rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist ...
. It was released in December 1993 by Geffen as the
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release ...
from the band's debut album, ''
August and Everything After
''August and Everything After'' is the debut studio album by American Rock music, rock band Counting Crows, released September 14, 1993, on Geffen Records. The album was produced by T Bone Burnett and featured the founding members of the band: St ...
'' (1993). The song was the band's first radio hit and has been described as their breakout single. "Mr. Jones" reached number five on the
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay
The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout the United States acr ...
charts (now ''Billboard Radio Songs''). Internationally, the song peaked at number one in Canada and number seven in France. In April 2022, ''
American Songwriter
''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
History
The ''American Songwr ...
'' ranked the song at number four on their list of "The Top 10 Counting Crows Songs".
Background and composition
"Mr. Jones" debuted on the US ''Billboard'' Radio Songs chart on January 22, 1994, and entered the top 10 five weeks later. On May 14, 1994, the song reached its peak US chart position at number five.
The band's surprise success happened to coincide with Kurt Cobain's death. These events took a significant toll on
Adam Duritz
Adam Fredric Duritz (born August 1, 1964) is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the rock band Counting Crows, of which he is a founding member and principal composer. Since its founding in 1991, Counting Crows has sold over 20 mi ...
, the lead vocalist and principal songwriter. Duritz said in an interview, "We heard that, that
urt
Urt (; ; )AHURTI These events and feelings were the basis for "
Catapult
A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of store ...
", the first track of ''
Recovering the Satellites
''Recovering the Satellites'' is the second studio album by American rock band Counting Crows, released on October 15, 1996, in the United States. Released three years after their debut album (and two years of worldwide touring), it reached No. 1 ...
''.
According to Duritz (who was born in 1964), the song title had a hand in the naming by Jonathan Pontell of "
Generation Jones
Generation Jones is the social cohort of the latter half of the Baby boomer generation to the first years of Generation X. The term Generation Jones was first coined by the American cultural commentator Jonathan Pontell, who identified the cohort ...
", the group of people born between 1954 and 1965. "I feel honored that my song Mr. Jones was part of the inspiration for the name 'Generation Jones'."
The song incorporates two different key signatures into the music, as demonstrated by verses being written in A Minor with a chord structure of Am-F-Dm-G-Am-F-G before transitioning into
C major
C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor a ...
in the chorus and a new chord sequence of C-F-G. In addition, "Mr. Jones" is written in time and is performed at 142beats per minute.
Lyrics and performances
The song is about struggling musicians (Duritz and
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...
Marty Jones of The Himalayans) who "want to be big stars," believing that "when everybody loves me, I will never be lonely." Duritz would later recant these values; and in some later concert appearances, "Mr. Jones" was played in a subdued acoustic style, if at all. On the live CD ''Across a Wire'' Duritz changes the lyrics ''"We all wanna be big, big stars, but we got different reasons for that" '' to ''"We all wanna be big, big stars, but then we get second thoughts about that"''; he also changed the lyrics ''"when everybody loves you, sometimes that's just about as funky as you can be"'' to ''"when everybody loves you, sometimes that's just about as fucked up as you can be."''
Some believe the song is a veiled reference to the protagonist of Bob Dylan's "
Ballad of a Thin Man
"Ballad of a Thin Man" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan, and released in 1965 on his sixth album, ''Highway 61 Revisited''.
Recording
Dylan recorded "Ballad of a Thin Man" in Studio A of Columbia Records in New York City, located at 799 ...
", based on the lyric ''"I wanna be
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky."'' According to Adam Duritz on ''VH1 Storytellers'', "It's really a song about my friend Marty and I. We went out one night to watch his dad play, his dad was a Flamenco guitar player who lived in Spain (David Serva), and he was in San Francisco in the mission playing with his old Flamenco troupe. And after the gig we all went to this bar called the New Amsterdam in San Francisco on Columbus."
In a 2013 interview, Duritz explained that even though the song is named for his friend Marty Jones, it is actually about Duritz himself. "I wrote a song about me, I just happened to be out with him that night," Duritz said. The inspiration for the song came as Duritz and Jones were drunk at a bar after watching Jones' father perform, when they saw Kenney Dale Johnson, longtime drummer for the musician
Chris Isaak
Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song " Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby D ...
, sitting with three women. "It just seemed like, you know, we couldn't even manage to talk to girls, ... we were just thinking if we were rock stars, it'd be easier. I went home and wrote the song," Duritz said.
In the live version of the song, as on the album '' Across a Wire: Live in New York City'', the first couplet of the song is a quotation of the 1967 song "
So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" is a song by the American rock band the Byrds, written by Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman and included on the band's 1967 album, ''Younger Than Yesterday''. The song was inspired by the manufactured nature ...
" by
The Byrds
The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole con ...
* Composers – David Bryson, Adam Duritz
* Performed by – Counting Crows
* Producers – T-Bone Burnett, Bruce Ranes
* Executive producer – Gary Gersh
* Mixing – Scott Litt, Patrick McCarthy
* Engineers – Patrick McCarthy, Bruce Ranes
* Photography – Michael Tighe
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
Covers
The band
Hidden in Plain View
Hidden in Plain View is an American five-piece post-hardcore band from northern New Jersey. They formed in 2000 and originally disbanded in 2007. During this seven-year run, the group released records with four record labels (most notably the in ...
did a cover of "Mr. Jones" which was released in 2004 on the album ''Dead and Dreaming: An Indie Tribute to the Counting Crows''.
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist ...