Movin' On and Gettin' Over
At the time I was writing "Still Feel Like Your Man" from the record "The Search For Everything," a second R&B song had sort of grown out already. And it was "Movin' On and Gettin' Over." And those two are sort of kissing cousins to me. I just remember thinking it was very clever to have the chorus of the song basically be the sound of a CD skipping. "Still, can't, seem, to, get, you, off, my" — boom, back into the song. Whether anyone else did? None of my business. But see if you find it interesting. It's "Movin' On and Gettin' Over" on Life With John Mayer.
"The Man in Me" by Bob Dylan
You know, that song ["The Man in Me"] reminds us all that if you don't quite have the lyrics you need at the end of a song, "la la la" will do just fine. Bob Dylan's a great "la la la" guy. We always forget, sometimes all you need is some "la la la"s.
3x5
I talked about 3x5 to someone the other day — I'm lying to you, I said it into a microphone. I was prerecording an intro to 3x5. That song was brought back by fans who really loved it. I would have probably said, like, well, it's from the first record, let's do some other stuff. And sometimes people requesting songs of me is a really good way to remind me that I'm a little too quick sometimes to put things in the dugout and not bring them out again. So that was actually a really great part of the solo tour, is to see, what are the song people want the most? I like it more knowing that it's that desired to be heard.
"Creepin'" by Stevie Wonder
So you have three or four Stevie Wonder albums in a very short course of time, that is the document of a genius just discovering his genius. I sometimes think that everyone has this built-in naturalistic BPM. It's their BPM. It's their tempo. And when they hear a song that's in their own organic tempo, well then that's the one they really gravitate to. So if you wanted to know, what's John's inner tempo? It's the tempo of the song "Creepin'" by Stevie Wonder.
"Small Worlds" by Mac Miller
The dearly departed Mac Miller. That's a song that I played on called "Small Worlds." You might have heard this story already, but I went over to Mac's house just to listen to some stuff, and he had just started that song, and played it for me. And I said those four words: "get me a guitar." I miss him a lot, and I know a lot of other fans miss him a lot. I don't really put plaques up on my wall. I don't have any plaques of mine on my wall at home. But I have Mac Miller's plaque on my wall. That one's really important to me. He played a couple of shows at Hotel Cafe with his band he was gonna go on the road with, and it was stunning. I was blown away and I thought to myself, wait until people hear this band, these songs, at festivals and shows. He was just getting ready to absolutely light the world on fire. Not that he wasn't a huge artist to begin with, but it was a giant step forward. The album's a giant step forward. And I consider myself extremely lucky to have known him for a short period of time, to be able to play music with him, and to be able to see one of those two or three shows at Hotel Cafe, which holds 120 people. And I saw what the future would have been. It's very sad to know that the world will not. And that's why I wanted to make sure, on my very first day on this channel, Life With John Mayer, that I would play something by Mac Miller, and send my love to him and his family on Thanksgiving.
Over and Over
Caller: I would love to get a little insight if you are ever going to release "Over and Over." [...]
JM: That is one of the unreleased demos we will play, I cannot tell you when. We have it on the hard drive.
Home Life
I am not a born traveler. It's not in my blood. And so to go from that to suddenly being on tour. I mean I remember this reckoning. You're telling, these 40 places, I have to be there on that day and I have to play at that time. And I just sort of always known that there was some part of me that was not cut out for this. And that's the part of me that wants a home life. And it's a testament to wanting ultimately that has less to do with flight times and more to do with washing crayon off a wall. So the song is called "Home Life," and I thought I would take a track on a major label album to remind myself that that's ultimately where I want to end up.
"Hard Times" by Paramore
The number one most streamed album in my life personally is by Paramore, and it's called After Laughter. It's one of those perfect albums. This is the song that kicks it off. It always puts me in a great mood. I hope it puts you in a good mood. It's called "Hard Times."
"Door" by Caroline Polachek
When I first heard the song "Door" by Caroline Polachek, I was blown away. I was profoundly blown away. Lump-in-my-throat blown away. And if you haven't heard this song yet, I wish I could be sitting next to you to watch you respond to this song. If I'm home and this song comes on, I'm gonna be excited if you're listening. This song is gorgeous, emotive. I haven't quite heard a song like it that uses repeating a word to a certain emotional effect. That word is "door." It's also the name of the song, and the artist is Caroline Polachek. I'm so excited to either reintroduce you to it, or be around when you've heard it for the first time. Here it is.
"#41" by Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band has invited many musicians to sit in with them. I've been lucky enough to be one of them. And the one song that you'll see more than any other a musician sitting in on is "#41." And the reason musicians love sitting in on "#41" is because the chord progression is so beautiful and so much fun to play on top of. You don't have to be a Dave Matthews super fan to enjoy this song, "#41."