only after you are there will you be ready to talk.

    Perhaps someone knew what was happening and chose to remain silent because they were afraid
    that if they spoke out the 'good' would go unprotected and that is a serious flaw to believe
    that those close to God go unprotected. Good Day and I admit that yesterday I prayed for the
    first time in many years and I considered giving up my sobriety to get what I want, and to try to save someone
    I knew was hurting, but I did not, I lost a lot of sleep and stayed as consistant as I could, and this morning
    I found the lyrics to this song and now I think I better
    get to church. Take care everybody.

  13. mcpanicfanic
    click a star to vote
    Feb 20th 2009 !⃝

    This song is a story. It is about a woman who sleeps with her boss to move up in a business. The "substandard motels" are the place where they sleep together. a "wonderful caricature of intimacy" means that its a caricature, or a distortion, of intimacy. These people don't actually love each other, they r just sleeping with each other. He's sleeping with her out of lust, she's sleeping with him because he's her boss.
    the next part of the song continues the story. "the mrs will stay with the cheating attorney" means that the wife of the womans boss will stay with him bec she doesn't know what he did behind her back. "shes really needs his money", the girl needs money so she has sex with him.
    while he was sleeping with her, the "Mrs" was at home getting fixed up, she crashed into a police officer, dropped her purse, and it had drugs in it...."it held a purse of a diff kind"
    "shades of the sheets and before all the stains" means love stains....ew

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 30th 2009 !⃝

    I Basically get the whole song.
    i disagree with the whole hooker theory. I just rekkon she was coerced into having sex to get the job(y)
    i agree with most o the rest
    i think she slept with the cop so she wouldn't get arrested.
    but idk what they mean by the "purse" thing.
    suggestions??

    and I think the raindrops thing is like about how she degraded herself..
    and the whole motel thing is just about lifee and how society is kinda fucked up so ye..

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 12th 2009 !⃝

    Well, the constant repetition of "Oh what a caricature of intimacy" means that intimacy is often seen in different ways, but since a caricature is a picture that stresses/exaggerates particular traits, the "particular trait" of intimacy is sex. Which incorporates to the whole song.

    The beginning, as some have said before, is to set the mood of some really dirty and run-down motel. How nobody cares about it, how it's treated so badly, etc.

    The example of a "caricature of intimacy" is with the young girl/virgin who has sex with her boss so she gets a job. That's basically the next verse; self explanatory. After that, a lot of the plot is pretty east to tell by the lyrics; the purse I think of is a condom, but I dunno. And I'm not quite sure what "fixing her face in a compact" means.

    There is nothing good or happy in the caricature of intimacy, but more like "sleeping with roaches", or sleeping down and dirty or whatever, just to get what you want. And the rest of the lyrics to that part is like the proof of the sex.

    Oh, what a wonderful caricature of intimacy.




More Panic! At The Disco songs »


 


Latest Articles

 


Submit Your Interpretation

[ want a different song? ]




Just Posted

Steve's Going to London anonymous
Yes I'm A Mess anonymous
Droppin' Plates anonymous
Rat anonymous
Cry for the Moon anonymous
And the Snakes Start to Sing anonymous
Gingerbread Man anonymous
Not Like the Movies anonymous
This Masquerade anonymous
Birthday Suit anonymous
Dollhouse anonymous
Death anonymous
Copy Cat anonymous
I Hate Jimmy Page anonymous
I Hate Jimmy Page anonymous

(We won't give out your email)