Nine in the Afternoon

"Nine in the Afternoon"
Single by Panic! at the Disco
from the album Pretty. Odd.
B-side	"Pas de Cheval"
Released	January 29, 2008 (digital) March 8, 2008 (CD) March 17, 2008 (CD/7")
Format	7", digital download, CD single
Recorded	2007
Genre	Baroque pop, pop rock
Length	3:13 (album version) 2:32 (radio mix), 3:11 (single version)
Label	Fueled by Ramen Decaydance
Writer(s)	Panic at the Disco
Producer	Rob Mathes
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Panic! at the Disco singles chronology
"Build God, Then We'll Talk" (2007) "Nine in the Afternoon" (2008) "Mad as Rabbits" (2008)

"Nine in the Afternoon" is the first single from the second album by Panic! at the Disco, Pretty. Odd. It is the band's first song release that did not include the exclamation mark at the end of the "Panic" in their name, and was also the first song written for the album. The video was filmed on December 20 and December 21.^[1] It was the first song written after the band decided to scrap an entire album of songs they had been planning to release in the autumn of 2007. Panic at the Disco's first performance of "Nine in the Afternoon" was at Virgin Festival 2007. The song has gone under changes in key and lyrics since first being performed.^[2] This song was number 44 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.^[3]

On January 28, 2008 at 9:00pm, Panic at the Disco released "Nine in the Afternoon" on their MySpace page. Soon after, the band removed the song from their MySpace page and added a demo of another song from the new album, "We're So Starving". The following day, Apple added the single for download.^[4] As of March, "Nine in the Afternoon" has received moderate radio airplay. It has also been featured in the episode of the NBC television series Heroes titled "Cautionary Tales" and was included in the official television soundtrack album released in early 2008.^[5]

The song was covered by The Academy Is..., fellow Decaydance band, on Warped Tour 2008.

The song is also a playable song in the music video game Rock Band 2.

The song is part of the soundtrack for the video game NHL 09.

The song is available as downloadable content in the video game Just Dance 2.

On the deluxe LP of Pretty. Odd., the song doesn't have the cymbal hit from the previous track. Instead, it starts right away with piano.

The song's title comes from a happening during a practice session. After playing for a while and not knowing what time it was, Spencer suggested that it was, "seven in the afternoon." It was later changed to "nine in the afternoon" to mesh better with the other lyrics.

On the spine of the Australian CD single, the title of the song was misprinted as "Nine in the Morning".

Track listing

Digital download single

1. "Nine in the Afternoon" (album version or radio mix)

Australian CD single

1. "Nine in the Afternoon" (radio mix)
2. "Behind the Sea" (alternate version)
3. "Do You Know What I'm Seeing?" (alternate version)

UK CD single

1. "Nine in the Afternoon" (album version)

UK 7" single Part 1

1. "Nine in the Afternoon" (album version)
2. "Do You Know What I'm Seeing?" (alternate version)

UK 7" single Part 2

1. "Nine in the Afternoon" (album version)
2. "Behind the Sea" (alternate version)

US 7" single

1. "Nine in the Afternoon"
2. "Pas de Cheval"

US promotional CD-R single

1. "Nine in the Afternoon" (radio edit)
2. "Nine in the Afternoon" (radio mix)

European promotional CD single

1. "Nine in the Afternoon" (radio edit)
2. "Nine in the Afternoon" (radio mix)

Japanese promotional CD-R single

1. "Nine in the Afternoon" (radio edit)

Music video

Screen captures from the music video

According to an advertisement, the concept of the video for the song is a "series of bizarre yet fundamentally recognizable events with the band members". The video contains 40 extras total and people will be featured as there are different periods, looks, wardrobe and hair changes. In an MTV interview, it is stated that in the video "there are gratuitous fake mustaches involved and a rather bizarre parade being led by the members of the band, who are dressed in what could only be described as 'Sgt. Pepper's-meets-ice-fishing' attire (lots of epaulettes and thermal underwear). Each of them also wears a sash printed with the phrase 'Pretty Odd'." Originally, some of the scenes were supposed to be filmed in a 'desert wasteland,' but in the writing process, the director made a typo and spelled out 'dessert wasteland.' They decided to adapt that idea. The video was directed by Shane Drake, who worked on "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" and "But It's Better If You Do", two of the band's biggest hits.^[6]

Many elements of the video relate it to The Beatles. Already mentioned is the Sgt. Pepper attire. The members of the band also each wake up in a different colored room, much like The Beatles had in their movie Help!. The members of the band also wear animal costumes like The Beatles had done for their "I Am the Walrus" video. The sequence where the members run away from a crowd of screaming girls is reminiscent of "A Hard Day's Night".

MTV premiered the music video of "Nine in the Afternoon" on February 10, 2008 at 9:00pm.^[7] This date was confirmed earlier during Panic's Final Challenge on their website. The video made its TRL debut the next day.

In July on MTV, it was announced that "Nine in the Afternoon" was nominated for a MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video.

Chart performance

Upon its first week of release, "Nine in the Afternoon" was the most added track at modern rock radio. For the chart week of February 16, 2008, the song debuted at #29 on the Modern Rock Tracks. The same week it also debuted at #79 on the Hot 100. It also debuted at #58 on the Canadian Hot 100, and at #24 on the Australian ARIA Charts.^[8] The single debuted at #13 on the UK Singles Chart on downloads alone, becoming their highest charting single in that country to date. Months after its release, on July 30, 2008, the song was certified gold by the RIAA.

Charts

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	19
Canadian Hot 100	48
Irish Singles Chart	39
Japan Top 100 Chart	10
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	28
UK Singles Chart	13
UK Rock Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	51
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	39
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	20
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	8

References

1. ^ Video Static: Music Video News: December 9, 2007 - December 15, 2007
2. ^ YouTube - Panic at the Disco - Nine in the Afternoon
3. ^ "The 100 Best Songs of 2008". Rolling Stone (December 25, 2008). Retrieved 2008-12-25
4. ^ http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=272495274&s=143441
5. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (2008-02-28). "Songs, videos keep "Heroes" alive". The Hollywood Reporter. http://hollywoodreporter.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Songs%2C+videos+keep+%27Heroes%27+alive&expire=&urlID=26823369&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodreporter.com%2Fhr%2Fcontent_display%2Ftelevision%2Fnews%2Fe3i95f4ecdb35f37cc40758d6501eb70f31%3Fpn%3D2&partnerID=3690. Retrieved 2008-04-10. 
6. ^ Panic! Solve New Album Puzzle - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
7. ^ MTV Buzzworthy Blog » Nine Days of Panic: Day 1
8. ^ australian-charts.com - Panic At The Disco - Nine In The Afternoon

External links

• Official band site
• Nine in the Afternoon Music video.
• Nine in the Afternoon (Acoustic) Pimp Music video.
• Nine in the Afternoon Lyrics on Songmeanings.com
• Review of Nine in the Afternoon on Unreality Music