Ballad of a Thin Man

"Ballad of a Thin Man" is a song written by Bob Dylan, originally released in 1965 on Highway 61 Revisited, with live versions released on Before the Flood (1974), Bob Dylan At Budokan (1979), Real Live (1984), Hard to Handle (video, 1986), The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (1998) and on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (2005). "Ballad of a Thin Man" has been extensively performed live throughout Dylan's career, up to this day.

A dark and menacing sounding song, "Ballad of a Thin Man" addresses a certain "Mr. Jones", telling him that he simply doesn't know what's "happening." The song's lyrics have Mr. Jones facing a wild, nonsensical, and hallucinatory world and the character is portrayed as a clueless poser who cannot deal with it all.

The "identity" of Mr. Jones has long been in dispute. When asked about it in an interview in 1965, Dylan 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.

Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, in a 1981 interview recounted in David Gans' book Conversations with the Dead: The Grateful Dead Interview Book (New York: Citadel Underground, 1991), said that "'Ballad of a Thin Man' tells that person who's lame that they're lame, why they're lame, which is a very satisfying thing to do. Certainly something everybody knows about."

In a mid-1980s interview with Q magazine, Dylan appeared to identify Mr. Jones as Max Jones, a former Melody Maker critic, supporting the theory that "Mr. Jones" was simply one of the many music critics who didn't "get" Dylan's songs, especially the more surreal ones he wrote in the mid-1960s.

Yer Blues, from The Beatles' White Album, references the song. It contains the lyric I feel so suicidal, just like Dylan's Mr. Jones...

Counting Crows's song, Mr. Jones is rumoured to reference Dylan's work, however this has not been confirmed.

Any Bard College student will tell you that Mr. Jones was Bobby Jones, a security officer at the college. Dylan spent much time in the 60's hanging out at this school not far from his Woodstock home. Bard was a haven for around 500 free spirited, left wing students and their friends. The rules were often ignored and experimentation was paramount.

Bobby was the head "proctor," or security officer on the campus. He was actually quite benign and a good guy, but he still represented authority. The first verse says it all:

: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'll say::When you get home"

Other obvious lines:

:You've been with the professors::And they've all liked your looks

and:

: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

:Because something is happening here::But you don't know what it is::Do you, Mister Jones?There are two other Dylan songs that Bard claims: Subterranean Homesick Blues, and If you Gotta Go.

In If You Gotta Go, Dylan says,

:Listen to me, baby,::There's something you must see.::I want to be with you, gal,::If you want to be with me.

:But if you got to go,::It's all right.::But if you got to go, go now,::Or else you gotta stay all night.Before dorms went coed in the late 60's, there was a curfew on campus. In order to avoid the consequences of violating the curfew, you stayed put. If you were a woman visiting a men's dorm, you simply stayed all night.

In Subterannean Homesick Blues, there is the line,

:The pump don't work 'cause the vandals took the handle.

Bard students are very proud of the pump that can still be found in the village "triangle" near the entrance to the college. When the handle was replaced in the late 60's, it was simply stolen again. The rest of the song includes a warning - "Must bust in early May." Here Dylan was prophetic. Bard did suffer two major drug busts in May 1968 and 1969. Sheriff Quinlan (some believe he is "the Mighty Quinn"), in an early morning raid, visited the campus with his police force and arrested around 40 students, shaving all the male students heads before he released them on bail. G. Gordon Liddy was the prosecuter in these cases.

Never argue with Bard students about who Mr. Jones is. To them, there is no doubt, and you will not convince them otherwise.

Bobby Jones is now deceased.

Covers

*The Sports: The Sports Play Dylan & Donovan (1981)
*Thee Fourgiven: Voilà (1986)
*Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Picks: Pigus Drunkus Maximus (1987)
*Janglers: Janglers Play Dylan (1992)
*The Grass Roots: Where Were You When I Needed You (1994)
*Calamity Jane: Outlaw Blues, Volume 2 (1995)
*The Golden Earring: Love Sweat (1995)
*James Solberg: L.A. Blues (1998); Tangled Up in Blue: The Songs of Bob Dylan (1999)
*The Grateful Dead: Postcards of the Hanging: Grateful Dead Perform the Songs of Bob Dylan (2002)
*Robyn Hitchcock: Robyn Sings (2002)
*Big Brass Bed: A Few Dylan Songs (2003)
*Kula Shaker: "Kollected" (2003)
*Willard Grant Conspiracy: "Let it roll" (2006)

External links

*Lyrics

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