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"The Ballad of Mona Lisa" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. It is the first track on their third studio album, Vices & Virtues, and was released on February 1, 2011, through DCD2 and Fueled by Ramen.

Background[]

in an interview with MTV, Brendon Urie elaborated on the song's creation by saying:

"…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."[2]

In an interview with OK! Magazine, Urie elaborated on the use of Leonardo da Vinci's painting titled Mona Lisa in the song:

"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."[3]

On January 15, 2016, Urie wrote annotations for several of Panic! at the Disco's songs on a lyric site called Genius. Urie wrote the following for "The Ballad of Mona Lisa":

  • 'She paints her fingers with a close precision':

"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.[4]

  • 'Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh, Mona Lisa / You're guaranteed to run this town / Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh, Mona Lisa / I'd pay to see you frown':

"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."[5]

Music videos[]

Video Credits
Title Panic! at the Disco: The Ballad of Mona Lisa [Official Video]
Premiere Feb 6 2011 (YouTube)
Feb 8 2011 (MTV)
Length 3:33
Location Newhall, California, U.S.
Filmed Jan 2011
Director Shane Drake
Producer Brandon Bonfiligo


Video Credits
Title Panic! at the Disco: The Ballad of Mona Lisa (Beyond the Video)
Premiere Feb 10 2011
Length 4:01


Video Credits
Title Panic! at the Disco - The Ballad of Mona Lisa (Live) [from the Death of a Bachelor Tour]
Premiere Dec 14 2017
Length 3:46
Location Amway Center
(Orlando, Florida, U.S.)
Filmed Apr 14 2017


Official versions[]

Version Released on Date Length
[6] Single/Album "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" • Vices & Virtues Feb 01 2011 3:47
Acoustic/Live
[7] Live All My Friends, We're Glorious: Death of a Bachelor Tour Live Dec 15 2017 4:45

Lyrics[]

[Verse 1]
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 wrong with just a taste of what you paid for

[Pre-Chorus]
Say what you mean, tell me I'm right
And let the sun rain down on me
Give me a sign, I wanna believe

[Chorus]
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

[Verse 2]
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

[Pre-Chorus]
Say what you mean, tell me I'm right
And let the sun rain down on me
Give me a sign, I wanna believe

[Chorus]
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

[Bridge]
Mona Lisa, wear me out
I'm pleased to please ya
Mona Lisa, wear me out

[Pre-Chorus]
Say what you mean, tell me I'm right
And let the sun rain down on me
Give me a sign, I wanna believe

[Chorus]
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

[Pre-Chorus]
Say what you mean, tell me I'm right
And let the sun rain down on me
Give me a sign, I wanna believe

[Outro]
There's nothing wrong with just a taste of what you paid for


Charts[]

Chart (2011) Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[8] 21
UK Singles (OCC)[9] 43
US Billboard Hot 100[10] 89
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[11] 24
US Rock Songs (Billboard)[citation needed] 50

Certifications[]

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[12] Platinum 1,000,000
*Sales figures based on certification alone

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone
xShipments figures based on certification alone


Official audio[]

Credits[]

Lead Vocalist Brendon Urie
Background Vocalist Butch Walker
Audio Recording Engineers John Feldmann at Foxy Studios, Marina Del Ray, California, U.S., Jake Sinclair and Butch Walker at Ruby Red Studios, Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Assistant Audio Recording Engineers Jonathan Allen at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, U.K. and Lewis Jones
Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, New York City, New York, U.S.
Assistant Mastering Engineers Fred Archambault, Brandon Paddock and Erik Ron
Mixed by Rich Costey at Eldorado Recording Studios, Burbank, California, U.S.
Production by Butch Walker
Programmed by Butch Walker
Recorded by John Feldmann and Butch Walker
Written by Spencer Smith, Brendon Urie and Butch Walker
Additional Guitar Butch Walker
Strings Conducted by Rob Mathes
Published by
  • ℗ 2011 Fueled by Ramen LLC [United States]
  • WEA International Inc. [International]

Trivia[]

  • "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" is the ninth most streamed song on Panic! at the Disco's Spotify account.

References[]

Navigation[]

V&V
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