Thursday, February 11, 2010

Being John Mayer

I love John Mayer's music, but his words in a recent interview with Playboy are quite disturbing. Here is a portion of it:
MAYER: It depends on what I picked up. My two biggest hits are "Your Body Is a Wonderland" and "Daughters." If you think those songs are pandering, then you'll think I'm a douche bag. It’s like I come on very strong. I am a very…I'm just very. V-E-R-Y. And if you can't handle very, then I'm a douche bag. But I think the world needs a little very. That’s why black people love me.

PLAYBOY: Because you’re very?

MAYER: Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a n****r pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, “I can’t really have a hood pass. I’ve never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, 'We’re full.'"

PLAYBOY: It is true; a lot of rappers love you. You recorded with Common and Kanye West, played live with Jay-Z.

MAYER: What is being black? It’s making the most of your life, not taking a single moment for granted. Taking something that’s seen as a struggle and making it work for you, or you’ll die inside. Not to say that my struggle is like the collective struggle of black America. But maybe my struggle is similar to one black dude’s.

PLAYBOY: Do black women throw themselves at you?

MAYER: I don’t think I open myself to it. My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick.

PLAYBOY: Let's put some names out there. Let's get specific.

MAYER: I always thought Holly Robinson Peete was gorgeous. Every white dude loved Hilary from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And Kerry Washington. She's superhot, and she’s also white-girl crazy. Kerry Washington would break your heart like a white girl. Just all of a sudden she’d be like, "Yeah, I sucked his dick. Whatever." And you’d be like, "What? We weren’t talking about that." That's what "Heartbreak Warfare" is all about, when a girl uses jealousy as a tactic.
What precisely is Mayer trying to say here and for what purpose?

12 comments:

chesapeake said...

Hello, Judith!

It's been awhile since I've stopped by, and am glad I did today. Wow.

I remember reading that John Mayer "tweeted" about his other slightly controversial interview with Rolling stone right after the article came out and said "Just read my Rolling Stone interview. I don't know if I would want to hang out with me." He was definitely right about that.

I think that his new album has been a complete bust critically and sales-wise, since it isn't nearly as good as Continuum. I think that he wants attention, and, well, here we are. It's disgusting and despicable, and it would seem he has a long history of being a cad with women. To throw in totally unnecessary inflammatory language and content along with his normal sense of edgy humor is tasteless at best.

It makes me glad that I didn't buy his new album, to say the least. Why can't musicians just talk about music?

Judith Ellis said...

Oh, chesapeake, my thoughtful young talented friend, it is good to have you here again. I have not been to your or your dad's blog lately, but I'll pop over to both today.

As usual, you are right on with regards to Mayer. I had not read about his interview in Rolling Stone. But I agree with you that he is most certainly one that too many people might not like to hang out with. Still, him saying this is not an excuse for his behavior. He can't get off that easy.

I haven't heard his latest release, but this is most certainly not a way to get more sales. I am not likely to buy it. His words are deeply offensive on many levels. Yeah, I read that Mayer tweeted an apology for using the N-word. But what about all the his other despicable words?

It just seemed as if he was doing acid or something. But even there it is believed that people say what they think when under the influence of drugs or alcohol. I'm not sure if this is always true. It is also believed that our subconscious often betrays us.

Anyway, Mayer's remarks are just plain stupid.

septembermom said...

Mayer is talking stupid, for sure. I listen to his music every day. I love it! I can't believe that he talks this way. He better get his act together.

Judith Ellis said...

Kelly - I would hope so. He is very talented for sure. As I've said, I love his music.

mrs.missalaineus said...

i think he hit the nail on the head when he referred to himself as a douche bag. . . .


xxalainaxx

Judith Ellis said...

alaina - I'm laughing so hard at your comment. My side hurts. An older friend of mine told me many years ago when I was trying to rationalize the crazy behavior of a friend who always said that he was "really bad." When somebody tell you something about themselves," my wise friend said, "believe them." It woke me up right away. He was always talking about what a bad person he was.

I thought I could change him or at the very least love him to acceptance of himself. Well, I was the one who needed both my eyes and head examined. He knew who he was and told me so often. I reasoned that because he had so a touch life that he was just referring to that. That may have made him who he was but he indeed had many bad qualities. The confusing thing was that he had redeeming qualities as well.

rebecca said...

i bought one of his cd's like eight years ago and i donated it to the library a VERY long time ago. his antics and stupid-a** interviews and commetns turned me off. that hardly ever happens with me because i tend to separate the art from the man/woman but for some reason he just turned me off. and that to me is sad because though i don't like his mainstream music, he does play a mean r & b.

now i read this. *sigh* yes, now i know why. he's offensive, he's juvenile and needs to grow up. the language, for chrissake! tone down the language john cause you're just going to finish alienating the REST of the population that still might find you somewhat interesting.

he's despicable. enuf said.

Judith Ellis said...

Rebecca - Isn't it rather rare for artists to go to this extreme, especially to alienate people who actually like their music? It's just plain stupid.

zorro said...

What he said is ugly, but as far as stupid career moves go, it isn't as dumb as some of the things Brittany Spears has done, for example. Even some of the stuff Tom Cruise has done was very stupid. At least Mayer keeps his stupidity to text interviews.
I'm not a fan and never have been.

Judith Ellis said...

Yeah, Zorro, that's true about stupid career moves. I also think that a printed interview is perhaps more thoughtful than perhaps a spoken one. He wasn't put on the spot and had time to think about his response. He gave a sincere apology and he spoke of just doing music and not trying to be clever. I appreciated it.

zorro said...

a printed interview cant go viral as easily as a video.
its not as potentially damaging - so it isn't as stupid.

Judith Ellis said...

Good point, Zorro!