Pop Song 567 'Mr. Jones' Counting Crows 1993

Pop Song 567 'Mr. Jones' Counting Crows 1993Show more

Watch the MV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oqAU5VxFWs&t=3s

The song is about struggling musicians (Duritz and bassist Marty Jones of The Himalayans) who "want to be big stars", believing that "when everybody loves me, I will never be lonely". Duritz would later recant these values; and in some later concert appearances, "Mr. Jones" was played in a subdued acoustic style, if at all.[8] On the live CD Across a Wire Duritz changes the lyrics "We all wanna be big, big stars, but we got different reasons for that" to "We all wanna be big, big stars, but then we get second thoughts about that"; he also changed the lyrics "when everybody loves you, sometimes that's just about as funky as you can be" to "when everybody loves you, sometimes that's just about as fucked up as you can be."[10]

Some believe the song is a veiled reference to the protagonist of Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man",[11] based on the lyric "I wanna be Bob Dylan, Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky." According to Adam Duritz on VH1 Storytellers, "It's really a song about my friend Marty and I. We went out one night to watch his dad play, his dad was a Flamenco guitar player who lived in Spain (David Serva), and he was in San Francisco in the mission playing with his old Flamenco troupe. And after the gig we all went to this bar called the New Amsterdam in San Francisco on Columbus."[12]

In a 2013 interview, Duritz explained that even though the song is named for his friend Marty Jones, it is actually about Duritz himself. "I wrote a song about me, I just happened to be out with him that night", Duritz said. The inspiration for the song came as Duritz and Jones were drunk at a bar after watching Jones' father perform, when they saw Kenney Dale Johnson, longtime drummer for the musician Chris Isaak, sitting with three women. "It just seemed like, you know, we couldn't even manage to talk to girls, ... we were just thinking if we were rock stars, it'd be easier. I went home and wrote the song", Duritz said

Sha, la, la, la, la, la, la
Mmm
Uh huh
I was down at the New Amsterdam
Staring at this yellow-haired girl
Mr Jones strikes up a conversation
With a black-haired flamenco dancer
You know, she dances while his father plays guitar
She's suddenly beautiful
We all want something beautiful
Man, I wish I was beautiful
So come dance the silence down through the morning
Sha la, la, la, la, la, la, la
Yeah
Uh huh
Yeah
Cut up, Maria!
Show me some of that Spanish dancin'
Pass me a bottle, Mr Jones
Believe in me
Help me believe in anything
'Cause I want to be someone who believes
Yeah
Mr Jones and me
Tell each other fairy tales
And we stare at the beautiful women
She's looking at you
Ah, no, no, she's looking at me
Smilin' in the bright lights
Coming through in stereo
When everybody loves you
You can never be lonely
Well, I'm gonna paint my picture
Paint myself in blue and red and black and gray
All of the beautiful colors are very, very meaningful
Yeah, well, you know grey is my favorite color
I felt so symbolic yesterday
If I knew Picasso
I would buy myself a grey guitar and play
Mr Jones and me
Look into the future
Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women
She's looking at you
I don't think so
She's looking at me
Standing in the spotlight
I bought myself a grey guitar
When everybody loves me
I will never be lonely
I will never be lonely
Said I'm never gonna be
Lonely
I wanna be a lion
Yeah, everybody wants to pass as cats
We all wanna be big, big stars
Yeah, but we got different reasons for that
Believe in me
'Cause I don't believe in anything
And I wanna be someone to believe
To believe, to believe
Yeah!
Mr Jones and me
Stumbling through the Barrio
Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women
She's perfect for you
Man, there's got to be somebody for me
I wanna be Bob Dylan
Mr Jones wishes he was someone
Just a little more funky
When everybody love you
Oh! Son, that's just about as funky as you can be
Mr Jones and me
Starin' at the video
When I look at the television, I wanna see me
Staring right back at me
We all wanna be big stars
But we don't know why, and we don't know how
But when everybody loves me
I wanna be just about as happy as I can be
Mr Jones and me
We're gonna be big stars