Me & Them Joneses (Music Videos)

by Dick Mac

In the early seventies it was suggested to me that Billy Paul's song "Me & Mrs. Jones" was a song about drugs, not romance. Well, unless you find drug addiction romantic, of course. The line that convinced me is: "Tomorrow we'll meet, the same place, the same time." Even the most dedicated adulterous lover is going to miss the occasional tryst, but a drug addict and his dealer are never going to miss a date! The obvious argument is the use of the word "jones" to refer to addiction.

Irrespective of the intended meaning of the song, I always liked it:



A few decades later, Amy Winehouse released her song "Me & Mr. Jones." Knowing Winehouse's love affair with drugs makes it easier to consider the notion that this is a song about drug addiction. "No man comes between me and Mr. Jones" is easier to turn into a drug reference than the lyrics of Billy Paul's song.

Again, whether or not the song is about drugs or love, I think this is a great song: