Richard Hawley - Ballad of a Thin Man

You walk into the room
With your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked and you say
"Who is that man?"
You try so hard
But you don't understand
Just what you will say
When you get home

Because something is happening here
But ya don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

You raise up your head
And you ask, "Is this where it is?"
And somebody points to you and says
"It's his"
And you say, "What's mine?"
And somebody else says, "Well, what is?"
And you say, "Oh my God, am I here all alone?"

But something is happening
And ya don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

You hand in your ticket
And you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you
When he hears you speak
And says, "How does it feel to be such a freak?"
And you say, "Impossible"
As he hands you a bone

And something is happening here
But ya don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

You have many contacts
Among the lumberjacks
To get you facts
When somebody attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect
Anyway they already expect you
To all give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations
Aw, you've been with the professors
And they've all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have discussed lepers and crooks
You've been through all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
You are very well read
It's well known

But something is happening here
And ya don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

Well, the sword swallower
He comes up to you and then he kneels
He crosses himself and then he clicks his
His high heels
Without further notice he asks you
How it feels
And he says, "Here's your throat back
Thanks for the loan"

And you know something is happening here
But ya don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word, "Now"
And you say, "For what reason?"
And he says, "How?"
And you say, "What does this mean?"
And he screams back, "You're a cow
Give me some milk or else go home"

You know something is happening here
But ya don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

Well, you walk into the room like a camel
And then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket
And your nose on the ground
There oughta be a law against you
Comin' around
You should be made to wear earphones

'Cause something is happening
And ya don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?
'Cause something is happening
Yeah, and ya don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?
Mr. Jones
Mr. Jones
Mr. Jones

Written by:
Bob Dylan

Publisher:
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by Lyric Find

Richard Hawley

Richard Hawley

View Profile
Peaky Blinders (Original Music From The TV Series) Peaky Blinders (Original Music From The TV Series)
Ballad of a Thin Man - Single Ballad of a Thin Man - Single Highway 61 Revisited Highway 61 Revisited The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (A Martin Scorsese Picture) The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (A Martin Scorsese Picture) The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Live 1966 - The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Live 1966 - The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert I'm Not There (Music From The Motion Picture - Original Soundtrack) I'm Not There (Music From The Motion Picture - Original Soundtrack) Before The Flood (Live) Before The Flood (Live) Download Series Vol. 5: 3/27/88 (Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA) Download Series Vol. 5: 3/27/88 (Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA) Postcards of the Hanging - Grateful Dead Perform the Songs of Bob Dylan (Live) Postcards of the Hanging - Grateful Dead Perform the Songs of Bob Dylan (Live) The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert! (Live) The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert! (Live) The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12 (Deluxe Edition) The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12 (Deluxe Edition) Highway 61 Revisited (2010 Mono Version) Highway 61 Revisited (2010 Mono Version) Live 1962-1966: Rare Performances from the Copyright Collections Live 1962-1966: Rare Performances from the Copyright Collections Kollected - The Best Of Kula Shaker Kollected - The Best Of Kula Shaker Bob Dylan At Budokan (Live) Bob Dylan At Budokan (Live) Trouble - The Jamie Saft Trio Plays Bob Dylan Trouble - The Jamie Saft Trio Plays Bob Dylan Tangled Up In Blues: Songs of Bob Dylan Tangled Up In Blues: Songs of Bob Dylan L.A. Blues L.A. Blues All Blues'd Up: Songs of Bob Dylan All Blues'd Up: Songs of Bob Dylan Robyn Sings Robyn Sings Tangled Up In Blues - Songs of Bob Dylan Tangled Up In Blues - Songs of Bob Dylan Real Live Real Live The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 (Deluxe Edition) Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 (Deluxe Edition) Before the Flood (Live) Before the Flood (Live) The Zimmerman Shadow The Zimmerman Shadow At Budokan (Live) At Budokan (Live) An Introduction To An Introduction To Real Live (Remastered) Real Live (Remastered) A Few Dylan Songs A Few Dylan Songs Where Were You When I Needed You Where Were You When I Needed You Cleveland Verses Volume 1 Cleveland Verses Volume 1 Into the Black Into the Black Drunk Women and Sexual Water Drunk Women and Sexual Water Deep Schrott Plays Dylan & Eisler Deep Schrott Plays Dylan & Eisler Synthesizer Plays Bob Dylan Synthesizer Plays Bob Dylan Return of the Reluctant Prophet Return of the Reluctant Prophet Ceases to Be Ceases to Be Pepper Stew Pepper Stew A Reytropeek, Vol. 1: Elevator Music A Reytropeek, Vol. 1: Elevator Music Colossus (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Colossus (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Michael B Unplugged Michael B Unplugged Up on the Downside (Remastered) Up on the Downside (Remastered) Vanguart Sings Bob Dylan Vanguart Sings Bob Dylan