I heard this the other day and was instantly transported back too... Well, it turned out to be the spring of 1994. Mr. Jones was everywhere then, so much so that I'm surprised to find it never got higher than no. 28 in the UK singles chart. It was a big hit in the US though.
But what is the song about? Wikipedia (crediting an old Counting Crows FAQs) thinks it knows:
The song is about struggling musicians ([Adam] Duritz and bassist 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.
I went to see Counting Crows in concert in Wolverhampton a few weeks ago and they performed this as well as many other of their classic songs, a great concert. Ref some of your other musical spots on here - I too loved Argent as a teenage schoolboy in the early 1970's as well as Jethro Tull. The latter I saw in concert in Sheffield last year and he is still as good as ever.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine series and hope to soon enthuse my grand daughter with them. Add in the fact that we both went to York University and have both spent our adult lives campaigning for the Liberal Democrats and I can only conclude that one of us is a secret clone of the other!
Mind you I don't believe in Ley Lines.