Grateful Dead

Released: April 1, 1988

Songwriter: Bob Dylan

Producer: Grateful Dead

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 dang hard
But you don't understand
What you'll say
When you get home

When you something is happening
You 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, "Where what is?"
And you say, "Oh my God
Am I here all alone?"

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

You pay for your ticket
And you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you
When he hears you speak
And he asks you how it feels
To be such a freak
And you say, "Impossible"
As he hands you a bone

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

You have many contacts
Among the lumberjacks
Who keep you supplied with facts
When someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect
Anyway they already expect you
To just give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations

[Instrumental break]

You've been with the professors
And they 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're very well read
It's well known

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

The sword swallower comes up to you
And then he kneels
He crosses himself
And then he clicks his high heels
Without further notice
He asks you how it feels
And he says, "Here is your throat back
Thanks for the loan"

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

You see this one-eyed midget
And he's shouting the word "NOW"
You say, "What's the matter?"
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"

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

You walk into the room
Like a camel and then you frown
Your eyes in your pockets
And your head on the ground
There ought to be a law
Against you comin' around
You should be made
To wear earphones

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

Amidst the growing counter-culture scene in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Grateful Dead were founded by lead guitarist/vocalist Jerry Garcia, bass player Phil Lesh, rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann in Palo Alto in 1965, originally as The Warlocks. Percussionist Mickey Hart later joined the group in 1967 and other members cycled through the group in following years as the core remained intact. Their eclectic music formed the archetype for the “Jam Band” genre, combining elements from rock, blues, folk, country, bluegrass, and psychedelic music into improvisational performances.

Over the years the Dead released 22 recorded albums, although they were most famous for their improvisational jams at concerts, earning them a cult-like following of self-proclaimed “Dead Heads” who would follow the band from concert-to-concert throughout the band’s career.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and they’ve sold more than 40 million albums in total; all that with only one top 40 hit (“Truckin”), and one Top 10 hit (“Touch of Grey”) that came near the end of the band’s run, shortly before Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995. Grateful Dead was also ranked 57th in Rolling Stone’s “The Greatest Artists of All Time” issue in 2004 and 2005. Since then, various incarnations of the Dead have continued to tour, although a 2015 farewell tour was said to be the band’s last.

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