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If I Ever Get Around to Living

Interview at the Grammy Museum
"An Evening With John Mayer"

This song is called "If I Ever Get Around To Living." And it represents this freaky end of the record thing where I was like, give me another one. I'll write another one. And I was playing a rousing game of Jenga one night listening to "Wooden Ships" by Crosby, Stills & Nash, and there's something about the way these guys used to write suites. Where they'd go from one thing to another thing—these scene changes.

So this song works in three pieces. The first part I had had. It really said something that was very important to me. I thought, Where does this thing go? And the next day I came in and added a second part, and the next day I came in and went, can I really get away with this? And added a third part. I think "Who Says" was the song on Battle Studies that sort of opened up and Born and Raised came out of it. "If I Ever Get Around To Living" is sort of the song on this that's gonna open up and take to the next record.

Article in Rolling Stone, 2013
"John Mayer on His New Voice, Summer Tour and Dating Katy Perry"
I’ve had the live versions in my head ever since I made the record. I mean, “If I Ever Get Around to Living” could be a 12-minute-long song, and still be very interesting and unique and worth listening to.
Interview with My Stupid Mouth forum (2013)
Conducted by founder Richard Young
Some songs can’t get burned out, and other songs have a little burn to them. "If I Ever Get Around to Living" is just so good to me. I love playing that.
Live in Tampa, Florida 2022
Concert at Amalie Arena
This next song is one of my favorite songs. It's a letter to myself.
Rise For the River: Flood Benefit Concert
Performance of Born and Raised album

Oh, I like this next one a lot. I've always felt like if I went into this next one during a show and people cheered, I would look around and be like, [contentedly] "yeah, okay." I would stick to the people who cheered. I would keep eye contact with them. They were my little island inside of a bunch of thousands of people. Like okay, you get it. But I feel like you all get it.

I'm trying to become more of a human being, as opposed to just a big list of ideas. I'm trying to humanize, not just theorize. This song is about what would happen if I managed to do that, and stop being so theoretical. "Everything's an idea, everything's an idea I'm gonna start tomorrow." What are you, in the midst of bangin' out some new idea? Who are you, in the middle of that? I think I'm getting better at it. But ideas are still fun.

Radio Intros 2024
LIFE With John Mayer on Sirius XM Radio
This would be what I would call a deep cut. I was hung over, driving to Brooklyn, going over a bridge, watching a plane fly when I heard the rough mix of this song back through my headphones. And I went, there is something about this song that I don’t deserve. This song is just outside of my deserving this song, and it’s called, If I Ever Get Around to Living.
Excerpted from Radio Intros 2024 >