During an interview with Coup de Main magazine, Brendon Urie explains the lyric “baptized in a river of you”:
Brendon: “I had written that song with Pete [Wentz] and he helped me with that line actually. I just felt surrendered, I felt arrested in love at that point. Sarah [Urie] and I had just gotten together, we’d only been dating a short amount of time. I wanted that feeling like I’m drowning in your love but I’m so enamored with everything that’s happening, so it’s nice to throw in a description of that.”
Stall Me
Panic! at the Disco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And kiss the ring, the crowds rejoicing
All of my dreams
Wake up to despise a world I once loved
Why would you bring me in if you knew what you'd become
So curse everyone and everything
Even the sun
Stall me, call me up or break me in
A dark room in the wallflower garden of the party
She's got four on the floor
She's waiting to kick start me
So just stall me
I had a rosy dream
You gave up on you and I gave up on me
Well love came along and said leave 'em be
Ohhh
We were wrecked on every rocky tasted
light a cork my pretty little angel.
I'm singing to empty bottles everywhere, everywhere
Stall me, stall me, I'm all in
Stall me, call me up or break me in
A dark room in the wallflower garden of the party
She's got four on the floor
She's waiting to kick start me
So just stall me
She counts on stars, astrology
My moods are mercurial
But I'm no mercury
Don't hold your breath
Baptized in the river of you
Hold on to the moon
It's just a sliver of you
Stall me, stall me, I'm all in
Stall me, call me up or break me in
A dark room in the wallflower garden of the party
Stall me, stall me, I'm all in
Stall me, call me up or break me in
A dark room in the wallflower garden of the party
She's got four on the floor
She's waiting to kick start me
She said she's got more where that came from to spark me
So just stall me
The song “Stall Me” by Panic! at the Disco deals with themes of disillusionment, loss of hope, and emotional confusion. The singer of the song is deeply disappointed by the realities of the world and the people around him, which makes him feel betrayed and off-kilter. The opening lines, “Fall to your knees and kiss the ring, the crowds rejoicing / All of my dreams wake up to despise a world I once loved,” paint a picture of a character who is struggling to reconcile his grand visions with the mundane realities of life. He wonders why anyone would bother to bring him into this world if they knew it would be full of disappointment and pain.
Throughout the song, the singer seems to be searching for some kind of escape or relief, but he's also wary of getting hurt again. The chorus, “Stall me, stall me, I'm all in / Stall me, call me up or break me in / A dark room in the wallflower garden of the party / She's got four on the floor / She's waiting to kick start me / So just stall me,” suggests that he's willing to take risks and try new things (like the girl in the dark room who's "waiting to kick start" him), but he's also afraid of being hurt. He's asking to be held back or stalled before he does something that he might regret.
The song is ultimately about the complexity of human emotions and the struggle to find meaning in a chaotic world. The singer is lost and confused, but he's still searching for something to hold onto. He's looking for someone or something to help him make sense of it all, even if it's just for a little while.
Line by Line Meaning
Fall to your knees
Submit yourself totally to something or someone
And kiss the ring, the crowds rejoicing
Show respect to someone in a position of power or authority and please the people around them
All of my dreams
Everything I've ever hoped for
Wake up to despise a world I once loved
Become disillusioned with a world that once brought joy
Why would you bring me in if you knew what you'd become
Questioning someone's intentions for involving you in something that ended up being negative
So curse everyone and everything
Feeling intense anger or frustration towards everyone and everything
Even the sun
The source of light, warmth, and life can even be a target of anger
Stall me, stall me, I'm all in
Delay me as much as you want, I'm fully committed
Stall me, call me up or break me in
Delay my progress, use me as you please, or push me to the edge
A dark room in the wallflower garden of the party
A place where people go who don't want to be noticed at a social gathering
She's got four on the floor
She's dancing with her feet on the floor, particularly emphasizing the bass drum beat
She's waiting to kick start me
She hopes to motivate and inspire him to start something new
I had a rosy dream
I had an idealized vision of something
You gave up on you and I gave up on me
We both lost faith in ourselves and each other
Well love came along and said leave 'em be
But then love intervened and said to let things be and not worry
We were wrecked on every rocky tasted
We were emotionally and mentally exhausted from every negative experience
light a cork my pretty little angel
A request for someone to celebrate and have fun with me
I'm singing to empty bottles everywhere, everywhere
I'm pouring my heart out to empty bottles of alcohol, feeling lonely and seeking comfort
She counts on stars, astrology
She believes in and relies on horoscopes and astrology
My moods are mercurial
My emotions are unpredictable and fluctuate rapidly
But I'm no mercury
But I'm not the god of communication, Mercury
Don't hold your breath
Don't get your hopes up, don't expect too much
Baptized in the river of you
I've been immersed in and transformed by my relationship with you
Hold on to the moon
Hold on to the small fragment of hope or magic that exists in life
It's just a sliver of you
That small fragment of hope or magic is just a small part of who you are
She said she's got more where that came from to spark me
She promises to provide more inspiration or motivation to get me going
So just stall me
So go ahead and delay me, I'm still all in and willing to be pushed to my limits
Contributed by Amelia K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@lisniatidz
This song doesn't make it to the main part of the album because the lyrics are very personal.
Fall to your knees and kiss the ring, the crowd's rejoicing
(Brendon played along with Ryan's idea of music and a band, and people liked them)
All of my dreams wake up to despise the world I once loved
(But he actually felt suppressed all the time to the point that he could no longer enjoy the thing he love; music)
Why would you bring me in if you knew what you'd become?
(He questioned Ryan why he ever let him in the band when Ryan knew he was just gonna take all the creative control)
Poor Brendon he had enough.
@joshisrealandthegovernment9614
Stall Me, Bittersweet, Oh Glory, and Turn Off The Lights need more recognition.
@theemodishwasher7250
Indeed
@theemodishwasher7250
Why haven't I heard them within the last 4 months?? (ಥ ͜ʖಥ)
I'm ashamed of myself
@thefriendlyemo5744
I Wanna Be Free deserves some love too :)
@corinagarcia2203
absolutely
@Serena-ih7ul
And trade mistakes
@zorenramberg6699
I love how no one’s talking about how it’s supposed to be “my moods are mercurial”
@TurtleswithRye
Srry...I know I got it wrong but youtube took off annotations, and it's too late to change it now
@sophcat0378
description:
I do not own anything. Everything belongs to panic at the disco.
Me:
relatable
@thebaddawg7167
why isn’t no one talking about how beautiful “baptized in the river of you” is?
how it’s sung and like the lyric in general
it’s my favorite part of the song <3