Counting Crows - Mr. Jones Lyrics | SongMeanings (2024)

Lyrics submitted byIdan

Mr. Jones Lyrics as written by Ben G Mize Adam Fredric Duritz

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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• +10

  My Interpretation

  Alright, I feel like I have understood many of the lyrics that adam uses in Mr. Jones. Even though this song is played out on the radio, the lyric are very deep and meaningful. As someone who has a similar mental disorder, I felt like i was able to understand everything Adam was conveying. The first couple lines is about his misinterpretation of what society considers a beautiful girl. Mr Jones is someone that is original and does not fit into societies norms, and is therefore more confident and happier. "yellow haired girl" means attractive blonde and Adam overlooks the dancer. Mr jones however is looking at a girl that doesn't meet the eye to someone as attractive in the television but has no much originality and personality that she is much more beautiful than what is first presented to the eye.

  When they are standing from a distance to an attractive girl they talk amongst themselves that she is looking at each of them but then when they address the women, the focus is quickly directly to mr jones because the narrator doesnt think hes really beautiful and funky enough to get the girl that he had the confidence that she was looking at him from a distance.

  Loneliness is a very important phrase that Adam uses. The fear of being lonely keeps us all from being lions and chasing our dreams. We all want to be loved by everyone and will prevent ourselves from being lions to protect that. The only way you can be loved by everyone is to be ultra confident and funky, unlike society wants you to be, and what the narrator is desperately seeking.

  See Also

  Counting Crows - Mr. Jones LyricsCounting Crows - Mr. Jones Lyrics

  sbml777on July 09, 2012Link

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• +8

  General Comment

  I can't possibly read through 5 years worth of posting here, but what I have read doesn't seem to mention this, so here's my theory.

  Have you ever heard someone say they were "jonesing" for something. Like, you're REALLY craving some ice cream, so you say you're "jonesing for some ice cream." I think that is the reference here. Mr. Jones is Adam's craving for fame and popularity. Read through the lyrics and picture it that way, it just makes perfect sense. For example, Adam is down at the New Amsterdam staring at a yellow haired girl, but he'd really rather be striking up a conversation with a black haired flamenco dancer (which would not be in New Amsterdam).

  With this theory in mind, I think it makes the VH1 Storytellers performance take on a whole darker, sadder tone. "Mr. Jones and me, we don't see each other much anymore" -- meaning now that he's got everything he use to want he never finds the time to sit back and fantasize about all of the great things he wants. This is just a brilliant song.

  David7183on April 20, 2007Link

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• +6

  Song Meaning

  This song is about fulfilling your dreams, fantasizing, wishing to fall in love, and realizing that even if this happens, it might not be as heavenly as the TV makes it out to be... "we all want to be big stars...we don't know why." the ultimate moral to me is to enjoy the time you have in life, no matter what it may be, and learn to appreciate the beauty right in front of you

  DrewLucason May 12, 2011Link

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• +5

  General Comment

  with respect to Adam's personal explanations of the lyrics, my personal rendering deals with applying the dictionary definition of "jones"jones /jōnz/Noun: A fixation on or compulsive desire for someone or something, typically a drug; an addiction.Verb: Have a fixation on; be addicted to.

  with this, a possible reading can be extrapolated where two personalites from the same person, one being the speaker in active addiction, the other being the real person, both staring at their lives, concerned with the future, and engaging in battle between who is more worthy of beauty and happiness.

  W.

  touringteston April 22, 2013Link

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• +4

  General Comment

  i love this song! i dont get the meaning at all....

  aerosmith4evaon April 11, 2011Link

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• +2

  General Comment

  I think it means more than one thing, myself.

  the wretchedon March 02, 2002Link

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• +2

  General Comment

  the guy from counting crows who wrote this song said in VH1 it's about really just wanting to be a rockstar...

  babyfabyon July 23, 2010Link

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• +2

  General Comment

  It's obvious what this is about. He's in a bar or something with his ex-bandmate and he's fantasizing about being famous and what he would do if he was. A great upbeat song, although I find it is overrated. It's funny how the Crows haven't produced any songs quite like this one, most of their other songs have been less commercial. Not that this song is overly commercial, just a lot more radio-friendly than many of his other songs. To be honest, I don't think they knew how popular this song would become...but it truly has a great sound to it, and deserves all the glamor it gets. The rest of that album is great as well, and has more profound and meaningful songs than this one, but I would say that this one sounds the most upbeat and fun.

  komickazeon May 05, 2011Link

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• +2

  Song Meaning

  The singer is saying that beauty standards are not a sheer preset tokenized representation/expectation of what society's programmed, naively following this will not lead to true appreciation and ultimately happiness ...

  People compete and fight amongst each other for what they were told they should find beautiful, without ever thinking of what they find beautiful ...

  "Lions don't lose sleep over the opinions of sheep" - Imam Al-Shafi'i

  redressintruthon January 09, 2014Link

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• +2

  General Comment

  Okay, first off, as many have mentioned (didn't go through all the comments), the song is about Adam, the lead singer, and the bassist from his old band (Mr. Jones) wanting to be famous. Adam has said in interviews that he and his friend went to see his friend's dad's band who was fairly famous the night he wrote the song. At the show they saw an even more famous drummer who had like three girls all over him and that is the basis for the beginning of the song that many people have been trying to figure out. Furthermore, as others have noted, after the CC got famous from this song Adam changed the lyrics around during live performances to reflect how his views on fame had changed.

  The most interesting stanza from the song, in my opinion, which no one seems to be focusing on is the one about painting pictures with different colors and how his favorite color is gray and if he knew Picasso he would buy himself a gray guitar and play. This is hugely intelligent because Picasso had a lot of different periods some of them like the Blue Period and the Rose (French for Pink) Period that were defined by his use of certain colors (which in tern reflected different moods.) Both the blue and the rose period reflected the moods that characterized Picasso's life at the time ((Hence, the line all of the colors are very very meaningful). Although Adam says gray, he seems to be referring to Picasso's Blue Period, which was when Picasso was depressed and his paintings very somber as expressed in color (Blue and Blue-Green but sort of Greyish) and subject matter (beggars and prostitutes and eldery people). One of his best known paintings from this time period is the old guitarist which is probably what Adam is referring to when he writes "If I knew Picasso I would buy myself a gray guitar and play," especially because the old guitarist is barely able to play in the painting. It's also notable that Picasso was Spanish and there are references to Spainish dancing in the beginning of the song, and barrio (Spanish for neighborhood) later in the song.

  On the other hand, during the blue period Picasso painted society's outcasts and downtrodden folk, the exact opposite of the fame that Adam is seeking in Mr. Jones. In addition, before Picasso became depressed in 1901 he was an upcoming artist starting to gain fame. After he became depressed he began his blue period and people at the time hated this and as a result stopped buying his work and liking him and thus he became less famous in the art world and poor.

  Finally, I'd note that the famous American artists Jasper Jones is known for his work in Gray. artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/jasperjohns/overview.html

  moonshinefunkon June 04, 2014Link

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