John Mayer is high on the list of my favourite artists. The first time I heard of him was when the video for “No Such Thing” came on MTV. I immediately fell in love with the thoughtful lyrics, wonderful melody, and yes, John’s very cute face (he’s just so adorable!).
Room For Squares is probably the best album released in 2001. Each song is composed of a beautiful guitar melody, amazing lyrics, and John’s smooth voice. It’s safe to say that John Mayer is one of the most talented artists to come out in a long time.
As I mentioned earlier, No Such Thing was the first single from the album. This song is awesome. It starts off with some simple chords, and progresses into the first verse. John sings about his experiences in high school and growing up, and just about anyone can relate to the lyrics. Why Georgia was the third and final single off the album. The guitar is more mellow on this song, and John’s vocals are great. In this song, John questions the purpose of his life, and this is another one of my favourite tracks on the album.
I love My Stupid Mouth. John tells the story of a date gone terribly wrong, because of his “stupid mouth”. Thanks to John, I’ll now understand why guys say such stupid things sometimes – they must, like John, have no filter in their heads, right? I love the opening chords to Your Body Is A Wonderland. Anyway, I’m sure everyone has heard this one before (unfortunately, another case of a song that was overplayed), as it was the second single off the album. The lyrics are actually very sweet, without being too sweet or sappy (“Damn baby/You frustrate me/I know you’re mine, all mine, all mine/But you look so good, it hurts sometimes.”)
Neon has a bluesy feel to it that I like. This track is about a woman that comes in and out of John’s life- but he doesn’t really mind (“And it’s hard for me to take a stand/When I would take her anyway I can.”) I absolutely love City Love. John begins singing the first line right as the song starts, and pulls you in as he tells the story of his “city love”, Lydia. I love the melody, but my favourite part of the song is the pause after John sings,”falling asleep to the sound of sirens”, and how the band starts up again- I just love the way that sounds.
83 is another great track on the album. In 83, John reminisces about his childhood and sings about wishing that his life “was more like 1983”- when life was much easier (“Whatever happened to my lunchbox?/When came the day that it got/Thrown away and don’t you think I should/Have had some say in that decision?”), and I can definitely relate. I think everyone wishes they could go back to the simple days of their childhood.
3X5 is my favourite track off the album. The song starts off with John playing piano and guitar and sets a mellow and relaxing mood. The lyrics are absolutely amazing in this song- and are written in such a way that you can see everything that John describes (“Today skies are painted colours of a cowboy’s cliché/And strange how clouds that look like mountains/In the sky are next to mountains anyway”). His vocals are really great in this track, and I love the way the song ends with some simple chords.
The only song on the album that I don’t just love is Love Song For No One, but I still like it. John sings about being “tired of being alone”, and while most people can probably relate, this song doesn’t really stick out like some of the others.
Back To You comes after 3X5 as my favourite song on the album. The song is about a relationship that John isn’t quite over and keeps going back to. I really love the lyrics in this song, and this is another relaxing, sort of smooth jazz type song. he changes the lyrics up on the last verse, and tells us that the other person in the relationship keeps coming back as well (“Back to me/I know that it comes/Back to me/Doesn’t it scare you/Your will is not as strong/As it used to be”).
Great Indoors is one of the most unique songs I’ve heard in a while. John sings to someone who is a homebody (as I can be at times), and tries to coax them into the leaving the “great indoors”. I love this song. Again, the beat and clever lyrics (“Though lately, I can’t blame you/I have seen the World/And sometimes wish your room/Had room for two”) make it one of the stand-out tracks on the album. Not Myself is my third favourite track on the album. On Not Myself, John appears to be pretty vulnerable in a relationship and asks his girlfriend “Would you want me when/I’m not myself?”. He takes an earnest approach in writing this song, and I love everything about it.
Before I begin my review of St. Patrick’s Day, let me note that there is no 13th track. This baffled me for several minutes, as I kept searching between track 12 and track 14 for track 13, and then I finally looked at the track listing and realised that track 13 doesn’t exist. The fact that John is so superstitious that he didn’t include track 13, did make me smile, but then I thought, “Hey-I just got gypped out of a song!” and that made me kind of mad. We’re all led to believe that there are 14 tracks on this album, when really there are only 13, and that kind of pisses me off (False advertising here, people!), but since this album is so amazing, I’ll let John and Columbia Records off the hook, and I won’t file my lawsuit *wink wink*.
The album ends with St. Patrick’s Day a very sweet and romantic song. The lyrics are beautiful, and I’m sure whomever John wrote this song for feels very special. I love listening to John’s voice on this song, and he even tries out a falsetto during my favourite lyrics (“Everybody, it seems to me, just wants to be/Just like you and me”).
I love Room For Squares. It’s such an amazing album, and John Mayer is an extremely talented singer, songwriter and musician. I’m in love with his music and can’t wait to continue following his career!
Rating: 
Track List
1. No Such Thing
2. Why Georgia
3. My Stupid Mouth
4. Your Body Is a Wonderland
5. Neon
6. City Love
7. 83
8. 3×5
9. Love Song for No One
10. Back to You
11. Great Indoors
12. Not Myself
13. [Untitled Track]
14. St. Patrick’s Day
*This is a classic review.