I had the privilege of finding out about John Mayer from the ground floor. I was a freshman in college and I had a couple of friends who were really in tune with up and coming musicians. They passed along his name and the only content available at that time was his EP - Inside Wants Out. During spring break of my freshman year, my friends and I were lucky enough to score tickets to see John on back-to-back nights at the Chicago House of Blues. No opening act, just John and a limited catalog of songs. He was new on to the scene and a far cry from the John you see today. He looked like every other clean-cut frat guy in college - Steve Madden shoes, J. Crew button up, and Diesel jeans. The two shows were incredible and I knew this guy was going to be huge. The biggest takeaway from those nights was his sense of humor and the fact that he covered songs from all genres and did it flawlessly. He had a goofy, self-confidence. We also had the privilege of meeting John one morning at a press release for Room for Squares at a Chicago record store. I got his autograph on a poster and was even able to ask him some quick, rather dumb questions. It was a moment I'll never forget. Especially to see where he is now and to witness some of his beginnings. I'll probably never be able to see him in that small of a setting ever again.
Part of the snobbery that goes along with enjoying new artists is the disdain you have when one of your favorite artists suddenly blows up to a broader audience. Audiences that just annoy you begin latching on to their content. John Mayer went from a college radio, coffee shop artist to playing arenas filled with pre-Taylor Swift fans. It seemed to happen overnight. The song Daughters completely changed his target demographic. Comfortable was equally huge in the college circles but never had the radio play. I have always said that you need to enjoy an artist on their first two albums. Why two? Because it seems that they start to reach for creative outlets and tinker with their sound and influences.
I suddenly lost interest in John for several years but found myself coming back out of nowhere. Why? Because when I began to analyze the musical progression through his career - I felt like it mirrored my own transition from adolescence to adulthood. The same life changes that John was expressing through his music were changes that I feel I can all relate to. I'm going to attempt to, in a probably awful way, explain how we're all in each of his albums. A modern-day Odysseus trying to find his way back to Ithaca.
Room For Squares
"This is very, very fast, and I promise to catch up." John's remarks on this album are my thoughts exactly. This album, to me, reflected on the changes of leaving home for college. You still have the attachments to your hometown, but you are now on your own - a fish out of water. For me, it was finding my way at a university of over 40,000. You want to fit in, but you want to stand out. The naiveness, the blunders, the awkwardness around new people. There were parties where you told lies to look cool and when you wore clothes to fit in with certain crowds. You may never see these people again. It was the transition from high-schooler, to wannabe hippie, to will I join a frat to get into the parties, to I'm from Chicago (but really a suburb 45 minutes away), to what do you have to offer my future. Driving forward down the highway while looking in the rearview mirror. One foot in the future and one foot in the past. I always think of this album when I drive into a city. I don't know exactly why, but to me, it symbolizes all of the energy (good and bad) that a city brings.
Heavier Things
This album was when I started to fade away from John. The reason - I was dating a girl in a residence hall and when I visited all I heard was Daughters. The target demographic was changing. Yuck!
One thing that I've always admired about John is his ability to capture the melancholy in moments. I was around 21 at the time of this release. To me, the album seemed rushed and demanded from Mayer by external influences. Mayer himself gave this album a B-. For me, this album symbolizes heartbreak - a trip to Taco Bell (sounded like a good idea at the time, but something you end up regretting). At the time, I had realized that I was not going to fit in with certain crowds. Many of my friends had gone different paths and I suddenly began to wonder what was my identity. I was from a small town in Indiana and I had become tired of trying to fit in with everyone dreaming of a job in a big city. Friends were now finding themselves in serious relationships. I was in a brief relationship that ended poorly and this album just reminds me of that. The good and the bad. In the end, great experiences, but like I stated before - a rushed project. Like a stage performer not sure what to do with their hands. Trying to do something for the sake of doing something. Just like using the term "Things" in the title.
Continuum
This album came 3 years after Heavier Things and for good reason. "I'm obsessed with time lately, constantly crunching the numbers to get some sense of where I stand in the continuum." These were words from John as he was creating his third album. This is an album I often forget about because of Waiting on the World to Change. First impressions are everything and this song leads off this album, and I just skip it every time. It is an underrated album for many reasons. To me this album symbolizes change. The fact that you are going to be on your own very soon. The ride you've enjoyed in college is coming to a close. You're moving on and so are your friends. Friends are moving to jobs in the city. It's something I have written about before. I think John sums up how many of us feel when something is coming to a close in the song - Stop This Train. "Stop this train. I want to get off and go home again. I can't take the speed it's moving in. I know I can't. But, honestly, won't someone stop this train?"
Battle Studies
This album is my favorite of all of John's albums. I love this album because of how real, and raw it is. It's so melancholy and I love it for those reasons. I feel like John could have cared less who bought this album and just made it for his own reasons. It's John's hand on the stove moment. He knows not to do it, but he's going to do it anyway. I think we've all had many of those moments. I personally love Edge of Desire. He just lays it all out there on this album. We often turn to music to bring out the positive, but as a child of 90's alternative, I love the melancholy mood of this album. It's real. "There I just said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me."
Born and Raised
When this album showed up in my mailbox - my wife asked me two questions -
1. Who still buys CDs?
2. Why would you buy that album? I've heard it has not gotten great reviews.
I personally love this album because I feel like we all have some Allman Brothers in us. We all have that desire to move to Montana, grow out our hair, and just disappear. I know that sounds appealing to me. John got a lot of grief about this album when it was first released. It was almost Weezer's Pinkertonesque. He also did not have any time to promote this album due to health concerns. It's almost a forgotten album. I love, love, love this album. Growing up in a family that prized classic rock from the 70s, I feel like this is my 70s classic rock. I also feel that John took a lot of the initial criticism album of this album very personally. He questioned himself. There is an amazing Twitter thread where fans praised John for his work on this album. That Twitter thread gave John great validation for the work he put into this album. Just listen to it as you drive down the road - it will definitely bring a smile to your face. "Alive in the age of worry. Smile in the age of worry. Go wild in the age of worry. And sing Worry, why should I care?"
Paradise Valley
I personally have not invested that much time into this album. I really don't have any opinion about the album as a whole, but it does have a couple of songs that were a continuation of Born and Raised. I love Wildfire, Paper Doll (multiple Taylor Swift references in one post?) and most importantly - Dear Marie. Dear Marie is a nice segway into his latest album and, for me, sums up growing old. We all have our own version of the "good ole days". I love the lyrics of Dear Marie and is a nice segway to John's next album. It also is a reflection on days you'll never get back but can smile fondly about. "Dear Marie, tell me what it was I used to be? And if you're further up the road. Can you show me what I still can't see?"
The Search for Everything
This album hit me like a ton of bricks - in a good way. The title, the songs - I love everything about this album. It was like John was researching himself and decided to mix a little bit of each album into this one. He had come full circle. I often comment that the first two albums by any band or artist are always going to be their best work. Not in John's body of work. Albums like this make me admire John Mayer ever more because I feel that he is constantly thinking about what to do next. "How much of my mother has my mother left in me? How much of my love will be insane to some degree? And what about this feeling that I'm never good enough? Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?" Perhaps Odysseus' triumphant return to Ithaca thirty years after he had left.
The frat boy beginnings, the self-proclaimed ego addict, the long hair and Montana ranch, the recovering ego addict, the full-circle return to how it all started - that is why I always go back to John Mayer no matter the mood, the setting, or the time of the year. I see myself in him as I'm always thinking about what is next and reflecting on what has been. Just like in High Fidelity - John Mayer will always be in my Top 5.
I hope I did that some justice...
