Moving On and Getting Over

Several references to texting in some of these new songs. As a songwriter I can't authentically mention phone calls anymore.

There’s a song called Movin’ On and Gettin’ Over that, if you’re waiting for a Continuum thing, it sounds like it fell of the Continuum hayride. The whole thing is in falsetto, it’s got a kick drum, it’s electric guitar, it’s crazy bass, it’s all of that.

A sparse yet powerful R&B number, “Moving On and Getting Over” was one of the first songs Mayer wrote for The Search For Everything in spring 2014. Mayer says it was one of many instances when he resisted the urge to bust out a guitar solo, and opted for nuance instead. “This was me coming off the idea of, ‘Gimme a solo! I gotta show them I can play,'” he explains. “There are two guitars happening through most of the song, this way your attention splits up the middle and there’s just a vibe. That’s where learning all those Dead songs comes in a bit, because it brought me into the world of ensemble guitars.” 

The track also offers an unexpected hook in the form of a verse line where Mayer haltingly sings, “I still can’t seem to get you off my mind,” punctuating each word with a full stop. “I had this idea to get your attention through repetition that almost sounds like a CD skip. It was a really novel sort of hook.” 

The song’s groove, Mayer says, resulted from “a mistake in this little groovebox we found, where we loaded the track in backwards, and that’s what gives it this upbeat, constantly-refreshing rhythmic thing.” Though, as with other songs in the collection, “Moving On” was inspired by a breakup, Mayer says that he had started feeling his mood lift by the time he finished writing and recording it. “The end has a jam out,” he says. “If I’d had to finish this song a year ago, it wouldn’t have this ending. This ending is me coming back to it two years later and going, ‘I’ve moved on, so it gets a happy ending.'”

A few of the songs are definitely little studies of influence. "Moving On and Getting Over" has the spirit of Sly Stone's "Family Affair." I'm a lover of music. I like being a historian when it comes to different ways to play the guitar. I can "do" a lot of other people that I admire, like Robert Cray, B.B. King or Stevie Ray.

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.