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.
Old Love
John Mayer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I'm lying in my bed
There's too much confusion
Running round through my head
It's making me so angry
To know that the flame will always burn
When will I get over?
Old love
Leave me alone
Old love
Go on home
I can see your face
But I know that it's not real
Just an illusion
Caused by how I used to feel
And it's making me so angry
No, no, no- the flame will always burn
Come on, when will I get over?
Come on, when will I ever learn?
Old love
Leave me alone
Old love
Go on, go on home
(guitar)
Old love
Old love...
Old love
The lyrics to John Mayer's song "Old Love" speak about the struggle of moving on from a past love relationship. The opening lines "I can feel your body when I'm lying in my bed" immediately convey the singer's inability to let go of the memories of their ex-partner. The singer then expresses frustration because their thoughts are consumed by confusion, making it impossible to move on. The lines "It's making me so angry to know that the flame will always burn" illustrate the singer's struggle of accepting that the love they had with their ex will never truly go away. The question posed in the lyrics "When will I get over?" shows the singer's desire to move on and the struggle to find the answers to their own questions.
The chorus "Old love, leave me alone, old love, go on home" serves as a plea to the former lover to let them move on. The singer's acknowledgment that the memories they have are just an illusion "caused by how I used to feel" is a deciding factor in letting go. The line "No, no, no - the flame will always burn" repeats twice in the song, emphasizing the anger and frustration the singer feels because they cannot fully escape their past. The song's title is an indication that the love is not new, but rather an old flame that has been rekindled. The line "when will I ever learn?" implies that the singer is in a cycle of repeating the same mistake.
Line by Line Meaning
I can feel your body
I can still physically feel the presence of my ex-lover even when they are not there
When I'm lying in my bed
The feeling is especially strong when I am in bed and unable to distract myself from these thoughts
There's too much confusion
I am feeling overwhelmed and unsure of my emotions
Running round through my head
My thoughts are constantly circling around the fact that I cannot let go of this past love
It's making me so angry
I am frustrated and upset with myself for not being able to move on
To know that the flame will always burn
I realize that my feelings for this person will never truly go away
When will I get over?
I am wondering when I will finally be able to put this relationship behind me
When will I ever learn? (ever learn)
I question why I continue to hold onto something that has already ended
Old love
I am addressing this old flame
Leave me alone
I want to move on and let go of these feelings
Go on home
I want this old love to go back to their own life and leave me be
I can see your face
My ex-lover's face is constantly appearing in my mind
But I know that it's not real
I understand that this is only a memory and not something that is currently happening
Just an illusion
These thoughts and emotions are not based in reality
Caused by how I used to feel
These feelings are a result of how I used to feel about this person
Old love
I am still addressing this old flame
No, no, no- the flame will always burn
I am still struggling to come to terms with the fact that my feelings for this person are not going away
Come on, when will I get over?
I am urging myself to move on from this past love and find closure
Come on, when will I ever learn?
I question why I am still struggling with moving on and learning from this experience
Old love
Once again, I address this old love
Old love...
The song ends on this repeated phrase, emphasizing the theme of being unable to let go of the past
Contributed by Jordan D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
rrn11
My favorite thing about Mayer is that he never lets go of his roots...the roots that made him play. Clapton, Hendrix, SRV, BB King just to name a few are the musicians that he still covers to this day. Great musicians admire each other. Tuck 'em and kiss it if you don't like Mayer...you simply don't want to acknowledge greatness that stares at you through a 6-string.
Kike Estribi
you're a wise person
Lane T.
One of the best comment I've heard someone post of Mayer.
Drum Chick
Oh wow...John Mayer. Sings and plays straight from the soul. Such talent.
James Hughes
Drum Chick https://youtu.be/6PtDt9zpio0
Hafiz Yahaya
Love this so much. you can feel the pain thru his voice and especially thru his guitar.
Jacob M
@James Hughes take your elitism somewhere else, wow. You can still feel and express pain through a song even if you didn’t write it.
Wil Walker
James Hughes no shit he didn’t write it. You can still show emotion through a cover song. Dumbass.
James Hughes
Hafiz Yahaya he didn’t write it so it’s not his pain!! Johns fans are so annoying and limited in where he got his stuff from. https://youtu.be/6PtDt9zpio0
Nadyne Ribeiro
I love john mayer fans even more about this thing, I really like seeing the fact that they truly believe on his music... that's the real soul of a fan... even the thing that they make me laught all night long hearing this perfection! hahaha, thanks John Mayer, the responsable for this happens!