! CONTENT IS NOT ORIGINALLY BY ME !
A compilation of all Panic! At The Disco songs and their meanings based off of Genius.com with a little bit of my editing. FYI, The second album and onwards, is where pictures start to appear, the debut album is j...
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"The Ballad of Mona Lisa" tells the story of a man dealing with two moral struggles at once. He has spent the night with a prostitute, and must deal with the guilt that comes with the decision. At the same time, he is trying to determine whether or not he has any morality at all.
Brendon Urie: That whole thing with Mona Lisa was the idea that there is this character. For us, you look at the painting, and you can't tell what this person is thinking. Not showing too much emotion, there's this Mona Lisa smile masking what's going on in that person's head. The song is about a battle in yourself ... an inner struggle in oneself. The duality in nature, where you see yourself as a bad person, and the good person trying to correct your bad habits. That's what it was about. We thought that would be an easy way to describe how we were masking our own emotions and trying to figure out how we can solve the bad choices we make.
...A few of the ideas — like [first single] 'The Ballad of Mona Lisa,' specifically — was from an idea I had probably four years ago, before we even started touring on Pretty. Odd., and it was just sitting in my laptop collecting figurative dust on my hard drive, not really doing much....That ended up being a really good intro to the whole process .
She paints her fingers with a close precision
Brendon Urie: This is an allusion to dolling yourself up. Or getting dolled up. Putting on a mask. You become a different person. You want to present yourself in a way of someone that you are not. I have worn nail polish a bunch but I have never dressed up as a woman, actually.
I am a fan of a solid red nail paint, like a Marilyn Monroe red or something. "Death of A Bachelor" aesthetic was all black and white like Sin City, that Rob Rodriguez film. It is that one red pop. There is blood, there are roses, but it is all black and white but the red pops, and it is so cool.
He starts to notice empty bottles of gin And takes a moment to assess the sin She's paid for
The scene Brendon paints most likely refers to a man waking up after having a drunken one night stand with a prostitute. His initial reaction is to go numb with shock, so he's just taking in the details of the situation.
However, instead of eventually owning up to what he felt was a mistake, he decides to pin it all on her by calling it a "sin she's paid for", as opposed to recognizing that he was just as much apart of it as she was, drunk or not.
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A lonely speaker in a conversation Her words are swimming through his ears again
It seems likely that the man and woman are making small talk, and only one person is invested in the conversation. It is more likely, however, that the woman is a prostitute who is trying to convince him that he has done nothing wrong. He seems to believe her, or at least give some weight to what she says, as her words are repeating themselves in his mind.
There's nothing wrong with just a taste of what you've paid for
This couplet could be directed at the woman or the speaker himself. The woman's secret life as a prostitute has been exposed, but she had it coming as she chose to do it. On the other hand, the thing the speaker himself paid for was a fun night with the prostitute, but he's now getting satisfaction while watching her web of lies crumble. While he may have felt a bit guilty during their time together, he now gets to see the consequences she faces and feels better.
Say what you mean Tell me I'm right And let the sun rain down on me Give me a sign I want to believe
He wants the girl to tell him the truth and let him know if what he's done is right, but he then contradicts himself, asking her to tell him that he is right whether or not is the truth. This line shows both a vice and a virtue (flattery and honesty, respectively), tying back to the album title. The narrator then wishes for the sun to 'rain down' on him, another contradiction that likely represents his wishes for happiness to return to his life.
Whoa oh oh oh oh, Mona Lisa You're guaranteed to run this town Whoa oh oh oh oh, Mona Lisa I'd pay to see you frown
Brendon Urie: When I wrote the song I hadn't seen the Mona Lisa in person. It actually made me want to go back to the Louvre and look at what was in there.
When I finally saw it, I was underwhelmed because there was a crowd of people. Once they left I got overwhelmed because I walked a little bit closer to the rope and you are still like 15 feet away from this thing but luckily I had my glasses and I just stood there kind of staring at this piece that had brought so much inspiration to so many people. It moved me. It was cool. It is just a piece of history, behind glass.
Somebody tried to rip it off the wall too. This fucking object is not a living thing but it is very much alive. When you walk through the Louvre, everything in there is beautiful. Everything about it is beautiful, the history too, in itself. Even if you don't like a particular painting and it doesn't move you, the history behind it has to move you.
He senses something, call it desperation Another dollar, another day And if she had the proper words to say She would tell him But she'd have nothing left to sell him
Contrary to verse 1 where he's seemingly insecure, here he's characterized as very egotistical, almost praising himself for the power he feels over her in recognizing that she's desperate enough to actually be a prostitute. However, despite thinking so lowly of her, he still chooses to sleep with her, just to add insult to injury.
She, on the other hand, is starting to feel defeated, because she knows that she's not in a place right now to deny her services to anyone. She's being put in a tough situation, basically having to choose between either staying true to herself but being put in an even tougher situation, or just ignoring her feelings in an attempt to dig herself out of this already seemingly endless pit.
Mona Lisa, wear me out Pleased to please you Mona Lisa , wear me out
The narrator wants the woman to wear out his conscience so that he can stop feeling guilty due to his awareness that lust is a vice.
He's also wishing for his internal argument to end, hoping that he can finally either convince himself that he's a good person or accept the thought that he isn't.
By wearing out his conscience, which should be helpful, he is able to eliminate his struggle with both the immorality of prostitution and the confusion surrounding where his morals lie.
