# Counting Crows' Mr. Jones **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 8, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-crows-mr-jones/68057 "2001-06-08T14:22:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-crows-mr-jones/68057/1 "2001-06-08T14:22:25Z")
That article is interesting… but it doesn’t make that song suck any less. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-crows-mr-jones/68057/2 "2001-06-08T15:01:00Z")
_That article is interesting… but it doesn’t make that song suck any less._ Personally, I like it. But “Rain King” is better. RR ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2001, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-crows-mr-jones/68057/3 "2001-06-08T22:39:51Z")
A link to the Staff Report is appreciated. [In the Counting Crows song, is “Mr. Jones” the singer’s penis?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmrjones.html) ---
**Author:** ![genghis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e79b87/32.png) [@genghis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/genghis)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-crows-mr-jones/68057/4 "2001-06-12T13:40:09Z")
I always assumed that “Mr. Jones” was a reference to Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Jones” from the song “Ballad Of A Thin Man” on “Highway 61 Revisited”. “You know something is happening, but you don’t know what it is Do you, Mr. Jones?” It fits in with the interview text even if it wasn’t explicitly mentioned by Mr. Duritz. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-crows-mr-jones/68057/5 "2001-06-12T14:41:00Z")
\*I always assumed that “Mr. Jones” was a reference to Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Jones” from the song “Ballad Of A Thin Man” on “Highway 61 Revisited”. \* I always thought it was talking about Duritz’ having a “Jones” for success and acceptance. Score one for simplicity, though. RR ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-crows-mr-jones/68057/6 "2001-06-13T02:16:12Z")
I always assumed it was about being a heroin addict, but I never bothered to listen to the lyrics. Most of the time, if you assume that some wants-to-be-alternative song is about heroin, you’re right. In fact I still might go around thinking it’s about heroin, just for the hell of it. ---
**Author:** ![genghis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e79b87/32.png) [@genghis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/genghis)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-crows-mr-jones/68057/7 "2001-06-13T12:54:48Z")
I took another listen to the song and he actually mentions BD explicitly at one point: “I want to be Bob Dylan Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky When everybody loves you, son, That’s just about as funky as you can be” I guess that would make it fairly clear. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-crows-mr-jones/68057/8 "2001-06-22T03:23:02Z")
After reading the column, I’ve concluded I must be the only person who listened to that song and thought it was about the singer and a friend whose last name is Jones going to a club to admire women they haven’t got a chance with. Why did/do so many people read into it, the lyrics are pretty straight forward.