Intro
Sha la la la la la la mmm Uh huh
Verse 1
I was down at the New Amsterdam
Staring at this yellow-haired girl
Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation
With a black-haired flamenco dancer
You know she dances while his father plays guitar
She's suddenly beautiful
And we all want something beautiful
Man, I wish I was beautiful So come dance this silence down through the morning
Sha la la la la la la la, yeah
Uh huh, yeah cut up, Maria!
Show me some of them Spanish dances
And pass me a bottle, Mr. Jones
Believe in me, help me believe in anything
'Cause I wanna be someone who believes, yeah
Chorus 1
Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairy tales
And we stare at the beautiful women
"She's looking at you. Ah, no, no, she's looking at me."
Smiling in the bright lights, coming through in stereo
When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely
Verse 2
Well, I'm gonna paint my picture
Paint myself in blue and red and black and gray
All of the beautiful colors are very, very meaningful
Yeah, well, you know gray is my favorite color
I felt so symbolic yesterday
If I knew Picasso, I would buy myself a gray guitar and play
Chorus 2
Mr. Jones and me look into the future
Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women
"She's looking at you. I don't think so. She's looking at me."
Standing in the spotlight, I bought myself a gray guitar
When everybody loves me, I will never be lonely
Bridge
I'll never be lonely
Said I'm never gonna be lonely I wanna be a lion
Yeah, everybody wants to pass as cats
We all wanna be big, big stars, yeah
But we got different reasons for that
Believe in me, 'cause I don't believe in anything
And I, I wanna be someone to believe
To believe, to believe, yeah!
Chorus 3
Mr. Jones and me, stumbling through the barrio
Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women
"She's perfect for you, man, there's got to be somebody for me."
I wanna be Bob Dylan
Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky
When everybody loves you, ah son
That's just about as funky as you can be Mr. Jones and me, staring at the video
When I look at the television, I wanna see me
Staring right back at me
We all wanna be big stars
But we don't know why, and we don't know how
But when everybody loves me
I wanna be just about as happy as I can be
Mr. Jones and me, we're gonna be big stars
Fun fact
"Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows uses a straightforward chord progression, and it’s great choice for both beginners and intermediate players looking to add a classic '90s hit to their repertoire.
Written by Adam Duritz and David Bryson, the song captures the excitement and confusion of chasing dreams of stardom. Enjoy playing this great tune!