Image Source: Getty / Jason Kempin
Some musicians by no means reveal their secrets and techniques. John Mayer, nonetheless, just lately supplied some perception into one among his most controversial songs. During the Sacramento, CA cease of his solo acoustic tour on April 8, the singer stopped to speak about “Paper Doll,” a track lengthy believed to be written about his ex, Taylor Swift. “I wonder if people don’t like it because it sounds a little pissed off,” he mentioned, including that this is not solely correct. “I don’t really like ‘pissed off’ as a song. I think it was more hurt.”
Mayer admitted that the track may very well be perceived as barely bitter. “Is there something about it that’s a little b*tchy?” he requested. “There might be. I try not to give b*tchiness in the songs, it happens sometimes. I guess I don’t do it very well — sarcastic b*tch — but I didn’t really see it. I guess it is sort of a little bit like, ‘Mehhh,'” he continued with feigned petulance.
Mayer dated Swift again in 2009. He was 32 on the time, and he or she was 19. Their breakup impressed Swift’s “Dear John” launched the next yr. “Dear John, I see it all now that you’re gone,” Swift sang within the track, “Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with?'” Then, in 2013, “Paper Doll” appeared to function Mayer’s response, with the lyrics, “You’re like 22 girls in one, and none of them know what they’re running from. Was it just too far to fall for a little paper doll?”
@covidcovers John Mayer reflecting on his Paper Doll lyrics #johnmayer #johnmayersolotour #taylorswift #couldveshouldvewouldve #dearjohn #paperdoll
♬ authentic sound – Covidcovers
Although he now appears to acknowledge how the track got here throughout, Mayer has maintained that the track wasn’t truly about Swift in any respect. In a 2019 Instagram Live he mentioned “100 percent of people” believed the track to be about an individual who “brought a certain amount of superficial pop culture back-and-forth.” In actuality, he mentioned, “the song was not about that person, and I could never tell anybody that’s not true because then I would be breaking my rule that songwriters don’t say who their songs are about or not about.”
We could by no means know the entire reality, however on condition that Mayer selected to carry out “Paper Doll” on the identical day Swift’s breakup with Joe Alwyn was made public, it seems the track will proceed to uphold its controversial legacy.
Discussion about this post