"This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" is a song by American rock band Fall Out Boy and the lead single from their commercially successful third studio album Infinity on High (2007). The song was first played on September 30, 2006 at a Philadelphia radio station, 102.1, and leaked onto the internet soon after. It was officially debuted on November 21 at the American Music Awards and was shipped to radio stations that night (with an impact date of December 5 in the United States). The music was composed by vocalist and guitarist Patrick Stump and the lyrics were penned by bassist Pete Wentz, following the band's songwriting approach which first began with some songs on their 2003 effort Take This to Your Grave. Production was handled by Neal Avron, who also produced the band's previous From Under the Cork Tree album. Commenting on the band's decision to pick the track as the first single, Wentz said "There may be other songs on the record that would be bigger radio hits, but this one had the right message." The track was a commercial success and the band's international breakthrough. "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with 162,000 first week sales and broke various records. It is the group's first single to chart worldwide in countries (besides the UK) including Australia, New Zealand and most of the European nations, where it reached the top five in many. After its Platinum RIAA and ARIA certifications in 2007, on July 22, 2013, it was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for 60,000 sales.