This the story I heard....

Subject: Mr. Jones is (not?) homosexual? From: John Howells (howells@sgi.com) Date: 1996/08/15 It seems perfectly obvious to me that Mr. Jones is a critic, in particular a music critic who hasn't a clue what pop music is all about. Assuming you're serious, let me give you my interpretation.

> pencil=penis. basically he has entered a exotic gay strip bar/club > where they are doing all of these weird acts of sexuality and he > wonders what's happening, and how he is going to deal with this.

Pencil=pencil. The basic tool of the reporter/critic. The room he walks into is hosting a Dylan press conference.

> he walks up to Mr. Jones when he hears Mr. Jones speak maybe because > Mr. Jones sounds gay and he asks how does it feel to be "a freak" or > gay and replies "impossible" because Mr. Jones doesn't think he is - > at least not at the level flaunting that these people in this club are > doing.

Mr. Jones is now attending one of Dylan's concerts, but the artist confuses Mr. Jones even more by confronting him and throwing the whole experience back on him - something that Dylan was fond of doing in 1965. "How does it feel..." is of course Dylan singing "Like a Rolling Stone", and the freak turns out to be Mr. Jones!

> You have many contacts > Among the lumberjacks > > > * * * > for me this is a key verse since it says "you have many contacts > among the lumberjacks" or 'straight'/'manly' people, "when someone > attacks your imagination", like these people are doing in these strip > club.

"Lumberjacks" is just a code word for the "common man". Since Mr. Jones doesn't have any real life experiences to fall back on, he pretends to be a salt of the earth type instead of the elitist he really is.

> 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're very well read > It's well known > > this verse shows Mr. Jones tries to convince himself that he IS a > part of society since he has done all of these things and not like > these other "freaks"

No, he just tries to convince himself he's intelligent.

> Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you > And then he kneels > He crosses himself > And then he clicks his high heels > And without further notice > He asks you how it feels > And he says, "Here is your throat back > Thanks for the loan" > > just use your imagination for this one. its pretty clear to me that > he is in a gay strip club.

Ha ha! The sword swallower is just another sideshow freak, which the critic expected to see, but once again Dylan shows Mr. Jones to be the real freak.

> one-eyed midget - a penis more than likely. again use your > imagination.

Or another sideshow freak. As in the typical Dylan press conference or interview of 1965, he would answer questions with more questions.

> 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 ought to be a law > Against you coming' around > You should be made > To wear earphones > > the lasts lines are what Dylan is famous for - incredible lyrics. > Mr. Jones thinks that society should "protect" him from places like > this, and he shouldn't be allowed to even be exposed to this.

No, what Dylan is saying here is "why bother to come to my concerts if you aren't going to listen?".

> overall I think its a great piece of work by Dylan as usual and the > lessons from it can be applied to any type of situation.