Panic! At The Disco: The Ballad of Mona Lisa Meaning

Song Released: 2011

The Ballad of Mona Lisa Lyrics

She paints her fingers with a close precision
He starts to notice empty bottles of gin
And takes a moment to assess the sin
She's paid for

A lonely speaker in a conversation
Her words are swimming through his ears again
There's nothing...

1. helena

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   Feb 24th 2011 !⃝

   Http://www.ehow.com/how_2081347_have-irish-wake.html
   
   this gives some context to the lyrics by showing the meaning for the numbered rules in the film clip.
   I think she's playing the role of a mourning wife according to the 'rules' of an irish funary wake, to cover up for being the one that killed him. She could have been cheating, which would account for the whore idea. However, I don't think they're being literal with 'a taste of what you paid for', I think that means she needs to suffer the consequences for murdering the man.
2. anonymous

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   Feb 19th 2011 !⃝

   I say that the song is about a protistute that ends up killing someone and in the end the spirit of the guy she killed finds a way to communicate with someone so that the girl( monalisa) is killed for what she did( which explains the fire cracking at the end of the song). The guy isn't a vampire because ghosts communicate by mirrors and breezes and all that, that is in the video.
3. anonymous

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   Feb 16th 2011 !⃝

   To me it always seemed like a couple including a rich man and a kind of socialite woman who stuck with him for his money. Over time, they realized they'd paid for their sins (she using him for his money and he using her for her looks/sex) with their current unhappiness. He attempts to communicate with her with what is said in the chorus;
   "Say what you mean
   Tell me I'm right
   And let the sun reign down on me
   Give me a sign
   I want to believe"
   
   At the end it seems nothing is resolved, with him desperate to understand her and she continuing to live the outgoing, parting, yet lonely life she thinks she deserves because she paid for it by marrying him.
   
   I'm pretty confident that's what it means.
4. anonymous

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   Feb 15th 2011 !⃝

   It is interesting the way you completely skip out on the cultural aspect of the story and my Irish Funerary Wake Customs. Mary killed her lover/husband/client. The deceased is the narrator. The little girl is psychic. He discloses HIS secret to her. I love it!
   
   Lisa
5. anonymous

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   Feb 10th 2011 !⃝

   When i listened to the song and the video, my first thought was it was putting a stoy behind the painting. I think the man that was dead saw Mona Lisa messing around with many men, but had put on a mask that she was the head of the town. She thought everything was perfect and he wanted to see her fall. So when he threatened to tell her secret she killed him. But it shows that in the end she was still caught because the man was aware the whole time. Making the painting seem like it was more than just a smile. Its probley wrong, but thats what i thought. --- love marley ♥
6. anonymous

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   Feb 9th 2011 !⃝

   I'm thinking it could be something along the lines of this:
   
   Mona Lisa was painted with a small smile wit a nice background, and that seems a bit ironic, like maybe things are too perfect in that picture. So I'm thinking maybe he's talking about how she could have these secrets (like murder maybe) and then when he says 'pay to see her frown' maybe he means 'pay to see her get caught' because his spirit lead the little girl to the paper that said 'Mary did it' So he's suggesting that the painting looks too good to be true, implying that Mona Lisa could have a secret life and that perfect picture of hers is just an alibi, to make it look like she's innocent when really she's not. So basically just putting a story behind her picture (and btw it's a theory that Leonardo DaVinci painted the Mona Lisa as a female version of himself) :)
   
   ~Sammi<3
7. anonymous

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   Feb 8th 2011 !⃝

   This is definitely not putting a story to the painting of Mona Lisa. He's saying that this girl is like the Mona Lisa, because she's smiling on the outside but no one really knows her secrets.
8. anonymous

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   Feb 6th 2011 !⃝

   I think that this song is interpreted as something of a socialite. "Run this town." And how smug she is about her class system. "I'd pay to see you frown." And perhaps this socialite is indeed a prostitute?
9. anonymous

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   Feb 2nd 2011 !⃝

   It's sounds like he's trying to put a story behind the painting, but he is using a story from his own experience. The story I hear is: he is exagerating "Mona Lisa's" filthy habit of sleeping with a lot of men, by potraying her as a prostitute and she doesn't feel good about it. He would use her situation to his advantage by "Paying to see [her] frown"
   
   He's really debating with himself.
   
   "He senses something, call it desperation
   Another dollar, another day
   And if she had the proper words to say,
   She would tell him"
   
   "I need to tell her, but should I break her heart or go easy on her?" Either way he would feel better about doing it because of his past experiences with her. "Tell me I'm right, and let the sun reign Down on me!"
10. anonymous

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    Jan 29th 2011 !⃝

    Random thought, anybody see a striking similairity between this and the themes of "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out"? I can hear the same passion in his voice, it almost sounds like he's using Mona as a metaphor for his own story. Well as usual, there will definately be other meanings I'm sure.
    -dylan
11. anonymous

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    Jan 29th 2011 !⃝

    This dude has some deep thoughts, my thoughts about it are a bit sketchy, I heard my friend play it in the car and looked more into it. The title suggests that this is an elegant story of why the Mona Lisa is the way it is, why she smiles so quaintly and the beatiful background. I personally think that PATD has taken the painting and put a story behind it. Love the song, when I hear it more I'll give a better interpretation.
    -dylan

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