{"id":2026,"date":"2019-03-20T19:33:54","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T23:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/?p=2026"},"modified":"2021-03-04T11:33:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T16:33:20","slug":"arachnophonia-john-mayer-room-for-squares","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/2019\/03\/arachnophonia-john-mayer-room-for-squares\/","title":{"rendered":"Arachnophonia: John Mayer “Room For Squares”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> Arachnophonia<\/a> is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library<\/a>\u2018s collection.<\/p>\n

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question<\/a> or to additional relevant<\/a> information from<\/a> around the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s installment of Arachnophonia<\/a> is by student worker Cole (class of 2021) and features John Mayer’s 2001 debut studio album Room For Squares<\/strong><\/a>. Thanks, Cole!<\/em><\/p>\n

John Mayer<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n

Room For Squares<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

To me, John Mayer stands as one of the most interesting musical icons of my childhood. Originally making his name as a pop-rock singer-songwriter, Mayer garnered attention early in his career for his guitar ability (he attended Berklee College of Music<\/a>\u2019s guitar program for two semesters). After the success of his 2001 debut Room for Squares<\/a><\/em> (for which he won his first Grammy) and 2003\u2019s Heavier Things<\/a><\/em>, Mayer pivoted when he released Try!<\/a><\/em> (2005), a blues record released under the moniker of the John Mayer Trio<\/a>. With his most acclaimed album, Continuum<\/a><\/em> (2006), Mayer sought to unite his earlier pop-rock stylings with his recent efforts in blues. <\/p>\n

Though for whatever reason, it\u2019s Mayer\u2019s first album, Room for Squares<\/a><\/em>, that I find myself listening to more often than his more acclaimed and successful releases. I fully agree that Continuum<\/a><\/em> is a masterfully executed record that showcases the best of his songwriting ability. And Where The Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles<\/a><\/em> (2008) might be my favorite live album of all time. But there\u2019s something wonderfully innocent about Room for Squares<\/a><\/em> absent in his other works, like the lovable arrogance with which Mayer scoffs at those who doubted his decision to drop out in \u201cNo Such Thing<\/a>\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to run through the halls of my high school
\nI want to scream at the
\nTop of my lungs
\nI just found out there’s no such thing as the real world
\nJust a lie you’ve got to rise above\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then immediately doubts himself in \u201cWhy Georgia<\/a>\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201c’Cause I wonder sometimes
\nAbout the outcome
\nOf a still verdictless life
\nAm I living it right?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or maybe it has more to do with the fact that, to me, the album itself is seems distanced from the controversy-plagued, self-proclaimed \u201cego addict<\/a>\u201d that Mayer eventually become known as. Contrast this with his 2003 acceptance speech for his first Grammy award (for \u201cYour Body Is a Wonderland<\/a>\u201d off of Room for Squares<\/em>), in which Mayer remarked \u201cthis is very, very fast and I promise to catch up<\/a>,\u201d and you might begin to appreciate the sort of unspoiled innocence of Meyer\u2019s debut, and indeed, his early career as a whole. Regardless, Room for Squares<\/a> remains an often stunning debut (see: guitar part on \u201cNeon<\/a>\u201d) from a man who would go on to change the landscapes of both pop and blues music.<\/p>\n

\"John

John Mayer playing live at Tower Records in Atlanta, Georgia 2001<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library\u2018s collection. All links included in these posts will take you to either the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[61217,15223,15236],"tags":[61217,162475,38029,15282,61343,92974,38178,37978,35898],"class_list":["post-2026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arachnophonia","category-collection","category-guest-post","tag-arachnophonia","tag-cole","tag-john-mayer","tag-poprock","tag-rock-music","tag-room-for-squares","tag-singer-songwriter","tag-student-workers","tag-students"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgMV3E-wG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2026"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2940,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026\/revisions\/2940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}