Me And Mr. Jones

Album: Back to Black (2006)
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Songfacts®:

  • Winehouse loves Soul music of the '60s and '70s, and it's likely that this song was inspired by the Billy Paul classic "Me And Mrs. Jones," which is about a couple who are cheating on their partners. In this song, Mr. Jones would be the man she is having an affair with, and she's clearly not pleased with him.
  • This is possibly the first song to name-check both Slick Rick and Sammy Davis, Jr. Slick Rick is a rapper who was popular in the '80s, and Sammy Davis Jr. was a legendary entertainer and part of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack." He was, as Winehouse sings, a black Jew.
  • The titular Mr. Jones is New York rapper Nas (real name Nasir Jones), who became good friends with Winehouse after being name checked. He told XXL in 2011: "I don't really remember if [producer] Salaam [Remi], who was really close to her, who introduced us, if he told me about it or not. But I heard a lot about it before I even heard the song."

Comments: 5

  • Jonboy from Pittsburgh PaThis is in response to Don. You're right about there being tons of talentless rappers, but the two that she mentioned in the song actually do have talent. Slick Rick and Nas are two of the greatest storytellers in the history of Music. They may not have incredible range like a talented singer, but they are incredible writers. If you took their lyrics and took away the music and put them in a book, both guys would be top selling poets.
  • Mme. Mercury from ChicagoAmy Winehouse was a woman who said EXACTLY what she wanted to with her lyrics - each word crafted, deliberate - so it would be great if you could state them vertabim. Now, as to meaning: Sadie from Atlanta nailed it pretty well. Some dude - likely Blake, Amy's ex, then hubby - did something to cause her to miss a Slick Rick gig (aka, The Ruler). Amy gets pissed and tells Blake he's not worth being put on her gig guest list (because his "plus one" would be all the chicks he's snogged) thus, he no longer means dick to her. But if he think's she's gonna miss the Nas (aka, Nasir Jones) show in Brixton (this was '05), he's crazy. Nas long ago copped to that Amy wrote this song about him; they were mates. Destiny's his kid and he and Amy shared the birthday of Sept. 14th. She loved her some Mr. Jones but it was platonic, apparently. Who cares - this is one of her best songs by a long shot - the band is HAWT (the fab Dap Kings) and the arrangement & vocal are perfection. 60's-belter-diva via London-hipster-soul. Fan-freaking-tastic!
  • Sadie from Atlanta, GaThis is about Amy's anger at a friend who either didn't get her tickets to Nas' concert or that she doesn't want coming with her to his gig. This person in the past has made her miss the Slick Rick ("Ruler") gig but she's saying pretty much she'll be damned if he makes her miss Nas (Mr. Jones= Nasir Jones). Nas played at Brixton in 2005.
  • Tiffany from Little Rock, ArThis is one of Amy's funnier soul tunes, where the singer downgrades her duplicitous lover (Blake Fielder-Civil, her current husband) saying "you ain't worth guest list" and "nowadays you don't mean d!ck to me" while admitting she's not much better because it's "me and Mr. Jones", meaning that she's still the other woman, she still loves him and "wonders about the things he does" and they're still having an affair.
  • Don from San Antonio, TxC'mon people, quit sitting on your hands...this page is BLANK!! According to wikipedia or something, "Mr. Destiny 9 & 14" is a reference to that dude NAS, who shares the same birthday as our heroine (no pun intended, seriously), and Destiny is his kid's name. She's been singing "Ray-Ray" instead of "Sammy", and clues point to a Ray Charles reference. The only thing I cannot understand about Amy is her respect for rap & hip hop. Lemme quote Henry Rollins on this situation: "The 50 year old female jazz singer sits on a bench waiting for the bus while the man with no talent drives by in a BMW 540iiiiiiiEEEEE!! (laughs) KEEP IT REAL MAN!!!"
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