Q: What song that you've written speaks most to your heart when you sing it?
John Mayer: "Born and Raised." When I sing "Born and Raised" I'm having the best time. I've waited to sing that song live for quite a while now. And there's always somebody in the crowd—more than one person but I key into one person every night, one or two people—and there's a certain person who's had the same life experience that I may have. And we are just on a thing. And there's this closed-eyed, "but they do not have each other."
And I know how they feel because when you do the Springsteen thing in the crowd [waves one hand above his head] it's for real. So I really enjoy playing that song and knowing that if you can relate to that song you can really relate to that song.
Q: How does it feel knowing you inspired tons of people, including myself, to pick up guitar?
JM: It's something that I'm still getting through my head because I appreciate it so much. It's the ultimate compliment because I'm being complimented in a way that I also experienced myself growing up. So when I was growing up I could tell you who I wished that I would have met and how I would have felt if I met them. And I know what that feels like to have wanted that. And I know what it feels like to have had that in a few situations. So if that way that I felt when I was seventeen is how someone else feels when they come up to me, I am not ready to accept that kind of full circle goodness. But it's incredible. It's incredible that even if your music comes and goes one day, a guy or a girl, doesn't forget who inspired them to play guitar. That is always on the tip of someone's tongue, so, that is remarkable and cool and an even bigger dream than I could dream of. So thank you very much, and I hope I continue to inspire you and I have a question for you, how does it feel to possible one day inspire someone else to send the same thing to you? It's rhetorical because you're not here.
Q: Will you marry me?
JM: No. [...] I am not able to marry you. But I accept your crush, and I crush back on you.
Q: When did you start playing the guitar?
JM: I started playing the guitar when I was thirteen years old. That was I first got a guitar that belonged to me. And I have not stopped since. I have been the same human being, as a guitar player, the same guy who picked up the guitar when he was thirteen. And the story keeps unfolding.
Q: An artist you would like to collaborate with?
JM: I got to collaborate with Katy Perry on my new record. And that was fun both musically and as an experience. I think after an experience like that you can't have a dream collaboration for another two months because then you're being too greedy.
That's it for my Ask:Reply. Thank you very much for sending in your questions.