While speculations remain rampant as to who “Mr. Jones” is and what exactly this song is supposed to mean, there is no definitive answer at this time. The closest thing we’ve seen to an answer from Dylan himself appears in an interview given in Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, where Dylan asserts that the “Mr. Jones” in question is a real person not known by this name, who is a pinboy, wears suspenders, and “puts his eyes in his pocket” which might mean that he wears glasses.

Dylan said somewhere else that his name was Jones, but if he said his first name, he would get sued. During concerts in 1966 he used to say: “This is a song about people asking me questions” when playing the song.

The Dylan biopic “I’m Not There” includes a music video which paints a good image of what Mr. Jones may be like.

What is known about the song is that the rhythmic piano part was inspired by Ray Charles' 1961 song “I Believe to my Soul” from The Genius Sings the Blues, an album released four years earlier.