"The Mona Lisa" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist Brad Paisley. It was released in December 2013 as the fourth and final single from his ninth studio album, '' Wheelhouse''. Paisley wrote the song with

Chris DuBois Charles Christopher DuBois is a songwriter and music publisher based out of Nashville, Tennessee. DuBois began his music career as ASCAP Nashville Director of Membership in 1993. He left ASCAP in 1999 to form Sea Gayle Music with business partne ...

Background

Although the song was inspired by Paisley's viewing of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

's masterpiece, ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known ...

'', in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

museum in Paris, Paisley has said that the singularly exciting element of the song came courtesy of his fans. Paisley recalls that "in the big refrain to 'The Mona Lisa', there are actually 10,000 people recorded live in

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

. In concert, I said, 'who wants to be on the new album?' and what you hear at the end of the song is the audience singing the ''whoas''".

Critical reception

Alanna Conaway of '' Country Weekly'' gave the song an A−, writing that "between the well-crafted lyric, infectious melody and signature guitar riffs, 'The Mona Lisa' has full potential to be yet another chart-topping release for Brad." The song received a favorable review from ''Taste of Country'', which said that "the singer again shows that his songwriting skills are only bested by his guitar playing."

Chart performance

"The Mona Lisa" debuted at number 59 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart for the week of December 7, 2013. It also debuted at number 47 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart for the week of January 4, 2014. It also debuted at number 19 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart for the week of February 15, 2014. While in the U.S. 'The Mona Lisa' was one of the less successful of Paisley's singles, it entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at #100 on week ending March 22, 2014, becoming Paisley's first UK top 100 single. The song has also been adopted by UK country fans, who will often form a conga line (dubbed the 'Mona Conga') when the song is played at country music club nights or other public events.

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mona Lisa 2013 singles Brad Paisley songs Songs written by Brad Paisley Songs written by Chris DuBois Arista Nashville singles 2013 songs Music based on art Mona Lisa