“Me & Mr. Jones” is the third track on this mix CD as well as the third song from her 2006 classic Back To Black. “Me & Mr. Jones” was somehow never a single, yet it’s quintessential Amy Winehouse. If I had to pick one song that encapsulates everything great about Amy I’d probably choose “Me & Mr. Jones”. Let me explain.
Let’s start with the first 12 seconds. That’s it. Just 12 seconds. Some acoustic guitar arpeggios played by Amy Winehouse. Background harmonies sung by Amy Winehouse. Then the voice…just one line: “Nobody stands in between me and my man. It’s me and Mr. Jones.” Amy belts this so soulfully it still gives chills 17 years later. If that 12 second doesn’t hook you I’m afraid we can’t be friends. Then Amy opens the first verse with a question for the ages…
What kind of fuckery is this?
Amy’s love interest made her miss the Slick Rick gig and she’s not pleased. I’m trying to recall a funnier, cooler line than, “What kind of fuckery is this? You made me miss the Slick Rick gig,” but I’m coming up empty. Her Shangri-La-esque background vocals singing, “Oh, Slick Rick,” are the cherry on top of the sundae. Amy begins the second verse with and echo of the first: “What kind of fuckery are we? Nowadays you don’t mean dick to me. I might let you make it up to me. Who’s playing Saturday?” Man…the first time I heard “Me & Mr. Jones” I think I wanted to marry Amy Winehouse. Witty, foul-mouthed, insanely talented, and she wants to go to a Slick Rick gig? Sign me up.
Then I wondered, who is Mr. Jones anyway? I figured the title was a play on “Me and Mrs. Jones” and I’m sure it is, but there’s no similarity to the Billy Paul classic beyond the title as far as I can tell. Quick aside: Check out Daryl Hall & John Oates singing “Me and Mrs. Jones” live. Daryl Hall is a bad motherfucker. Anyway, back to my question: Who is Mr. Jones? Just some dude she wrote a song about? Nope. After some brief internet research a few years back my assumption was confirmed: Mr. Jones is Nasir Jones, better known as Nas. Amy’s love of Nas’s music is well documented. Producer Salaam Remi came up with the beat for Nas’s 2002 single “Made You Look”, then turned around and used it again for Amy’s 2003 single “In My Bed”. More about those songs at a later date (spoiler alert). For the record, Salaam Remi also produced “Me & Mr. Jones”.
I’m always embarrassed at my inability to decipher the meaning in song lyrics, so don’t crucify me if I interpret this incorrectly. I’ve read online that some people believe Nas is the actual love interest in the song, but I don’t believe that’s true. First off, love interest is probably the wrong term. This guy sounds more like someone she’s barely dating, if that. She berates him for making her miss the Slick Rick gig, then comes back shortly after and says, “Ruler’s one thing, but come Brixton nobody stands in between me and my man.” Ruler is another reference to Slick Rick, also known as Slick Rick the Ruler. Nas was performing at Brixton. I’m translating this as Amy saying, “You made me miss the Slick Rick gig and I’ll let that slide. If you make me miss Nas at Brixton, we’re done.” This guy is closer to an acquaintance than a boyfriend and he’s certainly not worth missing a Nas concert for. I think the reference to Nas as “her man” is more like calling him her dream guy or celebrity crush, not her actual love interest.
Toward the end of the song she sings, “Mr. Destiny. 9 and 14.” Nas has a daughter named Destiny. Destiny Jones is a dope name, by the way. Nas and Amy also share a birthday: September 14 (Nas 1973, Amy 1983). 9/14. My assumption is that this was just Amy’s way of saying, “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m singing about Nas.”
It’s a fairly encrypted way of shouting out her favorite rapper, and I’m still not sure exactly what the song is about. Maybe all I need to understand is that Amy Winehouse wanted to sing about Nas. Who wouldn’t? This song is everything Amy is. Soulful, funky, clever, cool. Once again, a perfect encapsulation of Amy Winehouse in two and a half minutes.
My choice for favorite live performance of this song might come as a surprise. In 2006 Amy performed a short gig in front of a couple dozen lucky attendees at a tiny church in Ireland for a show called Other Voices. It just was Amy with a guitarist (Robin Banerjee) and bass player (Dale Davis) and she’s jaw-droppingly good. As I said two days ago, I love any live Amy performance that strips down the music and puts her voice first. Her encore was an amazing, blues-heavy rendition of “Me & Mr. Jones” that gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. You have to dig a little bit to find the Other Voices concert online, but if you’re willing to take the time to find it you’ll be rewarded. It’s actually available on DVD. If you purchase Amy Winehouse At the BBC on CD it’s a two-disc set and the second disc is a DVD of a documentary called The Day Amy Came to Dingle about the night she performed there. For the record, Dingle is the name of the town, not some cheeky British euphemism like I assumed when I originally saw the title. The documentary features the entire concert with interviews, clips of Amy’s influences, and some history in between. The highlight – outside of the performances, of course – is a man who speaks of Dingle and this small church like they have some kind of mystic power over the people who come to visit. He’s kind of an Irish Yoda with off-putting subtle arrogance. I highly recommend it.
That wraps up my third track, “Me & Mr. Jones”. It’s everything I love about Amy Winehouse in 2:33. Tomorrow I’ll go back to another track from Frank and discuss my antipathy toward Amy Winehouse remixes. Enjoy your Thursday!
mookiefantana 