Seemingly a cautionary tale about a charismatic grifter, Mr. Jones is recurring character in music and has become a universal symbol for the struggles and experiences of everyday people, and an outlet where many artists have used to express their own frustrations.
About this Britt said:
I’m super...
[Verse 1]
How did it happen?
How did it get this far?
How did it ever start?
And do you feel the same?
Mister Jones
He drive on empty yeah
Mister Jones
Don't he drive it down?
[Pre-Chorus]
There's juju raining down all around you, yeah
Makes you heavy mental
It makes you tense
Hear his name spoken in every room
[Chorus]
Everybody saving up for what he is selling
Mister Jones
Oh, every mark is looking out for
What he is selling
What he is selling
Mister Jonеs
[Verse 2]
He'll tell your mother
That shе can sing again
And he will sell her
His only melody
And yesterday
He made a blind man see yeah
And then tomorrow
He'll take back everything
[Pre-Chorus]
Careful standing by him, he'll lock in for good
Set you aside for later and won't forget
Now he got you working
Throwing dice his way
[Chorus]
Everybody saving up for what he is selling
Mister Jones
He got the bags you can carry
Yourself to hell in
Oh, yourself to hell in
Mm, yeah
[Pre-Chorus]
There's juju coming down all around you, yeah
Makes you heavy mental
It makes you tense
Hear his name, it's spoken in every room
[Chorus]
Everybody's saving up for what he is selling
Mister Jones
Oh, every mark's saving up for what he is selling
What he is selling
[Verse 3]
Mmm, this world is fragile, we're aware
Quite acutely
And I know all he wants
A chance to prove it
Absolutely
Mister Jones
[Instrumental Outro]
The Devil & Mister Jones was written by Britt Daniel & Andrew Cashen.
The Devil & Mister Jones was produced by Mark Rankin & Spoon.
Spoon released The Devil & Mister Jones on Fri Feb 11 2022.
This is a tune that Andrew Cashen and I wrote—he’s a friend of mine here in Austin and he’s in the bands A Giant Dog and Sweet Spirit. He just sent me an iPhone recording of him whistling while he was playing acoustic guitar, and sometimes that does nothing—I think he sent me a few of those before—b...