Ode to Mayer

I still remember the first time I heard the lyrics "Welcome to the real world, she said to me..." Not knowing the title of the song, nor the artist whose beautiful voice came crooning over the radio waves, I came to call this song the "halls of my high school" song. Constantly itching to hear it again, I sought out to find the album. I wasn't as internet savvy then as I am now, so it didn't occur to me to look there, and I continued to listen intently to radio.

Several weeks later, at a family reunion, in a secluded A-frame cabin at Aspen Grove, I heard a familiar voice sing new lyrics, "We got the afternoon, you got this room for two." It was on a mix my cousin Ashlee had made, which I later dubbed "Ash's Sexuality Mix." She couldn't tell me the name of the artist either, but I made the connection between this one and the "halls of my high school" song. Immediately I asked Ashlee if i could copy this CD, hoping I could find someone who could shed some light on the identity of this crooner if it killed me.

Later that month, after I had nearly forgotten my quest to find out who was writing these songs I had fallen in love with, my brother and I were at WalMart and I stumbled across the "breakout" CD section, where an artist, John Mayer, and his debut, Room For Squares caught my eye. I said to him that, "Your Body Is A Wonderland - hey I think that sounds familiar like that one song we were listening to with Ash at Aspen Grove." I decided to take my chances and buy Room For Squares, silently praying that I would hear that voice that had made my knees buckle so many times before.

Room For Squares did its fair share of time in my CD player as I realized that there was much more depth to John Mayer than I ever initially thought. Thus began the beginning of a beautiful love affair, infatuation, obsession, and delusion. John has since released numerous notable albums, all of which have become some of the most cherished in my personal music collection. John's musical prowess has evolved since Room For Squares into alluring bluesy tone (which, I'm convinced, is the way he would have done it from the beginning if he didn't have to kowtow to the record label). All of John's efforts are phenomenal and none fail to impress (me, at least).

I have seen John perform live three times, all with my dear friend Nick. I have since vowed that if John is in Utah, I will be there also.

I can't pick one favorite song - that would be like trying to pick a favorite child (if I had any). Lately, the one that sings to me is Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. It's so painstakingly heartbreaking and the lyrics are so moving. However, I re-listened to a song I've heard countless times before, but it spoke to me in an all new way. Good Love is on the Way is a Trio song, and last night, it was like I was hearing these lyrics for the first time. "Three years broken hearted now the ghost is finally gone. Done with broken people, this is ME I'm workin' on." It's pretty self-explanatory.

John writes the soundtrack of my life (corny as it sounds). This is why when I meet him, he will fall in love with me...and want to marry me...and make babies with me. Until then, I'll have to be content with my "other" eternal companion - my iPod.