Link to Song: Ballad of a Thin Man
What you should know about this song: Who is this “Mr. Jones” Dylan speaks of throughout this song? The identity of this character has long been in dispute, but in an interview with Dylan in 1965 he responded,
“He’s a pinboy. He also wears suspenders. He’s a real person. You know him, but not by that name… I saw him come into the room one night and he looked like a camel. He proceeded to put his eyes in his pocket. I asked this guy who he was and he said, ‘That’s Mr. Jones.’ Then I asked this cat, ‘Doesn’t he do anything but put his eyes in his pocket?’ And he told me, ‘He puts his nose on the ground.” It’s all there, it’s a true story.'” (source)
Some speculate that “Mr. Jones” refers to Jeffrey Owen Jones, a man who interviewed Dylan before his 1965 performance at Newport Folk Festival and wrote a piece for Rolling Stone about the increasing popularity of harmonicas, completely missing the controversy around Dylan going electric (source). I love what Jerry Garcia says about this song:
“It tells that person who’s lame that they’re lame, and why they’re lame, which is very satisfying thing to do. Being able to do that and do it beautifully – to me, that’s wonderful. That’s something that only Dylan has been able to pull off in terms of modern songwriting, I think.” – Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead*
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Photo Source: Don Hunstein
