We all know John Mayer as one of the iconic bad boys of the music industry.
He writes about being misunderstood and his disappointment in women, since he is rarely happy and never finds his girlfriends to meet his standards of worth; the right balance of beauty and a deep personality.
Not to mention his ego is through the roof.
Really, John?
While we love to hate him, for breaking the hearts of many known and unknown women and his distasteful comments on those who have been a part of his sexual history, we also can't deny his unparalleled talent. His lyrics are, I’d say, on another level from everyone else: he’s pretty brilliant.
And as much as I wish him success and happiness in his love life (along with a major attitude adjustment, because who knows what kind of ecstatic colorful songs could come from that), I really dig the angsty music he’s put out there and I’ll always want more.
Here are just a few of the great John Mayer Music moments, completely separate from the times he made an ass of himself as the guy who will always care less.
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Relevant to today's obsession with technology and media:
1. (3x5)
"Today I finally overcame/ tryin' to fit the world inside a picture frame/ Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm in the mood to/ lose my way but let me say/ You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes/ it brought me back to life/ You'll be with me next time I go outside/ no more 3x5’s"
2. (Something’s Missing)
"How come everything I think I need, always comes with batteries/ What do you think it means"
Getting all philosophical:
3. (Waiting on the World to Change)
"Now we see everything that's going wrong/ With the world and those who lead it/ We just feel like we don't have the means/ To rise above and beat it/ So we keep waiting/ Waiting on the world to change/ Now if we had the power/ To bring our neighbors home from war/ They would have never missed a Christmas/ No more ribbons on their door/ And when you trust your television/ What you get is what you got/ Cause when they own the information, oh/ They can bend it all they want"
4. (Gravity)
"Just keep me where the light is"
5. (Why Georgia)
"Cause I wonder sometimes/ About the outcome/ Of a still verdictless life/ Am I living it right?"
Comforting commentary on the passage of time and the importance of staying in the moment:
6. (Clarity)
"By the time I recognize this moment/This moment will be gone/ And I will wait to find/ If this will last forever/ And I will pay no mind/ When it won't and it won't because it can't/ It just can't/ It's not supposed to"
7. (Stop This Train)
"So scared of getting older/ I'm only good at being young/ So I play the numbers game to find a way to say that life has just begun/ Had a talk with my old man/ Said, 'Help me understand."/ He said, "Turn 68,/ you'll renegotiate/ Don't stop this train/ Don't for a minute change the place you're in/ Don't think I couldn't ever understand/ I tried my hand/ John, honestly, we'll never stop this train.'”
The times he was less of a bad boy:
8. (Heartbreak Warfare)
"Don't care if we don't sleep at all tonight/ Let's just fix this whole thing now/ I swear to God we're gonna get it right/ If you lay your weapon down"
9. (Daughters)
"Fathers, be good to your daughters/ Daughters will love like you do...But boys would be gone without the warmth from/ A woman's good, good heart"
The true confusion of not knowing what you want:
10. (I Don’t Trust Myself With Loving You)
"I will beg my way into your garden/ I will break my way out when it rains/ Just to get back to the place where I started/ So I can want you back all over again"
11. (Half of My Heart)
"Oh half of my heart's got a grip on the situation/ Half of my heart takes time/ Half of my heart's got the right mind to tell you that/ I cant keep loving you/ With half of my heart... Half of my heart is a shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring/ And half of my heart is the heart of a man who's never truly loved anything."
And the freedom of independence, testing boundaries, and moving forward with your life:
12. (Perfectly Lonely)
"I'm perfectly lonely, yeah / 'Cause I don't belong to anyone/ Nobody belongs to me"
13. (No Such Thing)
"They love to tell you/ Stay inside the lines/ But something's better/ On the other side
14. (Who Says)
"Who says I cant be free/ From all of the things that I used to be/ Rewrite my history/ Who says I cant be free"
I think it is fair to say that while John Mayer leaves us in a confusing love/hate relationship that is probably very similar to his relationships with the women he dates, we cant deny that putting on his mellow music with those impressive lyrics makes us grateful that he is exactly who he is.
