John Clayton Mayer was born October 16, 1977, in Fairfield, Connecticut, US… Read Full Bio ↴John Clayton Mayer was born October 16, 1977, in Fairfield, Connecticut, USA, and started playing guitar at 13 after being inspired by a Stevie Ray Vaughan tape his neighbor gave him. In 1998 he moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he refined his skills and gained a following.

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.

Quiet
John Mayer Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Midnight
Lock all the doors
And turn out the lights
Feels like the end of the world
This Sunday night

There's not a sound
Outside the snow's coming down

Somehow I can't seem to find
The quiet inside my mind

3:02
Space in this room
Has turned on me
And all my fears have me cornered me here
Me and my tv screen

The volume's down
Blue lights are dancing around
And still, I can't seem to find
The quiet inside my mind

Daylight is climbing the walls
Cars start and feet walk the halls
The world awakes and now I'm saved

At least by the light of day
At least by the light of day

Overall Meaning

John Mayer's "Quiet" song is a melancholic song that expresses the deepest feelings of despair and isolation, which can be relatable to everyone at some point in their life. The song talks about a feeling of being stuck in the middle of the night when the whole world is sleeping, and the only company is oneself. We live in a world where there's constant noise and activity, whether it be our phones, music or media, making it difficult to find silence in our minds, and that's what John Mayer's speaking to in this song.

The first few lines of the song describe a late Sunday night where John Mayer is feeling trapped in his thoughts due to the quietness around him. The snow outside feels comforting, but his mind keeps racing, and he is unable to find peace. The second verse describes how time has slipped by, and how it feels like the space in the room is closing in on him. He is feeling suffocated and lost in his own thoughts, with only the flickering of the TV to serve as company.

The chorus portrays his struggle to find silence in his mind, to silence the fears and thoughts within him. As daylight appears, he finds relief as the world awakens around him. With the world's noise and life becoming more evident, his thoughts can finally quiet down.

Line by Line Meaning

Midnight
It's nighttime

Lock all the doors
Lock all the doors to feel safe

And turn out the lights
Turn out the lights to create a more soothing environment

Feels like the end of the world
The atmosphere is calm and peaceful

This Sunday night
It's on a Sunday night

There's not a sound
It's so quiet that there's not even a sound outside

Outside the snow's coming down
It's snowing outside

Somehow I can't seem to find
Despite everything around being quiet, the person can't find peace of mind

The quiet inside my mind
Peace and quiet in one's mind

3:02
It's 3:02 in the morning

Space in this room
The physical space in the room