Moaning Lisa/References

References/Trivia

Cultural references

The episode title is a play on Leonardo da Vinci's painting the Mona Lisa.
"The Jazz Hole" may be a reference to New York City jazz club "Birdland" which is in a basement, named for saxophonist Charlie Parker. It may also be a play on words; the archaic spelling for "jazz' is "jass" ("The Jass Hole").
The background noise of the arcade is the music from the Tetris arcade machine.
Lisa's school band is practicing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", the patriotic American song, based on the melody of the British national anthem "God Save the Queen". Mr. Largo says to Lisa, "There's no room for crazy bebop in My Country, 'Tis of Thee." a reference to bebop jazz.
The controllers being used on Bart's video game system resemble Atari 2600 joysticks, but the graphics on the TV would suggest a newer model console. Also the game being played, Slugfest, is quite similar to the Nintendo game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!.
This is the first time Lisa cries in this episode. The others were "Bart vs. Thanksgiving", "Homer the Vigilante", "The Dad Who Knew Too Little", and "Sleeping With the Enemy."

Lisa brushes her teeth with Glum Toothpaste.
Lisa's school band is practicing the song My Country, 'Tis of Thee, however it should be noted that it is also God Save the Queen which is the British National Anthem.
Lisa finds Bleeding Gums Murphy on the same bridge Homer was going to jump off of in order to commit suicide.
Prank Call number 2: Bart calls Moe's Tavern and asks for Jacque, last name Strap. Moe's response: When I find you I am going to gut you like a fish and drink your blood. Moe's hair is now gray.
At the Noise Land Video Arcade, the games include Eat My Shorts, PAC-RAT II, Itchy vs. Scratchy, Escape from Grandma's House, and Robert Goulet Destroyer.