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.

Disloyalty is a vice, and interestingly Merriam Webster lists “sexual immortality, especially prostitution” as a definition of vice, which helps weave this song into the album’s concept.

She has him in her grasp, just like she had the groom in her grasp, and the man she slept with. She’s turned into a prostitute and everybody knows it, and they’d “pay to see her frown” because she’s done bad things by sleeping with someone else while about to get married.

Mona Lisa is renown for her “smile.” He would “pay to see her frown” because not only would it be an uncommon sight, but she would be doing it specifically because she would be obligated to do so if accepting payment for it.

This likely means that 1) he likes having power over “Mona Lisa,” and 2) he would enjoy it if something happened/she did something to tarnish her image.

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.

The two characters mentioned throughout the song are also be representative of the inner struggle that Brendon Urie has mentioned is a central theme of the song. The narrator continually tries to convince himself that he isn’t a bad person, and wants to be successful in doing so, but seems unable to prove it to himself.

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.

It’s possible that the woman represents one half of his inward struggle, and that he is either talking to himself or repeating the same thoughts to try to convince himself that he really hasn’t acted immorally.

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.