Why you should pay attention to John Mayer
Hello, everyone. Checking in from 36,000 feet and headed home from a week on the road. A steady gig has got me bouncing between Dallas and the East Coast these days, as I let American Airlines beat the crap out of my guitar—but that’s a whole ‘nother blog.
Since I’ve been traveling so much lately, I’ve gotten a chance to listen to a lot more music than I have for a while. I’m really giving the MP3 player a workout, and I’ve been able to pay more attention than usual. One songwriter I’ve been paying attention to is John Mayer.
John is a new generation classic rocker; a nice mix of acoustic and electric with just a slight hint of jazz. He’s young, but some of the kids don’t like him very much because he’s a bit preppy and they think he’s “sold out.” I never really understood that mindset. If that’s the music John likes to write and sing, I don’t think we can call him a sellout—and I don’t think he could do it so well if he was just doing it for the money.
Not every single song that John writes is a masterpiece. In fact, there are just a few that I’m really knocked out with. I’m asking you to suspend any thought of whether you like his music or not, and get analytical. From a pure technical perspective, John is both an excellent guitarist and songwriter.
From “Why Georgia”:
I am drivin’ eighty-five in the kind of morning that lasts all afternoon
Just stuck inside the gloom
Four more exits to my apartment, but I am tempted to keep the car and drive
And leave it all behind
Wow. There are so many internal rhymes, I don’t even know where to logically break the lines—AND they still make sense!
From “Your Body’s a Wonderland”
We’ve got the afternoon
You’ve got this room for two
One thing I’ve left to do
Discover me discoverin’ you
One mile to every inch of
Your skin like porcelain
One pair of candy lips and
Your bubblegum tongue…
And if you want love, we’ll make it
Swim in a deep sea of blankets
Take all your big plans and break ‘em
This is bound to take a while..
Your body’s a wonderland
Pretty racy, but great evocative poetry. On top of that, he’s not afraid to leave the rhyme unresolved, which would normally drive you crazy. But listen to the song, and he really makes it work. Frankly, I’m not sure how he pulls it off.
One more for you to listen to when you get a chance is “Daughters.” This was one of his big hits off of Heavier Things. The first verse is some of the finest lyric writing I’ve seen in long time:
I know a girl, she puts the color inside of my world
But she’s just like a maze where all of the walls are continually changed
And I’ve done all I can to stand on the steps with my heart in my hand
Now I’m starting to see, maybe it’s got nothing to do with me
Again, lots of internal rhymes, and great articulation. Have you noticed that lyrics often sound stupid when you read them and don’t sing them. Bigtime exception here.
If you notice, John doesn’t always take the easy way out. He may end with a typical rhyme like “do” and “you,” but in the process of getting there he does some really twisty and interesting stuff. Likening a girl to “a maze where the walls are continually changed,” may end with a simple word, but what a wow leading up to it.
If John keeps it up, he may be the next generation’s Billy Joel—and I hope he doesn’t find that to be an insult.
Okay songwriters, get your headphones out and get ‘em cranked up. Listen and learn.
Since I’ve been traveling so much lately, I’ve gotten a chance to listen to a lot more music than I have for a while. I’m really giving the MP3 player a workout, and I’ve been able to pay more attention than usual. One songwriter I’ve been paying attention to is John Mayer.
John is a new generation classic rocker; a nice mix of acoustic and electric with just a slight hint of jazz. He’s young, but some of the kids don’t like him very much because he’s a bit preppy and they think he’s “sold out.” I never really understood that mindset. If that’s the music John likes to write and sing, I don’t think we can call him a sellout—and I don’t think he could do it so well if he was just doing it for the money.
Not every single song that John writes is a masterpiece. In fact, there are just a few that I’m really knocked out with. I’m asking you to suspend any thought of whether you like his music or not, and get analytical. From a pure technical perspective, John is both an excellent guitarist and songwriter.
From “Why Georgia”:
I am drivin’ eighty-five in the kind of morning that lasts all afternoon
Just stuck inside the gloom
Four more exits to my apartment, but I am tempted to keep the car and drive
And leave it all behind
Wow. There are so many internal rhymes, I don’t even know where to logically break the lines—AND they still make sense!
From “Your Body’s a Wonderland”
We’ve got the afternoon
You’ve got this room for two
One thing I’ve left to do
Discover me discoverin’ you
One mile to every inch of
Your skin like porcelain
One pair of candy lips and
Your bubblegum tongue…
And if you want love, we’ll make it
Swim in a deep sea of blankets
Take all your big plans and break ‘em
This is bound to take a while..
Your body’s a wonderland
Pretty racy, but great evocative poetry. On top of that, he’s not afraid to leave the rhyme unresolved, which would normally drive you crazy. But listen to the song, and he really makes it work. Frankly, I’m not sure how he pulls it off.
One more for you to listen to when you get a chance is “Daughters.” This was one of his big hits off of Heavier Things. The first verse is some of the finest lyric writing I’ve seen in long time:
I know a girl, she puts the color inside of my world
But she’s just like a maze where all of the walls are continually changed
And I’ve done all I can to stand on the steps with my heart in my hand
Now I’m starting to see, maybe it’s got nothing to do with me
Again, lots of internal rhymes, and great articulation. Have you noticed that lyrics often sound stupid when you read them and don’t sing them. Bigtime exception here.
If you notice, John doesn’t always take the easy way out. He may end with a typical rhyme like “do” and “you,” but in the process of getting there he does some really twisty and interesting stuff. Likening a girl to “a maze where the walls are continually changed,” may end with a simple word, but what a wow leading up to it.
If John keeps it up, he may be the next generation’s Billy Joel—and I hope he doesn’t find that to be an insult.
Okay songwriters, get your headphones out and get ‘em cranked up. Listen and learn.
posted by Ryan Michael Galloway at 9:53 PM
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