It all started with my alarm clock. My alarm clock? Yup. You see I had my alarm clock set to play the radio and on a number of occasions it woke me to the sounds of No Such Thing by John Mayer. "Welcome to the real world, she said to me, condescendingly . . ." Soon the song was stuck in my head and one day while shopping at Target I picked up the album Room For Squares.
Now, I know what you are thinking. Isn't Mayer and No Such Thing a bit too "bubble gum pop music" for a man of your taste and stature? How does a person who likes John Prine and Bruce Cockburn suddenly pick up the latest cranked out by Top Forty radio? Good question, keep reading . . .
As it happens the album answers that question on the very next song: Why Georgia. This song is certainly not dark and foreboding or layered and complex either, but it is a catchy tune with interesting lyrics. I am a fan of the singer songwriter. I enjoy listening to someone play their guitar and sing about life. Mayer's lyrics in this case may be tied to his age (quarter-life crisis etc.) but they nonetheless express a question that plagues many of us today: are we following the right path? In the middle and upper class worlds the pursuit of a career and the search for meaning in life are rarely connected. You don't have to be an overly sensitive artist type to wonder if perhaps you are headed down a path towards a dead end (even if financially rewarding) career and a life of boredom and ennui. Mayer has chosen a path as an musician that leads to a great many lonely days and nights away from "home" even if it is his dream life. This is a part of Mayer's attraction. Like all good pop artists he describes some aspect of life and does it with catchy tunes and skillful, if basic, melodies.
Another popular Mayer hit is "Your Body is a Wonderland." Again, there is certainly a sort of bubble gum tone to this song. It is frivolous and airy. But it also captures a giddy part of being in love. It may be cool to be cynical and hard but who among us hasn't felt that tingle when holding the hand of the one we love on a beautiful summer day? Mayer takes that underlying feeling and gives it a cool jazz under pinning. It isn’t Shakespeare but it is a catchy pop tune. Speaking of jazz, Mayer uses that cool groove and vibe in a couple of his songs. Neon and City Love also use a kind of smooth jazz with a funky groove to give them a cool vibe to go with their traditional romantic lyrics. This more interesting and, in an odd sense, more mature musical background is what takes Mayer beyond Boy Bands and Britney.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Amy Boone
So, Mayer captured your attention much like he did mine. A 28 year-old suburban mother of two children under the age of 3, I am atleast 5 years past the college music/club scene, let alone the typical highschool and even middle school girl fanbase Mayer seems to attract. I had begun to feel a little foolish spending my children's naptime surfing the web for more information about Mayer, only to come across a bunch of teeny-bopper commentary on how "hot" he is. I have to admit, when I first "discovered" him while flipping through the channels one night in Novemember 2003 ( on a replay of Austin City Limits on PBS) I was taken by his boyish charm and unusual facial contortments while pouring his heart out, seemingly genuine. Usually I would just flip on, but something mesmerized me about him--again, those uninhibited facial expressions-and then when I actually listened to the words-Wow! For the first time in years I heard lyrics that got my attention! I had to know, is this guy as real as he seems? I too, found myself at Target, buying his latest CD-Heavier Things! By the way, I am so out of it musically, that I didn't know this was not his first CD until a friend heard Heavier Things and said, "Yeah, that's the guy who sings 'Your Body is a Wonderland' and that other song about running through the halls of your highschool screaming at the top of your lungs! So, sorry it took me so long to respond--I'm probably not the typical John Mayer fan, but, then again, that's probably a good thing, right?
2 - Lindsay
I didn't hear John for myself. A friend of mine suggested I listen to him & I fell in love right away. I have 2 children ages 2 & 4 & even my 2 year old knows some of the words to his songs. Ask my 4 year old who is the best singer in the wold & she will tell you John Mayer. I didn't put that in her head either, she just has great taste! Anyway, was curious if your kids like him or not...
3 - Amy Boone
My daughter is 2 and my son is 10 months. They rock to anything I do, for now, anyway. That will change soon enough, I'm sure. . .especially when they hit the teen years, right? My husband says he feels sorry for them, though, because, "Heavier Things" is the only thing that we listen to in the van. I never get tired of hearing John's voice, his guitar, the lyrics. I mean, how often do you find a CD in which you enjoy every single song--and it's not because they "sound" similar? Actually, it's like therapy for me. And then the songs are stuck in my head all day, and strangely, unlike an 'I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner' tune, I don't mind! I have yet to tire of John Mayer. That is refreshing for me considering before I "discovered" him on PBS that one late night, my enjoyment of music consisted of toddler tunes and stopping the perpetual scan mode of the car radio for an occassional eighties "oldie" (ahh. . .can you feel the generational shift?!)
4 - duane
My 8-year-old son prefers Tool, Rush, and The Fixx over John Mayer and similar strummer-type music. I guess musical taste can develop quite a bit in six years, because his favorites at age 2 were the Teletubbies theme, the X-Files theme, and Ironic by Alanis Morrisette (sp?).
5 - Amy Boone
Driving in the car the other day, listening to John Mayer, of course, I noticed that my 10 month old was banging his plastic key rattle and "singing" along with NEON. Which, might I add, was cranked up because Mom was jammin' as well! So, maybe there is hope for some good musical taste to run in the family!
6 - Mark Saleski
i have to admit that what i've heard of Mayer (basically, "Your Body Is A Wonderland") hasn't done much for me...but then i heard an interview with him on "all things considered"...and it made me want to pick up one of his cds. the guy is clearly very talented and puts a ton of thought into how he constructs his music.
7 - Phillip Winn
Mark, I heard him on ATC as well, and though I had already been considering a purchase, maybe, that caused me to order two of his CDs. <grin>
8 - Eric Olsen
I find his vocal affectations and facial contortions annoying as hell - he seems like a 2nd-rate Dave Matthews to me, and given how much I like Dave Matthews - very little - this is not good. But then, I'm an asshole.
9 - Dawn
I LOVE John Mayer - so go shove it down your piehole Eric.
10 - Eric Olsen
I would but John Mayer's facial contortions ruin my appetite
11 - Dawn
yeah right, nothing ruins your appetite. just admit it John rules and you are jealous, you didn't even like Eminem and see how wrong you were there!!!
12 - Tom Johnson
This guy seems like a big put-on to me. I saw an interview with him and he's full of the kinds of sentiments aimed specifically at getting women to swoon for him, things like saying he still sleeps with a teddy bear, stuff like that. He's so calculatedly "adorable" that he's just creepy. His whole vocal style is a put-on, too, he does everything he can to sound like Dave Matthews - it sounds like he's doing a voice, not actually singing in his own real voice. The only thing I can think of when I hear about his adoring fans is that he's a Dave Matthews knock-off for the people who think the Dave Matthews Band is, somehow, too weird. Like, "Eww, there's violins and saxes and flutes. I wish DMB didn't have that yucky stuff, because I like Dave's voice. Oh, wait, here's John Mayer - he doesn't have all that blechy stuff. And he still sleeps with a teddy bear! Isn't he cute?!"
13 - Mark Saleski
that's it! both you and eric are assholes!!
;-)
14 - Eric Olsen
Right on, Tom. I actually like a fair amount of the music of both DM and JM - I just hate their voices.
15 - Craig Lyndall
I used to love the Dave Matthews Band while also loving Tool and Death Metal if you can believe it, but I had a slow falling out. I hate Dave Matthews fans so much because they are "Dave" fans and not music fans. Many of them don't realize other music exists other than "Dave" songs, albums and bootlegs. They probably are or once were in a frat or sorority. Anyway, this has nothing to do with the music. The music is fine and good, and for the most part very original.
John Mayer on the other hand really sounds like he is doing a Dave Matthews impression and he doesn't seem to have the same songwriting ability. If you look at the intricacies of DMB lyrics and then listen to "Your Body is a Wonderland" it really seems like DMB Lite. All the pop and fizz without the substance.
16 - Dawn
Okay, that's it, Eric, Tom and now Craig, you guys are total assholes.
Long Live John Lennon!
17 - Mark Saleski
that's it...i'm gonna go out at lunch and buy a John Mayer cd.
if i can muster up the nerve to brave the zero degree weather, that is.
18 - Dawn
Mark, get the Room For Squares one, because the new sucks gonads.
19 - Mark Saleski
that's exactly what i did...it was a total pop haul:
John Mayer - Room For Squares
Prince - Diamonds and Pearls
James Taylor - October Road
20 - duane
OK, the cat's out of the bag. Tom (#13) nailed it. Mayer has contrived his whole act so as to appeal to touchy feely VH1-type women. That running through the hallways, holding hands, wonderland stuff. I know a woman who practically swooned at the mention of a guy whose "typical date" would involve holding hands and skipping --- that's right --- skipping! That's the kind of woman who goes for Mayer. It's such a non-musical reason to like this guy. It's all image (and a creepy one at that), as usual for a pop idol.
21 - duane
I mean Tom Johnson comment #12.
22 - Craig Lyndall
Hey Dawn, you must be a big fan of cover bands or something. Sometimes Asshole and Critic are synonymous.
23 - Eric Olsen
My 4 year-old daughter very much enjoys skipping although she was quite disturbed when she saw Mayer start making those faces like he just licked old Faygo off an ICP CD.
24 - Tom Johnson
Mark, I'm so disappointed. First The Apprentice and now John Mayer. I'm afraid to ask what's next . . .
25 - Mark Saleski
cripes....prolly Brittany Spears or somethin'