John Mayer's Top 5 Songs, Ranked and Defended | Top 5

0:10 [SPEAKER_00]: We are back with the John Mayer top five and a pretty fire rock with its stop with it. [SPEAKER_00]: I think I'm very interested in some of these songs and what you think of them now, you know, many years later, okay. [SPEAKER_00]: Let's actually start with the rock with its stop with it. [SPEAKER_00]: You already talked about daughters how you're not on daughters. [SPEAKER_00]: I won't ask you about that. [SPEAKER_00]: You also talked about your bodies. [SPEAKER_00]: Just a little bit. [SPEAKER_01]: You like stopping with daughters. [SPEAKER_00]: We're rocking with your body while we're right about where are you on weight none of the world change I mean, I'll listen to it. [SPEAKER_01]: I you know, I don't hate it. [SPEAKER_01]: I actually like it. [SPEAKER_00]: I like it If I don't think about the lyrics.

0:53 [SPEAKER_00]: Relerix. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but when I hear the song [SPEAKER_00]: And that little, the way that it begins, I go, oh, I'm like, oh, this is, but then when you kind of listen to his passivity, like you said in the literature, like, okay, maybe not the greatest song for, you know, wanting to actually change the world, but I still enjoy it. [SPEAKER_00]: It's still, it's, that reaction is a positive one for me. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: All right. [SPEAKER_00]: Paper doll. [SPEAKER_00]: and stop with it. [SPEAKER_00]: I just think it's a boring song. [SPEAKER_00]: Stop with it. [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever seen the video? [SPEAKER_00]: Yes. [SPEAKER_00]: Do you remember the pancer sizing phenomena on that existed for like a month or two?

1:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes. [SPEAKER_00]: You just have all these women walking in this video. [SPEAKER_00]: That's it. [SPEAKER_00]: That's the whole video. [SPEAKER_01]: It's very weird. [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I appreciate it. [SPEAKER_01]: Tell us what we've dissoned. [SPEAKER_01]: I just thought the song was kind of boring. [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I mean, I thought dear John was kind of boring too. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: Um, okay. [SPEAKER_00]: Half of my heart with Taylor Swift, uh, still play that regularly rock with it. [SPEAKER_01]: I like it. [SPEAKER_01]: That might be one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs. [SPEAKER_00]: I like it. [SPEAKER_00]: It's good song. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. [SPEAKER_00]: John Mayer and Katie Perry. [SPEAKER_00]: Who do you love? [SPEAKER_00]: Rock with it. [SPEAKER_00]: Also, I rock with it. [SPEAKER_00]: I rock with it. [SPEAKER_01]: It's a Katy Perry song. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: I totally rock with it.

2:17 [SPEAKER_00]: Still feel like your man. [SPEAKER_00]: Great song rock with it. [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I was I was maybe I was trying to change you up, which is what what that list was for. [SPEAKER_00]: Then I got you with paper doll, but I couldn't get I couldn't think of any. [SPEAKER_00]: I got I guess he I couldn't get any others on on a stop with it with you. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm also out on daughter, if I'm okay with your bodies of Wonderland, it's just he's very young, like he's got a very young mentality for, you know, and it makes sense. [SPEAKER_00]: He's in his early 20s and he's thinking back to his first crush and he's thinking back to what all 16 year old boys think about, which is sex.

2:58 [SPEAKER_00]: So I get that. [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's a little shallow. [SPEAKER_01]: It's also what all 21 and 22 year old boys think about men think about. [SPEAKER_01]: Again, it's like, if 50 year old John Mayer singing that song, then we're not rocking with it. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, for sure. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, 23, 24 year old John Mayer singing that song, 23, 24 year old Mike listening to it. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we're rocking with it. [SPEAKER_00]: All right. [SPEAKER_00]: So my top five, I'm going to shout out some songs that didn't quite make the top five. [SPEAKER_00]: And it's more because [SPEAKER_00]: like he's got a lot of songs that I like, but also there are some like deeper cuts that I really really enjoy like whiskey whiskey [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's a great song.

3:45 [SPEAKER_00]: I really love that song, but it's going to get edged out because it's not as meaningful, you know, in in a way as other songs and same with the wildfire reprise, which is just Frank Ocean, like it's just Frank Ocean sing in the whole time, and I like I really like that, but I kept it out, but it is on like the longer list. [SPEAKER_00]: dream it with a broken heart and stop this train just because I go back to this album so often like those have become favorite songs of mine. [SPEAKER_00]: But they're not on this list as well. [SPEAKER_00]: And moving on and getting over I think is really, really fun.

4:26 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a really fun like peppy song, but not on my list as well. [SPEAKER_00]: Did you have any that you wanted to shout out that [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I'm still trying to figure out my way, so I guess we'll see at the end when I finally make the decision of like what I've left. [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there's some certain songs I didn't put in it off. [SPEAKER_01]: I think you mentioned a couple. [SPEAKER_01]: Split screen sadness, which is on heavier things second album. [SPEAKER_01]: That's a really good song. [SPEAKER_01]: belief didn't make my list although I'm pretty sure it's on yours. [SPEAKER_01]: So that didn't make it born and raised title track, which I think is a really like where my head is at.

5:13 [SPEAKER_01]: like growing older and being like, oh, I was a dumbass when I was young, kind of song. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, the version of Wildfire without Frank Ocean, uh, I think is great, um, for a not John May or song with John May or on it, lesson learned by Alicia Kim, which I think is a great song. [SPEAKER_01]: Um, so yeah, a lot of, a lot of songs that could have made the list, there's just not enough space. [SPEAKER_00]: All right. [SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you lead it off with your number five? [SPEAKER_01]: All right, so I jumped around a little bit. [SPEAKER_01]: My number five is going to be no such thing, because it was the first song I ever heard by John Mayer. [SPEAKER_01]: And when that song came out, I was, I'd been at a high school just about like nine years.

5:59 [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember going to my 10th high school reunion. [SPEAKER_01]: And I [SPEAKER_01]: like it's funny because I was unemployed at the time and just being like, okay, this 10-year thing doesn't feel the way that I expected it to feel, doesn't feel the way John Mayer told me it was going to feel. [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, it was still a good time and I have just good memories of that song and I think because even I are so close in age, like a lot of, there's just a lot of [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, wow. [SPEAKER_00]: I did go to my 20, but I don't even know why I missed my 10.

6:40 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's because, I mean, I, you know, I would have had two kids and, you know, just, I don't know, I don't know why, like I don't remember why, but I do remember going to the 20. [SPEAKER_00]: And the 20 was like a good, a good one to go to. [SPEAKER_00]: I think. [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if the 10. [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if the 10 would have still been a lot of front and going on, but I think by the 20, we were all like, okay, like we don't have to try and impress anybody here. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, there's, you know, there's a difference, right? [SPEAKER_01]: It's like, I went to my 10. [SPEAKER_01]: I went to my 20 and I went to my 25. [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, at the 10 year reunion, I'm 27. [SPEAKER_01]: So, I don't even know if I was 27, yeah, I think I was still 26.

7:21 [SPEAKER_01]: So, [SPEAKER_01]: You know, you do want to kind of like shot and be like, look what I made of myself like blah, blah, blah, blah. [SPEAKER_01]: 25 year reunion. [SPEAKER_01]: This would have been 2018. [SPEAKER_01]: So I'd have been like almost 42. [SPEAKER_01]: And it doesn't matter as much anymore. [SPEAKER_01]: Like I think hopefully you're at a point. [SPEAKER_01]: that far along where you're kind of the version of yourself that you're gonna be and you're okay with it and you're just like, and I don't care what these people think anymore. [SPEAKER_01]: It's been 25 years. [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, they're all fat and bald. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. [SPEAKER_00]: Number five for me is the aforementioned gravity.

8:04 [SPEAKER_00]: uh... i think it's just i think i like it also because he just likes it so much like um... i think he's even said it's maybe the most important thing that he's ever done or he's ever written or whatever and it has a lot to do with him like being famous and like trying to be in relationships and stuff and had to be grounded and [SPEAKER_00]: self love and those kind of things and so I think I've liked it more over the years after hearing him talk about it here and there and how meaningful it is to him So it's climbed up on my list in in recent memory Okay, what's number four for you?

8:45 [SPEAKER_01]: uh my number four is say uh and you know that got stripped on to continue and I have uh have a friend that absolutely hates this song because it is it is a very simple song like you know somebody was like John your assignment is to write a song for this movie and he wrote the song for it. [SPEAKER_01]: But it is such a thing. [SPEAKER_00]: He's like well what is it about and the guys like just say what you need to say man. [SPEAKER_01]: pretty much. [SPEAKER_01]: But it's such like a, like, it's heartfelt and it's simple and it really, like, you know, you get older and it's like, oh, well, you know, there's some value behind actually saying what you need to say. [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

9:25 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, and anybody who's ever experienced, you know, a friend that passes away suddenly or a relative that is dying or, you know, a relationship that's [SPEAKER_01]: you know understand the importance hopefully at this point of like getting what you need to say out into the world before it's too late to say. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm with it. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm with it. [SPEAKER_00]: Number four was belief we talked about this song a lot on the 50-50 episode. [SPEAKER_00]: I just think it is actually a very smart and political [SPEAKER_00]: believe in something creates all of these battle lines drawn.

10:14 [SPEAKER_00]: I do not have problems with anybody who are into religion, but if your religion causes you to be hurtful or harmful to somebody else, then I do have a problem with that. [SPEAKER_00]: And it's a very similar thing because religion [SPEAKER_00]: belief and faith and not almost nothing else really. [SPEAKER_00]: And so you create these battle lines for for those reasons. [SPEAKER_00]: I thought that was a really strong song. [SPEAKER_00]: I really like that song. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean religion is about faith and love and community and hate has no, you know, hate is literally the opposite of love. [SPEAKER_01]: So you can't be a religious person and hate anybody.

10:58 [SPEAKER_01]: All right, yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm not even going to get into that. [SPEAKER_00]: All right. [SPEAKER_00]: What is number three for you? [SPEAKER_01]: So my number three is assassin. [SPEAKER_01]: That was the long list of studies. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's the one song I think that saved battle studies for me. [SPEAKER_01]: And I just love like it's such like like it almost feels cinematic like he's setting up a mood. [SPEAKER_01]: And basically like the [SPEAKER_01]: The lyrics of this song, he's like, oh, you know, I'm kind of like a loving and leading kind of dude. [SPEAKER_00]: Mm-hmm. [SPEAKER_01]: And I was gonna play my game with this chick and it turned out that she is the same way. [SPEAKER_01]: And I got, like basically he's saying, I got, got with my own game.

11:43 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that again, like I go back to the self-awareness. [SPEAKER_01]: I just think that's like the real self-awareness song, like you're this player, and then you get played. [SPEAKER_00]: It's a, it's a great song, it is the, I think the most impressive song as well from an like an audio standpoint on that album like that thing just blast you in the ears and you know exactly what's coming intentionally. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, okay, number three for me, I was trying to bring some of his newer stuff out a little bit and I still really enjoy new light. [SPEAKER_00]: You're actually good song.

12:24 [SPEAKER_00]: Is that, is that no ID? [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, you're kind of bringing in a sound that, you know, maybe John Mayer is not as familiar with or whatever, but I like, I like hearing him with that production as well. [SPEAKER_00]: I like his voice, generally. [SPEAKER_00]: So to hear him on a track like that was, [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like the one John Mary song can kind of dance to a little bit and to think about him dancing to it would actually be pretty funny because I don't know if I don't know if I don't think it's I don't think John Mary dances what is number two for you number two is slow dancing in a burning room yeah I just love the metaphor first of all and it's just such like a [SPEAKER_01]: Like it's like it's angry, but it's very like I'm thinking about Eddie Murphy talking about like how his mother would get super mad and then just be cool like that song is like, oh, you messed up, but it's cool like it just feels very like, you know, like for boating in a way, like I really like that that element of the song.

13:50 [SPEAKER_00]: hearts of the song where he's not singing to like he just starts playing. [SPEAKER_00]: It's like it's really, really nice. [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, for number two, and this goes back to the first time that I ever listened to this album and full, get to the last track. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to find another you super like I'm kind of upset at this relationship ending and you know you're out there doing your own thing will I'm going to get you back you know in my own way and I was just like this is this is kind of how it feels to be in a in a relationship that [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you're trying to stick out and the other person doesn't stick out and you feel a little bit of like this is not how it was supposed to be like these this wasn't fair like and so now I got to get you back in some way like there's like there's some bitterness in that song that I really enjoyed.

14:53 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I was going through a divorce at that time or separation right head towards a divorce. [SPEAKER_00]: So I had a lot of those feelings. [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I don't think John Mayer has even been that close to marriage before, but listening to that song, I was like, OK, like this dude knows what this feeling is like. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, you don't have to be married. [SPEAKER_01]: He could have just been in a relationship. [SPEAKER_01]: They went sideways and, you know, that happened. [SPEAKER_01]: All right, what's number one? [SPEAKER_01]: My number one is clarity. [SPEAKER_01]: It is the first song on heavier things. [SPEAKER_01]: It's got Questlove. [SPEAKER_01]: It's got where a hard girl may rest in peace. [SPEAKER_01]: Like it's just it's like John Mayer. [SPEAKER_01]: I think if he was to do like a jazz album like kind of a smooth jazz album could actually make like a halfway decent like smooth jazz record and this is just like so mellow and so like [SPEAKER_01]: observant like very kind of like chill like hang out on the back of the wall kind of record and the musicianship is just like top notch.

15:56 [SPEAKER_00]: It is also my number one. [SPEAKER_00]: Nice. [SPEAKER_00]: And when [SPEAKER_00]: So Brian, so Brian graduates from high school in what is it like 2017 or something like that? [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I think it's 2017. [SPEAKER_00]: So I am tasked to put together a video presentation for their like end of the end of the year graduation party. [SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm just looking for songs that sound, [SPEAKER_00]: next to pictures in video and, and, uh, [SPEAKER_00]: Claire, I just used clarity because it just kind of fit the the dynamic that I was looking for and at that point I wouldn't have even called it one of my favorite mayor songs and by the way, the meaning of that song had nothing to do with the video.

16:51 [SPEAKER_00]: It was just I need something nice zero. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I needed something nice that was kind of simplistic and that just fit and so, you know, when you do let's say that video was like almost 20 minutes long. [SPEAKER_00]: And I mentioned this before because I used Justin Timberlick's mirrors in a different part of that video and you listen because you're editing and you're editing and you're going back and you're going forward and you're going back and I probably for this 20 minute video I'm going to guess I probably spent upwards of like 10 hours of my time just making sure this thing was good god damn and so I heard this song so many times.

17:37 [SPEAKER_00]: and the visual is not of John Mayer, it's of my kid and his friends as they're about to graduate high school. [SPEAKER_00]: So this song became like one of my go-to's just because of matching music to pictures and the pictures that I really liked. [SPEAKER_00]: And again, you go back and you hear what the song is about. [SPEAKER_00]: It's not really about that. [SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, it is about that to me, [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's, you know, sometimes with songs, you attach them to a particular image or a memory you have. [SPEAKER_01]: And then like you're realist, and then you're like, oh, wait, this song's actually not about the thing that I thought it was, you know, it's not about the thing that it means to me.

18:25 [SPEAKER_01]: But that's okay because when people write songs, they put them out there to be interpreted however the listener wants to interpret them. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, for sure. [SPEAKER_00]: Well, we held onto this one for a long time. [SPEAKER_00]: We held onto to mayor because I, you know, I don't know how what you think about it, but if we're talking about albums that have come out since the year 2000, this is like very, very high on my list. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure if there's anything higher on my list. [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe the, maybe the tribe album that came out post, you know, post a Trump, like, immediately post Trump. [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe that album, maybe Kendrick's album, I don't know, but this is like right up there for me.

19:10 [SPEAKER_01]: It's definitely like Top 10. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so we're done. [SPEAKER_00]: We will be back with Prince and when we do our top five for Prince, it's going to be the probably like the first 15 years of Prince. [SPEAKER_00]: I do not look forward to that. [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be harder for you than it is for me for sure. [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, but it is still pretty hard because there's so much music. [SPEAKER_00]: It's incredible how much music, how prolific this dude was. [SPEAKER_01]: So incredible amount of music. [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, that is it from here for Mike, I'm WG, we will see you when we see you piece out.