"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. Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician and poet who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Highway 61 Revisited, widely regarded as one of the greatest albums ever, was the sixth album released by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. ... Before the Flood is the title of a 1974 live album by Bob Dylan and The Band. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Bob Dylan At Budokan is an audio recording taken from two different shows on February 28 and March 1, 1978. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Real Live is a live album by Bob Dylan. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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.^{[citation needed]}

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."^{[citation needed]} Jerome John Jerry Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was the lead guitarist and vocalist of the psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead. ... The Grateful Dead were an American psychedelia-influenced rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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.^{[citation needed]}Yer Blues, from The Beatles' White Album, references the song. It contains the lyric I feel so suicidal, just like Dylan's Mr. Jones... Q is a music and entertainment magazinepublished monthly in the United Kingdom. ... Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was (until its closure) the worlds oldest weekly music newspaper. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Beatles were an English rock and roll band from Liverpool. ... The self-titled double album The Beatles, released by the Beatles in 1968 at the height of their popularity, is often hailed as one of the major accomplishments in popular music. ...

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)
• Elliott Smith played the song live on occasion, and bootlegs of his cover exist
• 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)
• Ben Weaver: "Mojo- Dylan Covered" (2006)
• Willard Grant Conspiracy: "Let it roll" (2006)
• Jamie Saft Trio featuring Mike Patton: "Trouble - The Jamie Saft Trio Plays Bob Dylan" (2006)

The Sports was a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1977 and 1981. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Janglers were a rock band based in Cleveland, Ohio. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Cover of The Grass Roots album Anthology: 1965-1975; (left to right) Warren Entner, Rick Coonce, Dennis Provisor and Rob Grill The Grass Roots were a highly successful U.S. rock and roll band that existed between 1965 and 1975 as the brainchild of songwriting duo P.F. Sloan and... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Calamity Jane at the age of 33. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), better known as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and musician. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Grateful Dead were an American psychedelia-influenced rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Robyn Hitchcock (born March 3, 1953) is a rock and roll singer-songwriter, psych folk artist, and occasional actor. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kula Shaker are a British psychedelic rock band who came to prominence during the Britpop era. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robert Fisher of Willard Grant Conspiracy Willard Grant Conspiracy are an alt country band currently based near Palmdale, California. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mike Patton (born Michael Allan Patton, January 27, 1968, in Eureka, California) is an American musician. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Lyrics