Ballad of a Thin Man

Track 27 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack

Producer

While speculations remain rampant as to who “Mr. Jones” is and what exactly this song is supposed to mean, there is no definitive answer at this time. The closest thing… Read More

Aug. 30, 19651 viewer156.2K views

Ballad of a Thin Man Lyrics

[Verse 1]
You walk into the room
With your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked
And you, you say, "Who is that man?"
You try so hard
But you don't understand
Just what you will say
When you get home

[Refrain]
Because something is happening here
But ya' don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

[Verse 2]
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?"

[Refrain]
But something is happening
And ya' don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

[Verse 3]
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

[Refrain]
And something is happening here
But ya' don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

[Verse 4]
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
Aw, 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 are very well read
It's well known

[Refrain]
But something is happening here
And ya' don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

[Verse 5]
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"

[Refrain]
And you something is happening
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

[Verse 6]
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"

[Refrain]
And you know something's happening
But ya' don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

[Verse 7]
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 oughta be a law
Against you comin' around
You should be made
To wear earphones

[Refrain]
'Cause something is happening
And ya' don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

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About

Genius Annotation

While speculations remain rampant as to who “Mr. Jones” is and what exactly this song is supposed to mean, there is no definitive answer at this time. The closest thing we’ve seen to an answer from Dylan himself appears in an interview given in Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, where Dylan asserts that the “Mr. Jones” in question is a real person not known by this name, who is a pinboy, wears suspenders, and “puts his eyes in his pocket” which might mean that he wears glasses.

Dylan said somewhere else that his name was Jones, but if he said his first name, he would get sued. During concerts in 1966 he used to say: “This is a song about people asking me questions” when playing the song.

The Dylan biopic “I’m Not There” includes a music video which paints a good image of what Mr. Jones may be like.

What is known about the song is that the rhythmic piano part was inspired by Ray Charles' 1961 song “I Believe to my Soul” from The Genius Sings the Blues, an album released four years earlier.