All the people that came into contact with him when he played at Clemson a year back thought he was a huge prick.
I like him, but I can understand why most people don’t, because they are ALWAYS playing his songs on the radio. Even I am starting to dislike them.
Yeah, that song bugs the crap out of me. It just strikes me as a “I wrote this song so ladies will think I’m sensitive and sleep with me from town to town” type of song.
And he sings in that funny voice like he thinks it makes him sound more talented.
And the faces.
He seems alright as a songwriter though. But the songs get pretty boring (that’s what gets me the most about his omnipresence on the radio – his songs aren’t even catchy).
Personally, I LOVE the wonderland song. I haven’t heard the new song too much yet, so I don’t really have an opinion about it. But, I think he’s wonderful.
I don’t think he looks creepy at all.
and
I’ve seen the videos and didn’t even notice the weird faces. I was probably thinking “Why doesn’t my husband say these things to me?” haha
Guess it works. Last I saw he’s nailing Jennifer Love “Booby” Hewitt.
He reminds me of some suburban frat boy who thinks he’s Dave Matthews. Not cool. Not at all.
I’m just wondering if enough arguments are made if Faerie Nuff will decide that she hates him.
(love the name by the way and welcome to the boards)
No, Zebra, you can not make me hate him. He was always cool to me. My friend Matt hates him and won’t tell me why. I think it involves something happening in junior high.
But even if John didn’t make good music, I’d still be happy for him for finding success (and thereby making my high school semi-famous).
-Faerie Nuff, the Pixie of Justice 
I dislike him for a lot of the reasons already stated, but also just for the lyric “Your Body Is A Wonderland.” It makes me cringe that he would say something that stupid sounding.
Okay - he makes funny faces…
Okay - Your Body is a…was overplayed, and while it may have been a cool sentiment at first blush, the phrase loses its charm quickly (anyone here nominate it over “…sexiest tomboy beanpole on the planet”?)
But - he is a VERY good guitar player. I have been a player for over 25 years and the boy has chops. He can do some mean fingerpicking and also respect-worthy SRV-type blues licks.
I guess my ultimate - “nice, okay, but not great” POV comes from the fact that he seemed to have consciously shot for…the middle. Yeah, he went for singer-songwriter over guitar god or jam-band-Matthews-meister - certainly his call, and singer-songwriter as a genre has hatched a ton of respected talents. But between his album title - Music for Squares - and the seeming lack of ambition in the songs I have heard - he seems to have nothing beyond sentimental thoughts - he seems to want to be a nice guy songwriter. And while that’s his choice, it doesn’t move me to buy his CD and can easily evoke the ire of people who are looking for even the littlest edge to their music. Even Sheryl Crow came up with “Strong Enough to be Your Man”, “Home” and a few other songs with interesting stories and edgy-ish themes…
That’s why.
Really???
Mannnnnn…
I think WordMan nailed it. Nobody cares that much about how goofy his face or voice is. There’s plenty of goofy-looking rock stars with middling voices. I think the real ire comes from people who hate to see milquetoast performers singing sappy love songs hit it big, when there are tons of cool bands with soul or vision working in obscurity. Probably some jealousy, but also some genuine desire to see someone who’s willing to take some creative risks earn some recognition, rather than another dude with a guitar singing run-of-the-mill romantic wuv songs.
I love John Mayer. Sure he looks like a big dork, but he’s undeniably talented. Yes, Body is a Taco Stand has been played to death, but he’s got some other songs which I think are infinitely better than that one. Try to get a hold of the acoustic versions of his songs. They’re much better than the album versions. Damn record company’s trying to make him sound poppish (and hence crappy). I recommend “Back to You”, “Neon” and “My Stupid Mouth.”
It’s not that I hate him or his music, but he is over-saturated-he is played all the time, it seems every radio station and VH1 (when they play videos) are wet over this guy. I just don’t see or find the appeal, I like music with more of a pulse.
I, too, hate the song. And the squeegie voice. But I watched the Grammys and he played the CRAP out of the guitar. I’m a guitarist, and I like it when somebody does that, live, on national TV.
Anybody out there tape it and could send me just that 3 minute segment?
I’d be interested to see how many women out there agree with my own assessment: he’s off-putting because he sounds exactly like the guy we met at frat parties or bonfires who played acoustic guitar in the corner solely in hopes of getting into our pants. His voice is breathy, his glance is meaningful, and what it means is, Hey Baby, I’m Mr. Sensitive. Hop on. I know Grafenberg personally, wanna see?
He just doesn’t seem quite sincere; as if he just wants to appear sincere. Your Body is My Wonder Gland is a perfect example; the whole song sounds like a pickup line. Lean close to the car speaker and you can almost smell the Everclear in the lukewarm punch.
And it’s sad! and I feel guilty, because it may not be his fault he sounds like this, but not guilty enough that if he were singing to me in a video I wouldn’t edge towards the door. I like to see singing and songwriting emphasized over pyrotechnics; as far as such things go, I’m a James Taylor, Paul Simon, Dar Williams, Dan Fogelberg fan [yes, Dave Matthews as well, recently] but I just can’t like John Mayer. I get the distinct sense that as soon as he’s done playing he heads for the foosball table, then spends the day skipping class and walking through the quad with someone else’s philosophy textbooks under his arm to impress chicks with.
Sorry, John.
Maybe I would understand his talents better if I heard someone else singing his song. If there were a way to eliminate the ick factor in his voice, I could get past it to honestly evaluate the rest of his performance, but as it is, ICK.
Has anyone read the newest issue of Stuff magazine? They do an “ugliest rock stars” update, and this time they rate them all on the John Mayer scale for example that putz from Good Charlotte is rated as “0.89 Mayer” which makes him 89% as ugly as John Mayer, pretty funny stuff.
Her friends call her “Love.”
Faerie, I don’t doubt that he’s a really nice guy. But his lyrics are obvious and trite and he really does sound like the Acoustic Guitar Guy at the Party. The songs are boring and Middle-of-the-Road.
Yeah he is nailing Jennifer Love Huge Tits. And I hate John Mayer because he rips off Dave Matthews and I have an unwholesome obsession with Dave Matthews.