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Panic! At The Disco, Viva Las Vengeance: the lyrics meaning

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Panic! At The Disco is back: Brendon Urie, the leader of the band, announced the new song, Viva Las Vengeance: a powerful, catchy song that fan loved since the first second. The lyrics have many shades and parts to be interpreted carefully. That’s what we will do in this article: we delve into the meaning of the lyrics and offer an interpretation of the song.

Below you can find the official video of Viva Las Vengeance.

Panic! At The Disco - Viva Las Vengeance (Official Video)
Watch this video on YouTube.

Viva Las Vengeance: the meaning of the lyrics

As shortly anticipated by the band when they released the official video, “this is the tale about growing up in Las Vegas. It’s about love, fame, burnout and everything that happens in between.” The band changed the name in Las Vengeance, meaning that a city like Las Vegas, based on fame, limelight and plastic happiness, can become a curse, a dream where you actually want to wake up.

In the song Brendon Urie describes the way he sees life in a city like Las Vegas, after he became famous. “I don’t want to be a diva” is one of the clearest verses of the song, and it may be a hidden reference to a verse inside the song he released in 2005, You Just Haven’t Thought of It Yet, where he explicitely says “I’m a diva”. In this way the auther wants probably to confess how he’s changed over the years, and how now he prefers to stay out of the stage, trying to enjoy life.

I don’t wanna be a diva
I just wanna be free
On a sofa with Sativa
Living the dream

Sativa is a type of cannabis. So these verses mean that Brendon just wants to chill, avoiding the rush of fame and public life.

There are other parts of the song where the author expresses criticism towards the worls as he sees it. “Kids with loaded guns” refers to weapon control and the way it’s managed in US, “woodstock in the shed, I’m so out of it” may refer to drugs and how he wants to keep himself out of that world. And all leads to the chorus, where he talks to an abstract girl, proposing to just go to bed, and the girl answers “Viva Las Vengeance”. Apparently, the world aroung him doesn’t have same intentions as him.

Shut up and go to bed
She said “Viva Las Vengeance”
Shut up and go to bed
She said “Viva Las Vengeance”

As long as the song goes on, the verses become even a bit sadder. “In a city full of promises nothing rings true”, says Brendon in the second half, and it’s clear how he sees a big difference between appearance and truth, in a city like Las Vegas. And the outro brings some melancholy:

Every moment is a replay
I’m being buried alive
Didn’t wanna kill the DJ
But it can’t hurt to try

Ultimately, that’s the true meaning of Viva Las Vengeance lyrics: Brendon Urie feels overwhelmed. And on some extent, the temptation to pull the plug of fame is real. The DJ in the verses above could be himself (the leader of a band that has “disco” on its name), so “killing the DJ” could mean stopping the musical project, take a break from music. But he’s doing his best to hold up and keep making music. Because giving up means that Las Vegas would win.

Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave

The full lyrics

Pyramid of ones, kids with loaded guns, plugged on a power strip (Power strip)
I’m already dead, woodstock in the shed, I’m so out of it (Out of it)
Someone did me wrong, stole my favorite song, yes, it really hurt (Really hurt)
Stepped on every chord, fell on every sword, yes, excalibur (Excalibur)

I don’t wanna be a diva
I just wanna be free
On a sofa with Sativa
Living the dream

Shut up and go to bed
She said “Viva Las Vengeance”
Shut up and go to bed
She said “Viva Las Vengeance”

Hacking at my feed, act like you are mе, no one really cares (Rеally cares)
Nothing’s really real, no one really feels, nothing to declare (To declare)

I don’t wanna be anonymous
But I don’t wanna be you
In a city full of promises
Nothing rings true

Shut up and go to bed
She said “Viva Las Vengeance”
Shut up and go to bed
She said “Viva Las Vengeance”

Giving up the key to paint a masterpiece, what am I doing here?
Stuck here in the weeds on a road that leads to nowhere
To nowhere, to nowhere, to nowhere
To nowhere, to nowhere, to nowhere, to nowhere
Shut up and go to bed
Viva Las Vengeance

Shut up and go to bed
Viva Las Vengeance
Shut up and go to bed
Viva Las Vengeance
Shut up and go to bed
She said “Viva Las Vengeance”
Shut up and go to bed
She said “Viva Las Vengeance”

Every moment is a replay
I’m being buried alive
Didn’t wanna kill the DJ
But it can’t hurt to try

Published by Carlo Affatigato

Carlo has been a web content creator for over 10 years. He founded Auralcrave in 2015, envisioning it as a new space capable of offering different perspectives on topics that passionate all of us. With a scientific background, Carlo developed an interest in music, cinema, literature, and art at a young age, transforming it into a complementary dimension to his professional growth. For years, he was a music journalist specializing in electronic and dance music, writing for the most important Italian magazines (both online and print). Movies and TV series have been a true obsession in many phases of his life: during university, it was not uncommon for him to set the alarm in the middle of the night to watch classic films airing on TV. With the advent of the Internet, Carlo became a keen observer of web and social phenomena, addressing light topics such as advertising, trends, fashion, and general themes. He is the main author of Auralcrave and personally manages its social media, editorial line, book publication, resource management, and business expansion. A former engineer, life coach, husband, and father, he believes that every area of knowledge has interesting stories that deserve to be told and is convinced that doing so makes the world a better place.