Album: Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

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• You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand
  You see somebody naked and you say, "Who is that man?"
  You try so hard but you don't understand
  Just what you will say when you get home
  Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is
  Do you, Mr. Jones?
  
  You raise up your head and you ask, "Is this where it is?"
  And somebody points to you and says, "It's his"
  And you say, "What's mine?" and somebody else says, "Well, what is?"
  And you say, "Oh my God, am I here all alone?"
  But something is happening and you don't know what it is
  Do you, Mr. Jones?
  
  You hand in your ticket and you go watch the geek
  Who immediately walks up to you when he hears you speak
  And says, "How does it feel to be such a freak?"
  And you say, "Impossible!" as he hands you a bone
  And something is happening here but you don't know what it is
  Do you, Mr. Jones?
  
  You have many contacts among the lumberjacks
  To get you facts when someone attacks your imagination
  But nobody has any respect, anyway they already expect you to all give a check
  To tax-deductible charity organizations
  
  Ah, you've been with the professors and they've all liked your looks
  With great lawyers you have discussed lepers and crooks
  You've been through all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
  You're very well-read, it's well-known
  But something is happening here and you don't know what it is
  Do you, Mr. Jones?
  
  Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you and then he kneels
  He crosses himself and then he clicks his high heels
  And without further notice, he asks you how it feels
  And he says, "Here is your throat back, thanks for the loan"
  And you know something is happening but you don't know what it is
  Do you, Mr. Jones?
  
  Now, you see this one-eyed midget shouting the word "Now"
  And you say, "For what reason?" and he says, "How"
  And you say, "What does this mean?" and he screams back, "You're a cow!
  Give me some milk or else go home"
  And you know something's happening but you don't know what it is
  Do you, Mr. Jones?
  
  Well, you walk into the room like a camel, and then you frown
  You put your eyes in your pocket and your nose on the ground
  There ought to be a law against you comin' around
  You should be made to wear earphones
  'Cause something is happening and you don't know what it is
  Do you, Mr. Jones? Writer/s: Bob Dylan
  Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 20

• AnonymousOct 1966 The Black Panther Party was formulated. Bobby Seale writes about this song in his book "Seize the Time".
  There's a couple pages about it... I'll just give an excerpt:
  
  Bobby Seale wrote
  
  ".... in the background we could hear a record, and the song was named "Ballad of a Thin Man" by Bob Dylan. Now that melody was in my mind. I actually heard it. I could hear the melody of this record. I could hear the sound and the beat to it. But I really didn't hear the words. This record played after we stayed up late laying out the paper. And it played the next night after we stayed up late laying out the paper. I think it was around the third afternoon that the record was playing. We played that record over and over and over. Lots of brothers stayed right over there with lots of shotguns for security. Huey P Newton made me realize the lyrics. Not only the lyrics of the record but what the lyrics meant in the record.
  
  This song is hell. You've got to understand that this song is saying a hell of alot about society."
  
  Bobby Seale of BPP... Breakfast Program Power... (really Black Panther Party)
• Tommy from Los AngelesI had heard the same thing, that it was about a Time magazine writer.
• Ken from Levittown, NyIf you see the 1967 documentary Don't Look Back by D.A. Pennebaker, there is a part where Dylan berates a Time Magazine reporter. It is believed that the Mr Jones character is based on that reporter and his views of the counterculture of the time. The Mr Jones character is also mentioned in the John Lennon penned song Yer Blues on the White Album (the eagle picks my eyes. The worms they lick my bones. I feel so suicidal, just like Dylan's Mr Jones). High praise!
  
• Tp from La, Ca This song was written back in the day when young people were heavily questioning their government who was dragging them out of their lives and sending them to Vietnam. Students were not as concerned with making money as with the youth of today, they wanted change from the plastic conformist life they were expected to jump into. They wanted something different, not so superficial, some thing real. Listen to other songs of the era, people are not so absorbed with themselves or who they loved, lyrics had much more social meaning to them. I think the most important part of the song is the repeating refrain, " But something is happening here and you don't know what it is
  do you, Mr. Jones?" No one cared if there was a litteral translation or a specific person. It was very meaningful in the general sense. It is what stood out most to the people listening in those days. The 'something going on' had to do with government activity, students of the time were not agreeing with and were suspicious of, and questioned with gusto. I think the lyrics are even more meaningful today in that light.
• Chuck from Joppa, Md, MdI always took Mr. Jones to be Dylan himself--well-read, well-regarded, yet feeling like an outcast and a freak; charitable donations are expected of him, his imagination is under attack (music critics) and nobody has any respect, showing how folks idolize him in many respects but are always willing to turn on him should he not meet with expectations.
• Don from Seattle, WaTo me, the song is about being disoriented and confused, using several images to convey that feeling = one eyed midgets, sword swallowers, naked men, "geek" performers...Bob Dylan isnt pointing a finger at anyone. But he is always withdrawn and never talking about what his songs mean.
• Jeff from Chicago, IlThis song is about critics. They often do not have any idea what they are talking about and they just don't get it.
  It is not about Homosexuality, it may be about Brian Jones as a critic, but I think it more likely that it is about critics in general.
• Paul from Detroit, Azi thought the Mr. Jones referenced was referring to a british reporter who didnt quirte get bob
  straight, mainline type
  
  I remember seeing an interaction of the two in the dylan tour movie from 64
• Rod from Gainesville, FlAndrea´s comments rock Thanks for the interpretation
• James from Tulsa, Okits about steve urkel duh haha think about it
• Fred from Laurel, MdKen/SD,CA -- excellent point, in view of Dylan's well-publicized admiration of Allen Ginsberg's poetry (and the fandom was mutual there). Which leads us, if we take his lyrics as largely stream-of-consciousness, to ask, if the lyrics come out sounding of gay tendencies, are those tendencies in the lyricist, or in the beholder? Are they verbal Rorschachs, or actual portrayals? Personally, I don't think this question has a definitive answer. I just find his lyrics remarkably creative, and fun!
• Ken from San Diego, CaAlmost all of Robert Z'Man's lyrics come from random thoughts or from what he is reading at the time. He is a follower of the William S. Burroughs school of rambling beat generation writing. Used by Lennon, Bowie, Anderson, Fagen and many many more it is a useful and effective tool for the (sic)ecclectic Rock generations focus on the "beat" and let the lyrics flow way of doing things. Happy Trails
• Fred from Laurel, MdAndrea/Columbus, OH -- This is amazing, but my sister and one of her (female) friends heard this suggestion in the early 70's (maybe from someone in the gay community they were in touch with?), and went poring over his songs trying to glean lyrical evidence that BD was gay, and I think it was based on this song, mostly. One of the big "keys" is right at the beginning, "You walk into the room, your pencil in your hand..."
• Andrea from Columbus, OhI never thought about Brian Jones so I'm going to have to go back and take a listen, but I've always thought it was about homosexuality. Particularly a gay guy playing it straight and not even admitting to the fact to himself that he's gay. Key phrases like "sword swallower," "hands you a bone," and "here's your throat back, thanks for the loan" is why I've interpreted it this way. There are several other references like to Fitzgerald and lumberjacks that help, too. Maybe the song is about a gay journalist, too.
• Reed from New Ulm, MnBob from Pheonix----i too had heard that it was about Brian Jones.
• Timmy from Mukilteo, Waat first i thought it was talking about the halocaust from a tourists point of view, but now im really not sure what it means
• Tom from Chester, United KingdomI think this song is largely to do with social circles and not really realising when you are not welcome. it also seems to attack the idea of ignorance with, "Something is happening but you don't know what it is," even though Dylan explains that Jones is "Well read."
  
  Its mocking the said, "Mister Jones," for being so blind.
  
  The idea that Zach posted about it being about them media is fair and I like it, I think it could also mean a variety of different things and thats what is so great about it!
• Jake from Baltimore, Mdthis is a great song that delves deep into dylans song and is the subject of a great scene in the dylan movie, I'm Not There
• Marissa from Akron, OhIf you listen to this song's lyrics, it's absolutely the most random, weird thing I have ever heard in my life... or maybe that's just the version I have. If anyone knows of the 2-disc set called No Direction Home, that's where all my knowledge of Bob Dylan comes from so I don't know the normal versions of his songs except Mr. Tambourine Man, Blowing in the Wind, Chimes of Freedom, Like a Rolling Stone, and some songs that weren't on there ("Lay Lady Lay," "Tangled Up In Blue".) Then again, this is Dylan we're talking about: "normal" and "Bob Dylan" don't belong in the same PARAGRAPH, let alone the same sentence. But admit it, that's why we love him, right? :D
• Bob from Pheonix, NmI thought it was about brian jones

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