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Panic! At The Disco, Don’t Let The Light Go Out: lyrics & meaning

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Don’t Let The Light Go Out is the 4th single extracted by Panic! At The Disco from their 2022 album Viva La Vengeance, after the track of the same title, Middle of a Breakup, and Local God. The song, officially released on August 16, 2022, describes a crucial, complicated moment in a love relationship. In this article, we will explore the song’s meaning, and you’ll find the complete lyrics at the end.

You can find the official video of Don’t Let The Light Go Out below.

Panic! At The Disco - Don't Let The Light Go Out (Official Video)
Watch this video on YouTube.

Don’t Let The Light Go Out: the lyrics and their meaning

Don’t Let The Light Go Out is about a person caring about the significant one, who’s fighting between life and death. The singer expresses the complicated feelings you have when you love someone, and you start dealing with the perspective of their death.

The first verse describes what happens when you visit the person you love at the hospital: the feeling that everything is against you, the rules that ask you to leave, the nights spent hoping that the heartbeat will go on.

Stare at a wall that’s told a thousand tragedies
Holding a hand that’s loved every part of me
A lady comes and tells me that I’ve got to leave
Right away everybody is the enemy
Deep breaths from the room where I watch you lie
Any beat from your heart gets me through the night
You’re my love, you’re my death, you’re my alibi
Say this isn’t good-bye

The lines show a firm hope, and the singer is determined to rely on it. He’s not ready to accept her death. And he recalls all the moments of their relationship, the company she represents for him, the way she knows him, and even the fights they sometimes have. The chorus uses the metaphor of the machinery and the operation, lending some of the medical terms typically used in hospitals.

Who’s gonna drive me home tonight?
Who’s gonna argue ’till they win the fight?
You’re the only one that knows how to operate
My heavy machinery

Therefore, “don’t let the light go out” is a scream directed to the person he loves: don’t leave this world, stay with me, because the perspective of living without loving you feels like death, as the following lines say.

Don’t let the light go out

A rush of blood floods hot thoughts in my head
Red roses sitting silently beside the bed
I’m saying more right now than I ever said
Don’t wanna live if the thought of loving you is dead

If we read the song’s lyrics as they are, the track shows the context of a love relationship when one person is going to die. Nevertheless, someone prefers to interpret the song as a tentative to break up with a toxic personality: they see the line “Who’s gonna argue ’till they win the fight?” as a typical unhealthy treat and the general song meaning as a metaphor of a breakup, where we leave the toxic person and let her metaphorically die.

We leave this to your personal interpretation. Below you can find the complete lyrics.

Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave

The complete lyrics

Stare at a wall that’s told a thousand tragedies
Holding a hand that’s loved every part of me
A lady comes and tells me that I’ve got to leave
Right away everybody is the enemy
Deep breaths from the room where I watch you lie
Any beat from your heart gets me through the night
You’re my love, you’re my death, you’re my alibi
Say this isn’t good-bye

Who’s gonna drive me home tonight?
Who’s gonna argue ’till they win the fight?
You’re the only one that knows how to operate
My heavy machinery

Don’t let the light go out
Don’t let the light go out

A rush of blood floods hot thoughts in my head
Red roses sitting silently beside the bed
I’m saying more right now than I ever said
Don’t wanna live if the thought of loving you is dead

Who’s gonna drive me home tonight?
Who’s gonna argue ’till they win the fight?
You’re the only one that knows how to operate
My heavy machinery, so
Who’s gonna drive me home tonight?
Who’s gonna argue ’till they win the fight?
You’re the only one that knows how to operate
My heavy machinery

Don’t let the light go out
Don’t let the light go out

Who’s gonna drive me home tonight?
Who’s gonna argue ’till they win the fight?
You’re the only one that knows how to operate
My heavy machinery, so
Who’s gonna drive me home tonight?
Who’s gonna argue ’till they win the fight?
You’re the only one that knows how to operate
My heavy machinery

Don’t let the light go out
Don’t let the light go out

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.