1965Released
5:56

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Ballad of a Thin Man. By Songfacts®.

While speculation remains rampant as to who "Mr. Jones" is and what exactly this song is supposed to mean, there is no definitive answer at this time. At a press conference in 1965, a reporter asked Bob Dylan straight up: "Who is Mr. Jones?" The answer: "I'm not going to tell you his first name. I'd get sued." This intrepid reporter got in a follow-up question, "What does he do for a living?" which garnered this response: "He's a pinboy. He also wears suspenders."

Before launching into this song in Japan, 1986, Dylan said, "This is a song I wrote in response to people who ask questions all the time. You just get tired of that every once in a while."

Of the many references to "Ballad of a Thin Man" found throughout media are the lines "feel so suicidal, just like Dylan's Mr. Jones" from the Beatles' 1968 White Album track "Yer Blues." Here are some others: 1967: "Mr. Jones won't lend me a hand" from Country Joe And The Fish' "Flying High." 1981: "Mr. Jones is all of you who live inside a plan" from Mr. Jones" by The Psychedelic Furs. 1993: "I wanna be Bob Dylan, Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky" from "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows. 1998: "Mr. Jones is a man who doesn't know who Mr. Jones is" from "Who Is Mr. Jones?" by Momus. While we cannot speculate on the true identity of Mr. Jones, it can be said that the name "Mr. Jones" has come to symbolize for the music world the kind of old-guard "square" who "doesn't get it," similar to our modern usage of the mythical "Joe Sixpack."

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Ballad of a Thin Man.
BKey
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
74BPM

Album

The album Ballad of a Thin Man is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Ballad of a Thin Man.
Columbia
Originally Released 1965 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

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