"We're waiting on the world to change."
Influences:
- B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, The Police, Pearl Jam, Neil Young
John Clayton Mayer (born October 16, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. While he's mostly known for making pop rock songs, he's thrown elements of funk, folk, and especially Blues in his music.
He is acclaimed for his skills as a guitarist, which was influenced by several guitarists, mainly Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and Eric Clapton. Clapton himself called Mayer a "master" at guitar.
Mayer also formed the John Mayer Trio, which he still tours with to this day.
Studio Discography
- 2001 - Room for Squares
- 2003 - Heavier Things
- 2006 - Continuum
- 2009 - Battle Studies
- 2012 - Born and Raised
- 2013 - Paradise Valley
- 2017 - The Search for Everything
- 2021 - Sob Rock
"My dear, we're slow troping in a burning room":
- Title-Only Chorus: "Say (What You Need to Say)" from Continuum.
- Blues: He regularly infuses the genre with his usual pop rock.
- Blues Rock: While his main work is usually soft rock or pop rock with blues elements, his work in the John Mayer Trio is pure blues rock.
- Christmas Songs: While the song's about holidays more broadly (and features a different one in its title), "St. Patrick's Day" often gets airplay in the Christmas season as a more melancholy alternative to the more festive fare, with its motifs of cold weather, themes of strained relationships, and lyrical hook of "No one wants to be alone at Christmas time."
- Cover Version: He famously covered Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'". He also did one on Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" as well as multiple other songs.
- Egocentric Team Naming: His Blues Rock Trio called the John Mayer Trio.
- Females Are More Innocent: "Daughters" is about a man who is rejected by a girl and so admonishes fathers to treat their daughters well because it will influence how she falls in love later in life - as if the only reason she could have rejected him is because her father was cold or abusive. Becomes a Double Standard in the bridge, which states you can "break" boys and they'll be fine, but don't you dare even raise your voice to a girl or she might turn someone down one day.
- Growing Up Sucks: "Stop This Train" is a song about the fear of life moving by too fast, and worry of what comes with age.
- Holiday Motif: "St. Patrick's Day" has Mayer reflecting on how the string of American holidays from November through February are largely romantic in nature and help to sustain relationships—though all bets are off when they reach St. Patrick's Day.
- Intercourse with You: "Your Body Is A Wonderland" is a song about a satisfying sexual relationship with a lover.
- Ladykiller in Love: "Assassin" is about a ladykiller who falls for one of his many conquests. Unfortunately for him, she is only interested in a one-night stand. "I was a killer was the best they've ever seen. I'd steal your heart before you ever heard a thing... Little Did I Know that girl was an assassin too."
- Lead Singer Plays Lead Guitar: Mayer sings and plays lead and rhythm guitar on his songs. This is particularly evident during live-performances or when he's in the John Mayer Trio.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: In "My Stupid Mouth", Mayer sings about a date where he said something offensive, and laments that he'll never speak up again if it means he won't be rejected.
- Protest Song: "Waiting on the World to Change" is about world leaders' mismanagement of international affairs, and the media's skewed coverage of the same.
- Rock Trio: Along with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan, Mayer formed the blues rock band the John Mayer Trio.
- Split-Screen Phone Call: "Split Screen Sadness" references this trope, where a girlfriend tells her boyfriend over the phone some bad news.
