In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the 2002 single "Your Body Is a Wonderland" from the album Room for Squares.
In February 2005, he was awarded the Song of the Year Grammy for his song Daughters, which he composed while in the shower, from the album Heavier Things. In winning the award, he beat out such contenders as Alicia Keys, and Kanye West. He dedicated this award to his grandmother, Annie Hoffman, who died in May 2004. He also won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for which Elvis Costello, Prince and Seal were also nominated. In 2007, John won 2 Grammys, one for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for the song "Waiting On The World To Change," and also Best Pop Vocal Album for his album Continuum.
To date, Mayer has toured with many groups, including Maroon 5, Guster, Counting Crows, The Wallflowers, Teitur, Ben Folds, and Sheryl Crow.
In 2004, Mayer worked with hip hop artist and producer Kanye West, appearing both on Go and Kanye West's Bittersweet (released in the summer of 2007 as an iTunes pre-order bonus track to the album Graduation) and received praise from rap heavyweights like Jay-Z and Nelly. When asked about his ubiquitous presence in the hip hop community, he said, "It's not music out there right now. That's why, to me, hip-hop is where rock used to be."
It was around this time that he began hinting at a change in his musical interests, announcing that he was "closing up shop on acoustic sensitivity." In 2005, he began a string of collaborations with various blues artists, including Buddy Guy, BB King, Eric Clapton and jazz artist John Scofield. He also toured with the legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, which included a show at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
Although Mayer has maintained a reputation for being a sensitive singer-songwriter, he is also an accomplished guitarist influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Freddie King and B.B. King. In this regard, he has released an album with his band The John Mayer Trio Try!, which features a blues-rock style reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix.
In September 2006, Mayer released his third studio album, Continuum. The album, written and produced exclusively by Mayer (with the help of Steve Jordan from the John Mayer Trio) is a culmination of Mayer's growth as an artist and continues with the blues-rock style that he began to flirt with on Try!.
Also notable is John Mayer's various adaptations in style. He always maintained a blues tone, he introduced a rockier edge. However, in Continuum, he adopts a calmer genre, returning to his previous styles.
On November 17, 2009, Mayer's fourth studio album, Battle Studies, was released and debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart. The album consists of 11 tracks with a total time of 45 minutes. The first single from the album, "Who Says", was released on September 24, 2009 in advance of album, and was followed on October 19 by the single "Heartbreak Warfare" and the single "Half of My Heart" released on June 21, 2010. Despite the album's commercial success, critics were mixed with their praise; while some reviews were glowing, calling it his "most adventurous", others called the album "safe" and noted that "Mayer the singer-songwriter and Mayer the man about town sometimes seem disconnected, like they don't even belong in the same body.
Following his recovery from vocal surgery, Mayer returned to the studio. On June 18, 2013, Mayer announced from his Facebook page that his sixth album, Paradise Valley, would be released on August 13, 2013. On the same day, he released a lyric video for the new album's first single, "Paper Doll", on his YouTube page. The release date was later changed to August 20, 2013. "Who You Love" featuring Katy Perry followed as the album's third single and a music video was released on December 17, 2013 for the song. The album, which also includes a collaboration with Frank Ocean, was met with positive reviews from music critics. Mayer embarked on a tour, his first in three years, in support of Born and Raised and Paradise Valley. The American leg of the tour ran from July to December 2013 with Interscope recording artist Phillip Phillips serving as support act. The tour will visit Australia in April 2014.
Bold as Love
John Mayer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Towering in shiny, metallic, purple armor
Queen jealousy, envy waits behind him
Her fiery, green gown sneers at the grassy ground
Blue are the life-giving waters taken for granted
They quietly understand
Once happy turquoise armies lay opposite ready
But they're all bold as love
Yes, they're all bold as love
Yeah, they're all bold as love
Just ask the axis
My red is so confident that he flashes trophies of war and
Ribbons of euphoria
Orange is young, full of daring
But very unsteady for the first go round
My yellow in this case is not so mellow
In fact, I'm trying to say it's frightened like me
And all these emotions of mine keep holding me from, eh
Giving my life to a rainbow like you
But I'm, eh
Yeah, I'm bold as love
Well, I'm bold, bold as love
I'm bold as love
Just ask the axis
He knows, he knows, he knows everything
I'm bold, I'm bold as love, yeah
I'm bold, I'm bold as love, yeah
I'm talking to you
I'm bold, I'm bold as love, yeah
John Mayer's song "Bold As Love" speaks about the complexity of emotions and the different colors they represent. The first verse talks about anger, jealousy, and envy represented by the colors purple and green. Anger is depicted as towering in shiny metallic purple armor while Queen Jealousy, represented by the color green, waits behind him. The second verse talks about blue waters, a symbol of life and how they are taken for granted by people. The opposing turquoise armies in the verse question why they are fighting when they should be united. The chorus repeats the phrase, "But they're all bold as love, Yes, they're all bold as love," signifying that people may have various emotions, but they all are strong in their way.
The third verse talks about the different colors that represent the singer's emotions. Red is confident, and it proudly displays trophies of war and ribbons of euphoria, while orange is young and daring but unsteady. Yellow, on the other hand, is afraid, just like the singer, and it's holding him from showing love. Despite these turbulent emotions, he remains bold and strong like love. He repeats the phrase, "I'm bold, I'm bold as love," to show how he stays resolute despite conflicting emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
Anger, he smiles
Anger is personified and is reflected as a smile on a person's face.
Towering in shiny, metallic, purple armor
Anger is protecting himself with shiny, metallic, purple armor, towering over others.
Queen jealousy, envy waits behind him
Jealousy and envy are hiding behind Anger, following him around.
Her fiery, green gown sneers at the grassy ground
Jealousy is personified as a woman wearing a fiery green gown, who is looking down at the ground with contempt.
Blue are the life-giving waters taken for granted
The blue color represents life-giving water, which is taken for granted and not appreciated.
They quietly understand
The blue waters understands deeply but doesn't say anything.
Once happy turquoise armies lay opposite ready
In the past, there were happy turquoise armies that were ready to face each other.
But wonder why the fight is on
However, they can't figure out why they have to fight each other.
But they're all bold as love
All the opposing sides are brave warriors who fight for what they believe in.
Yes, they're all bold as love
The statement is reiterated that all sides are courageous fighters.
Yeah, they're all bold as love
Cool, calm, and collected they march with confidence to battle.
Just ask the axis
The Axis is a reference to a guitar tuner, which is used to tune his guitar in order to create music.
My red is so confident that he flashes trophies of war and Ribbons of euphoria
The color red is personified as someone who wins trophies of war and ribbons of euphoria and flaunts them with confidence.
Orange is young, full of daring But very unsteady for the first go round
The color orange represents youth with daring behavior but lacks experience and is unsteady in the beginning.
My yellow in this case is not so mellow In fact, I'm trying to say it's frightened like me
The color yellow, which usually symbolizes happiness, is shown as fear, which the singer can relate to.
And all these emotions of mine keep holding me from, eh Giving my life to a rainbow like you
The artist is held back from giving their life to someone who represents the various colors of a rainbow by their own emotions.
But I'm, eh Yeah, I'm bold as love Well, I'm bold, bold as love I'm bold as love
Despite his fear of giving his life, the artist proclaims himself to be brave and bold as love.
I'm talking to you I'm bold, I'm bold as love, yeah
The singer directs this proclamation of boldness to the audience, stating their confidence in themselves.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jimi Hendrix
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind