I still remember, quite vividly, sitting at home during summer breaks and watching music videos in the morning. For variety I'd switch between BET and MTV, and watch everything from hip-hop/R&B to pop/rock. I didn't know much about the latter, so it wasn't uncommon to see 'weird' videos (i.e. System of a Down's "Toxicity") and not know whether or not what I just watched was considered "good music." I was used to the best, like Nelly and Jagged Edge.
Around my sophomore year of high school, I started watching VH1's Jump Start. It was a standard morning block of videos, but they were mostly quieter and slower in tempo. The music wasn't rough, and it went well with my morning nap (it's a thing). It's where I heard songs like Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" and Coldplay's "In My Place". One morning I caught a pretty good song by a guy named John Mayer, called "No Such Thing".
Around my sophomore year of high school, I started watching VH1's Jump Start. It was a standard morning block of videos, but they were mostly quieter and slower in tempo. The music wasn't rough, and it went well with my morning nap (it's a thing). It's where I heard songs like Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" and Coldplay's "In My Place". One morning I caught a pretty good song by a guy named John Mayer, called "No Such Thing".
"They love to tell you, 'Stay inside the lines,'
But something's better on the other side..."
It was the Summer of 2002, and I'd heard "No Such Thing" right before a month-long trip to Japan through Detroit's Sister Cities program. It sounds cliché, but it spoke to me. I'm a black, teenage male from Detroit. I'd been afforded an opportunity to do something pretty cool, yet there was a part of me thinking I should do what the other kids are doing. At 15, going to a foreign country wasn't exactly on my mind. What about my friends? What about girls? What about fun?
I got what this John guy was saying. There's no cookie cutter existence. You can get boxed-in with peer pressure, or push through that to greatness, presumably. I listened to that song a countless number of times on the trip. It was memorized before we landed in Toyota City, mainly because the flight was 13 damn hours. Japan was AWESOME, btw. My host family had a sweet Fender acoustic. I held it. I strummed it. I had no idea what I was doing with it.
I found out after that John Mayer had an album called Room for Squares; it came out in 2001. Like more than most kids my age, I asked my mom for it. She didn't know anything about the guy but she bought it for me. Hell, I didn't know anything about the guy. I listened to Room for Squares completely and often. "My Stupid Mouth", "Love Song For No One", "Not Myself". Every song told a bit of a bigger story, and that story - to me - was high school. There was one problem, though: no one else had heard of him.
Later that year, a slightly more known John Mayer released the video for "Your Body is a Wonderland". It was a hit, but people (guys) liked to joke about how corny it sounded. It didn't matter. It was all over the radio. It won him a Grammy. You know that feeling when you've been listening to a(n) artist/group for a little and then they get big? I know that feel, bro.
He went on to release a live album in early 2003, entitled Any Given Thursday. It was all of my favorite songs from RFS, plus some. It was nuts. At this point, I'd already gotten an old acoustic guitar from my uncle. It was terrible. I could play literally nothing. I wanted to be a rapper in high school, so that is where I focused most of my time. I eventually got a nice(r) guitar for Christmas that I'd used to learn basics. I'd pretend to be Mayer, with my headphones on, playing for a sold out Birmingham crowd.
I got what this John guy was saying. There's no cookie cutter existence. You can get boxed-in with peer pressure, or push through that to greatness, presumably. I listened to that song a countless number of times on the trip. It was memorized before we landed in Toyota City, mainly because the flight was 13 damn hours. Japan was AWESOME, btw. My host family had a sweet Fender acoustic. I held it. I strummed it. I had no idea what I was doing with it.
I found out after that John Mayer had an album called Room for Squares; it came out in 2001. Like more than most kids my age, I asked my mom for it. She didn't know anything about the guy but she bought it for me. Hell, I didn't know anything about the guy. I listened to Room for Squares completely and often. "My Stupid Mouth", "Love Song For No One", "Not Myself". Every song told a bit of a bigger story, and that story - to me - was high school. There was one problem, though: no one else had heard of him.
Later that year, a slightly more known John Mayer released the video for "Your Body is a Wonderland". It was a hit, but people (guys) liked to joke about how corny it sounded. It didn't matter. It was all over the radio. It won him a Grammy. You know that feeling when you've been listening to a(n) artist/group for a little and then they get big? I know that feel, bro.
He went on to release a live album in early 2003, entitled Any Given Thursday. It was all of my favorite songs from RFS, plus some. It was nuts. At this point, I'd already gotten an old acoustic guitar from my uncle. It was terrible. I could play literally nothing. I wanted to be a rapper in high school, so that is where I focused most of my time. I eventually got a nice(r) guitar for Christmas that I'd used to learn basics. I'd pretend to be Mayer, with my headphones on, playing for a sold out Birmingham crowd.
"Someday I'll fly
Someday I'll soar,
Someday I'll be
So damn much more"
In September 2003, Heavier Things was released. It featured more electric guitar, and the songs were a little less bubbly in sound hence the title. The album started with "Clarity" and ended with "Wheel", both songs about how we perceive the things happening to us to be the only things happening. "Bigger Than My Body" tells us to seize the chances we get, because victory is worth failure. I'm a senior in high school, now, stuck somewhere between making rap music with my friends and 8:30AM Algebra. Did John Mayer write songs based on my life?
I went to Oakland University for college. I'd learned to play a very poor man's version of "Daughters", which I used whenever I needed to justify having a guitar. Mayer had been on Chappelle Show in 2004, adding to his popularity. Still, most people - black or white - found it peculiar that I was such a John Mayer fan. "Oh, you like that weird shit," I can remember hearing once from a guy on my floor. "Sure. The weird shit."
Years passed before Continuum would come out. John made an appearance on Common's "Go" and did a song with Kanye West. He'd also started the John Mayer Trio - a more bluesy, soulful effort - in 2005. It was all amazing to me. I saw him live at The Palace with a friend (we'd see him twice more) and I could not wait for the album. I had been in school for two years, and I was beginning work as a Resident Assistant.
I went to Oakland University for college. I'd learned to play a very poor man's version of "Daughters", which I used whenever I needed to justify having a guitar. Mayer had been on Chappelle Show in 2004, adding to his popularity. Still, most people - black or white - found it peculiar that I was such a John Mayer fan. "Oh, you like that weird shit," I can remember hearing once from a guy on my floor. "Sure. The weird shit."
Years passed before Continuum would come out. John made an appearance on Common's "Go" and did a song with Kanye West. He'd also started the John Mayer Trio - a more bluesy, soulful effort - in 2005. It was all amazing to me. I saw him live at The Palace with a friend (we'd see him twice more) and I could not wait for the album. I had been in school for two years, and I was beginning work as a Resident Assistant.
"One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population,
So we keep on waiting,
Waiting on the world to changE..."
FutureSex/LoveSounds came out the same day as Continuum. This is relevant because it is the reason Continuum was unable to reach the top spot on the Billboard 200. Hey, it was good.
Continuum progressed Mayer's musical evolution, which intertwined closely with my own personal evolution. "Gravity" explained some of the tough times and "Stop This Train" made me appreciate both sides of growing up. "I Can't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" made me realize the inadequacies of the love I'd given, while "In Repair" helped me understand that I'm only getting better. It was right on time, really.
It was quite a while before another studio album would come. Music downloads were much easier so I used this time to track down all of the old or live music I hadn't heard from Mayer. He released Where the Light Is in July 2008 and, like Any Given Thursday, it came in both DVD and CD form. It featured songs from every album previously released, so basically two hours of the best music I've ever heard. But, what's next?
Continuum progressed Mayer's musical evolution, which intertwined closely with my own personal evolution. "Gravity" explained some of the tough times and "Stop This Train" made me appreciate both sides of growing up. "I Can't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" made me realize the inadequacies of the love I'd given, while "In Repair" helped me understand that I'm only getting better. It was right on time, really.
It was quite a while before another studio album would come. Music downloads were much easier so I used this time to track down all of the old or live music I hadn't heard from Mayer. He released Where the Light Is in July 2008 and, like Any Given Thursday, it came in both DVD and CD form. It featured songs from every album previously released, so basically two hours of the best music I've ever heard. But, what's next?
"Who says I can't be free
From all of the things that I used to be,
Rewrite my history
Who says I can't be free?"
Battle Studies took on a very personal feel. The songs seemed less hypothetical, narrowing in on very specific situations. They were more "I'm having this issue right now, and I'm trying to navigate it as we speak." "Perfectly Lonely" tries to find the best out of the bad. "Half of My Heart" asks if this is really true love (I was 23, and it wasn't). "Edge of Desire" was the 1AM call/text to your most recent ex-girlfriend.
I remember discussing "War of My Life" with a friend. We were both working at Jimmy John's as delivery drivers. We weren't nearly dramatic enough to liken it to fighting for our lives, but we both found the same line to be pretty accurate. "If fear hasn't killed me yet, then nothing will." Wow.
Along the way, in 2010, John did some bad interviews. Like, some really bad interviews. He came off as racist and misogynist, easily two of the worst things you can sound like. I read parts of them. They weren't good. He apologized, tearfully, for the racial comments during a live show. It was not enough for some. Mayer stopped giving interviews for a while, and this time coincided with his treatment for a granuloma found on his vocal chords. So, no music either.
I remember discussing "War of My Life" with a friend. We were both working at Jimmy John's as delivery drivers. We weren't nearly dramatic enough to liken it to fighting for our lives, but we both found the same line to be pretty accurate. "If fear hasn't killed me yet, then nothing will." Wow.
Along the way, in 2010, John did some bad interviews. Like, some really bad interviews. He came off as racist and misogynist, easily two of the worst things you can sound like. I read parts of them. They weren't good. He apologized, tearfully, for the racial comments during a live show. It was not enough for some. Mayer stopped giving interviews for a while, and this time coincided with his treatment for a granuloma found on his vocal chords. So, no music either.
"Hello beauty, hello strange
Hello wonder, what's your name?"
"Shadow Days" was the first single off of Born and Raised, John's fifth and most country-sounding album. "Did you know that you could be wrong and swear you're right?" he asks. It's a very obvious rhetorical question, but think about it. "Some people been known to do it all their lives," he continued. The song is hopeful that this is just a moment in time and not a life-long predicament. "Hard times, let me be."
"Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey" is poignant. I heard it first while drinking whiskey (go figure). "It's just a phase," Mayer sings. It wasn't. "If I Ever Get Around to Living" makes hopeful plans for the future. There's a bonus track - "Fool to Love You" - which I swear was taken from an actual night I'd had hanging out in downtown Detroit.
Paradise Valley came out about fifteen months later. To me, it felt like songs he forgot to record for Born and Raised. "Who You Love" featured his then-current lady, Katy. "Paper Doll" was supposedly a retort to former lady Taylor Swift. "Wildfire" was summer fun with a woman you just met at a barbecue, specifically. It was the summer of 2013, and I'd see John Mayer two weeks before Paradise Valley's August release, with friends, as a birthday present to myself.
"Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey" is poignant. I heard it first while drinking whiskey (go figure). "It's just a phase," Mayer sings. It wasn't. "If I Ever Get Around to Living" makes hopeful plans for the future. There's a bonus track - "Fool to Love You" - which I swear was taken from an actual night I'd had hanging out in downtown Detroit.
Paradise Valley came out about fifteen months later. To me, it felt like songs he forgot to record for Born and Raised. "Who You Love" featured his then-current lady, Katy. "Paper Doll" was supposedly a retort to former lady Taylor Swift. "Wildfire" was summer fun with a woman you just met at a barbecue, specifically. It was the summer of 2013, and I'd see John Mayer two weeks before Paradise Valley's August release, with friends, as a birthday present to myself.
"The prettiest girl in the room, she wants me,
I know because she told me so..."
It was the start of 2017 and there'd been much talk about the new project John Mayer had coming up. He was releasing this one in waves, and the first single was "Love on the Weekend". It felt like the 80's. By mid-April, the full album was available. The Search for Everything is a significant and nonsensical title all at once. There's a theme song for it, included on the album. It's beachy and contemplative.
"Moving On and Getting Over" and "Still Feel Like Your Man" are a musical then and now, with not much changing in between. "Rosie" is the song that every man sings to the woman he has upset. The album's entire vibe is melancholic. It's a memoir of things loved and lost, fitting for a man nearing 40 (John) or just 31 (me).
I've been listening to John Mayer's music for half of my life. His songs take up roughly 10% of my iPod, granted I only have a modest 1400 or so tracks. Billboard ranked his albums earlier this year, with Continuum topping the list. I like to think of them as chapters in the same story. It's not rare that people feel like characters written into movies or books. This is very similar to that. The only difference is that I think of my life as being more like a John Mayer song.
***UPDATE***
Below are a few videos posted to my IG (@isthatChrisYoung) from The Search for Everything World Tour on 9/1 at DTE Energy Music Theatre!!!
"Moving On and Getting Over" and "Still Feel Like Your Man" are a musical then and now, with not much changing in between. "Rosie" is the song that every man sings to the woman he has upset. The album's entire vibe is melancholic. It's a memoir of things loved and lost, fitting for a man nearing 40 (John) or just 31 (me).
I've been listening to John Mayer's music for half of my life. His songs take up roughly 10% of my iPod, granted I only have a modest 1400 or so tracks. Billboard ranked his albums earlier this year, with Continuum topping the list. I like to think of them as chapters in the same story. It's not rare that people feel like characters written into movies or books. This is very similar to that. The only difference is that I think of my life as being more like a John Mayer song.
***UPDATE***
Below are a few videos posted to my IG (@isthatChrisYoung) from The Search for Everything World Tour on 9/1 at DTE Energy Music Theatre!!!