Adam Durtiz of Counting Crows Reveals "Mr. Jones" | HPL 

I think he’s just not cocky about it and honest that he didn’t think it was going to be a hit.

It's hard to be objective when it's you. If that makes any sense to you. If someone else wrote it, it would be easier to see it as iconic. It's just one of many songs he wrote to him.

A lot of artists while maintain a certain sort of...not sure what to call it...sort of an "arm's length" detachment from their work, and try to avoid getting bogged down in what everyone with an opinion thinks about it, or how consequential/important it is, or how awesome it is, or how much it supposedly sucks, etc. One of the most extreme examples is Johnny Depp, who so far as I know has never once watched one of his own movies. As a singer/songwriter, Adam Duritz strikes me as one of those guys who's seriously wary of believing his own press. Presumably because they want to avoid pigeonholing themselves, becoming too narrowly-focused on what made their last album a monster hit, and falling into the trap of directing their creative energy into producing new work that tries to hit all the same notes that made their prior stuff a success, to the point of sounding generic/formulaic/contrived instead of evolving in some new/better direction, even if it means cranking out a few "misses." The downside of suddenly producing an album that sells a zillion copies and is Certified Double-Plutonium: your next one may do exceedingly well by any standard, but be perceived as a major let-down only because it didn't sell quite as many copies. Talk all the smack you want about "artistic integrity," having a few million dollars in the bank, along with scores of hot babes who wouldn't give you the time of day six months ago throwing themselves at you in the sluttiest ways imaginable, can really have an effect on your worldview. Speaking of "artistic integrity:" many artists fret about maintaining theirs the moment they release something that totally blows up, and worry a lot about whether or not they'll become some hack "sell-out" the way that going from "dead broke/obscure" to "wealthy/high-profile" in a very short time. Sometimes it's pretentious, other times it's not. That is often compounded by their fans. It's common for a lot of bands who spend years doing the whole "dues-paying" thing, mostly doing gigs within a 100-mile radius of wherever they start, and gradually building a devoted core fanbase. A lot of fans get possessive about the bands they follow, like it's somehow **their** thing. When their fave local band is suddenly on tour opening for some other monster band, becoming famous in their own right, their original fans start acting like that ex-girlfriend who keeps saying she's "over" you when she clearly isn't. I understand that Green Day had to deal with that kind of shit in a big way once they started selling tons of CDs. I don't get it, but there it is. Not hard for me to imagine not wanting to deal with that.

Because to him he just wrote a song. He isn't in the same weird worshipping world most of you are in.

Yeah, he does give the impression at least that he doesn't fully appreciate the greatness of the LYRICS. I'm of his generation and I can very much relate to the feelings expressed in the song, especially "Believe in me, cause I don't believe in anything."

My favorite album of all time.

hells yeah

So the wig aged as he did

I knew he had to wear wigs. At first his hair was real the dreeds but them cam the big hair the wig lol

Those dreads are bulletproof

Took me years to realize that

@@michaelmiller4568it was a wig in mr jones video

That’s a lie lol. Seen them live and you can literally look up their live videos and it’s absolute ass water

Wow,I know instantly when I hear a song and like it.

mine is Round Here. That's a beautiful song.

the whole album is solid

Perfect Blue Buildings, but Anna is a close second.

I would agree. I have listened so many times to this whole album.

Every word is nonsense but I understand. Makes my nuts get tight.

Lol. Yeah, unbelievable.

4 years later and they still haven't. Durtiz. Wtf Huff Post.

adam durtiz it is

his mannerisms when talking too lol. had to look the 2nd time when he did them gestures

Obviously not..

Uh, no. The song is about his liking of Jujyfruits. The word "Jones" starts with the letter "J", just like Jujyfruits, so that's the meaning.

He suffers from some kind of rare disease, he describes it as it's like he's watching his own life passing by.

Adam Cartwright all the bubbles are very meaningful.

Melanie Dahlstrom Funny how songs end up relating to life experiences we all may experience?

Same dude cause he just mentioned Bob Dylan.

Exactly this

No, it's definitely the Mr. Jones from the Bee Gees New York Mining Disaster 1941 - "Have you seen my wife Mr. Jones? Do you know what it's like on the outside?" I got drunk with Adam once and he spilled. However when I observed that musically, Mr. Jones bore an uncanny resemblance to Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl, Adam smacked me in the face. I don't remember much after that...

Even talks like him

and the live version of August and Everything After (blue cover on youtube) - Not to be confused with the Orchestra Amazon version which is..... ok

LOL

Mauricio teacher Adam has described Maria as himself, almost his female version

The same person Dani California is -- a muse.

As far as I know Maria began/ evolved from a musician he worked with and admired on a few levels , later it becomes more then her specificly

Maria is Just a name chosen by the writer. A Flamenco singer named Maria Tobar sing for me and the others that night for our flamenco show. Mr. Jones is David Serva Jones, He well known American flamenco guitarist that lives in Spain, a friend of the singer.

Yep..lol..and he managed to date Courtney Cox, Samantha Mathis, and Jennifer Aniston with that hair

He obviously has only listened to show tunes for his entire life.