Continuum: John Mayer’s Blues

 by Carsten Wallace-Bailey

continuum: noun
con·​tin·​u·​um | \ kən-ˈtin-yü-əm
1: a coherent whole characterized as a collection, sequence, or progression of values or elements varying by minute degrees

What does that mean? Fuck if I know, but Continuum: Music by John Mayer recently
celebrated its 16th birthday. Released on September 12th, 2006, it is an album that recently became old enough to drive a car in the United States, still occupies space in my mind, a space on my Spotify wrapped, and space in my (continually expanding) small CD collection. So, I figured for a publication of favorites, I’d take the time to gush about my favorite album in a space where no one has to listen to me obnoxiously talk about music—but if they choose to take the time to listen (thank you!), then I’ll chronicle all the thoughts I have. Is this a review? A thinkpiece? A love letter? I’m not going to think that hard about what to categorize it. I just love talking about music, especially my favorite music.

Hailing from Fairfield, Connecticut, John Mayer was weaned onto the guitar through the
masters of the blues. After his neighbor gave him a cassette of blues guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughn, Mayer became obsessed with the blues, which led him to the music of other legends, like B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Jimi Hendrix. After getting his first guitar at age 13, Mayer wouldn’t put it down, and wouldn’t lose his obsession for the blues. He took his love for the guitar and the blues with him after high school when he went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Berklee, however, had lots and lots of good guitar players who could play the blues. Mayer knew that if he wanted to make it in the music industry, he couldn’t just be another guy who played SRV covers and pentatonic licks for hours. He took the route of singer-songwriter instead, focusing on his voice along with the guitar, and pouring his creative efforts into writing songs.

When Mayer eventually dropped out of Berklee and moved to Atlanta with a classmate to
start a music career in a band, Mayer quickly learned that as a musician, he still needs to pay the bills. And blues doesn’t pay the bills too easily. But acoustic pop/soft rock/alternative/whatever it is you classify a singer-songwriter as, does pay the bills a little bit easier. Mayer transitioned to a solo act and focused more on his poppier music. Songs like “No Such Thing” “Why Georgia” and “Your Body Is a Wonderland” off of his debut album with Columbia Records, Room for Squares got significant radio play and critical praise. While songs like “Neon” off that album show off Mayer’s true skill as a guitar player, and some flash his affinity for the blues, like “City Love,” the album itself was singer/songwriter acoustic pop.

After another commercially successful alternative/pop album in 2004 with Heavier Things,
Mayer’s music efforts started to shift. While on tour supporting these albums, he would often dip his toes into the blues. Playing Stevie Ray Vaughn covers, and unreleased songs like “Covered in Rain” that were essentially blues rock riff-based jams, Mayer knew what he was best at, and what he truly felt passionate about playing live.

In 2005, Mayer went off the deep end into his blues roots. Along with respected veteran
musicians Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan, he formed John Mayer Trio, a legitimate blues band. Mayer, Palladino, and Jordan would dress up in suites, play blues standards from the likes of B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Buddy Guy, and originals that Mayer felt like he couldn’t fit in his current discography. They released a live album, entitled Try!, which contains some of his now best-known songs, later to be released on Continuum (the album I’m supposedly writing about), like “Gravity” and “Vultures.” Mayer finally got his outlet to truly play the blues, and didn’t want to give it up again when he went back to focus on his mainstream career. He wanted to keep that taste of the blues in his tour setlists, while continuing to play the pop music that got him where he was. Out of this was
born Continuum.

I’ve been referring to the blues, and Mayer’s love for it, throughout this whole paper, so I
really do need to clarify that Continuum is not a real blues album. It is blues inspired. It does not hold a candle to Texas Flood or anything any the masters put out in terms of being an album centered around the musical genre of “the blues.” But it is John Mayer’s adult pop, singer-songwriter blues. It is blues inspired pop/alternative/soul/r&b/folk/whatever music for the masses. It debuted on the US Billboard charts at number 2, and stayed in the top 100 of the Billboard 200 for 50 weeks, and has sold around 4 million copies. Safe to say, the masses enjoyed it. It is not a tried-and-true blues record, and I think the person who would get the maddest at me claiming that is myself, so I just want to clarify. But hold shit, I haven’t said anything about the thing I’m supposed to be writing about and we’re this far in. I don’t really know what way to format this, but I want to talk about this album, and each track, so I’m just going to go down the track listings and spew about each song. Thanks for making it this far. Here are my thoughts on Continuum.

Track 1: "Waiting on the World to Change"

A vague political song during the Bush presidency? No Way! Not really winning points for
creativity, but scoring the points of a major musician releasing something politically charged and progressive, even if its vague enough to not stir many pots. A relatable enough message however, that young people don’t always feel like they have the ability to change the problems in the world they have to deal with, so they’re all just waiting on the world to change. “It’s not that we don’t care, we just know that the fight ain’t fair” still rings true for a lot of people in a lot of situations. Not incredibly activist to sit and lament about not being able to change the world, but hey, I’ve felt that way many times. I feel like this is one of the better-known songs on the album by the masses. I can understand why this one was a hit, it has a catchy, upbeat chord progression and hook, a strong vocal performance by Mayer (he won a Grammy for it!) a great horn part by Roy Hargrove (!) and one of my favorite guitar solos by John, simple and enjoyable to listen to. This song has a good groove, a tight instrumental section, and some blank enough political words that you can slap your own meaning on. Not the best on the album, but has stood the test of time.

Track 2: "I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)"

John Mayer is kind of a dick. That may be an understatement, depending on who you ask, but let’s just say he hasn’t really had a history of being the best romantic partner, to put it lightly. So, writing a song about how he does not trust himself to properly love a woman almost has reached a healthy level of self-awareness. But ultimately the point of the song ends up being that said woman should “hold on to whatever will get her through” in their relationship, and to see the good in John because oh my gosh he’s so reserved and he’s done some bad things before but if she wants him, she needs to see how great he is! But he doesn’t trust himself with loving her, inferring either he truly wants to but feels incapable and is from the bottom of his heart warning her, or is just putting int out there for when he cheats on her and can say “hey I warned you!” Too bad it sounds awesome.
John uses an AdrenaLinn II effects pedal to get the almost wah pedal-like swells on the chords in the intro, which adds to the already soulful groove the song has. The mix of swelling chords, and a sweet clean tone on the bluesy lead guitar lines throughout the song sounds awesome. Also, a fantastic horn section by Roy Hargrove (again!). An incredibly tight master has helped this song stay memorable, and continue to be a fan favorite and a mainstay in his live setlists. Speaking of live performances, the live version of this song on Where the Light Is, John’s quintessential live album from this era, has maybe the best synced key change I’ve heard in a live performance. I’m sure there are better out there, but this is my favorite. Speaking of Where the Light Is, for the love of God if you choose to listen to any version of these songs, listen to that performance. My favorite live album ever recorded, and the best versions of those songs ever played.

Track 3: "Belief"

If you were just hoping and praying to hear another politically charged, Bush administration song on this record, you are so in luck. This one happens to be pretty staunchly anti-war. This song came out in the heat of the US invasion of Iraq, and had the message of “Hey guys, maybe we shouldn’t bomb the shit out of Iraqi children because we have to fight for our precious American beliefs?” Except it was a little bit more subtle than that. “We’re never gonna beat this if belief is what we’re fighting for” is a pretty ambiguous line, but “what puts a hundred thousand children in the sand, belief can” is not. Anti-
war songs always win points in my book, good on you John. Also happens to be one of his catchiest riffs, in my opinion. Also, one of his best guitar solos on a studio track. One of the better songs on the album, lyrically and musically, plus it also has many amazing live renditions. Too bad the lyrics aren’t applicable anymore since the U.S. has no more pointless conflicts with the middle east. Right guys?

Track 4: "Gravity"

The big one. In my experience, the John Mayer song that most people know. I’m not sure what it really owes its popularity to, but it is deserved in my opinion. Lyrically, its an introspective look into Mayer’s fear of being caught down by the world, and worldly things like greed. He knows these things are working against him, and that men better than him have been destroyed by these things. “Keep me where the light is” John echoes, wanting to stay on the lighter side of life, away from the gravity's pull. Brownie points for memorable and beautiful lyrics, ones that inspire many a live concert name and physics lesson. Hands down one of his best recorded guitar tones, and live guitar tones belong to this song. It just brings something out of him and his bands. Again, his blues roots pop out on this song, especially during live extended solos. A treat to hear in any performance, especially Where the Light Is, the concert name inspired by this song, who would’ve guessed. One of his best songs, objectively, and a song that will always stick with me.

Track 5: "The Heart of Life"

My favorite song off of this album, and in the running for just my favorite song in general. A song I sing whenever I need something to sing, the first of his complicated finger picking songs that I learned on the guitar, and just a song that’s very special to me. It’s got a beautiful melody, chord progression, and lyrics. “No it won’t all go the way it should, but I know the heart of life is good” gets me every time, and one of his few songs that I feel good about crying to. Not much I can say to do it justice, just listen to it. I’ll put my own rankings of the songs on this album at the end, but its my favorite, in a very close race. I love it. Favorite of my favorite for the favorites issue.

Track 6: "Vultures"

Another song that John played before this album, co-written by his trio mates Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino, its another song that just has a tremendous groove. A groove that makes you try and describe what the concept of a groove is, which is stupid cause it’s something yours supposed to feel, and God damn, this is a groove that you feel. The lyrics don’t make too much sense on the surface level, which is okay! You can put whatever meaning you want onto them, and they sound cool. As someone who tries to write songs, and finds calling himself a songwriter way too pretentious to say, I’m jealous of songs that have lyrics with very ambiguous meaning that sound cool. Also, a song designed to show off Mayer’s falsetto. Mayer has a generally pretty low register, a pretty clear-cut baritone pushing bass, and as someone who also has a low register, its fun as hell to sing a bridge entirely in falsetto. So thanks for putting out a song that lets me scream in my car John.
This song also fits into the rare company of being the quintessential song you play with a specific pickup on a strat. I don’t need to talk that much about guitar specifics, because this is already a niche as hell piece of writing, but a fender Stratocaster has 5 different pickup settings, which essentially gives the guitar itself 5 different sounds. This is one of those songs that is always played with one of those pickup positions. Most songs played on a strat are played with either just the neck pickup or the bridge pickup, this one is played with a combination of the middle and bridge pickup, not many songs use that tone so its fun to have a song to fit that one specific utilization of a guitar. If you at all care about what I just said, awesome! Let’s be friends! If not, sorry!

Track 7: "Stop This Train"

I’m going to be real with this one, this song is about the fear of getting older, not knowing what to do, and losing your parents. I’m scared of getting older, I don’t know what to do, and I’ve lost both of my parents. It hits hard for sure, but the meaning of the song is never ever lost on me. If I were to get a lyric from this album, or just from any song in general tattooed on me, it would be “Don’t stop this train, don’t for a minute change the place you’re in.” It means a lot, and I’m glad to have heard a song that resonates with me so much. It hurts me to say this isn’t my favorite song on the album, but hey, there are a lot of good songs to choose from, I can’t say they’re all my favorite. But I love this song, a lot.

Track 8: "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room"

When I started learning how to play the guitar, I learned a lot from the online guitar community. John Mayer has been a long time darling of the online guitar community, and this song is his masterpiece in that sense. It’s got one of the best recorded guitar tones ever, in my opinion, and is one that people are always striving to match. It’s also one of those rare quintessential songs for specific pickup positions on Stratocasters. I’ve never been able to put a strat on the neck/bridge combination pickup and not play the riff to this song, Forever holding real estate in my mind. If there’s anyone equipped to write a song about a toxic relationship, its probably John Mayer. Will he give the most objective, unbiased report of the relationship? Probably not. Is his partner just “being a bitch because she can” instead of having a legitimate reason? Who knows? Is that line playfully misogynistic? Totally! Is this song still one of my favorites? Yeah. I’m sorry women. It’s one of the few guitar songs written in the 21st centuries that I would consider a “classic,” whatever that fucking means.

Track 9: "Bold as Love"

Jimi Hendrix is one of those artists that if you decide to cover him, you better make sure you do it justice. Deciding to record and release a cover on an album is bold, and having that cover be a Hendrix song is even bolder. Bold as love, even (sorry). One could argue that Mayer’s whole career is a tribute to Hendrix, but this cover is him specifically going out of his way to declare his love for Jimi, if it wasn’t inherently obvious. I would be surprised to find a guitar player who doesn’t look up Hendrix in some way, and Mayer is obviously no different.

The song itself? Fine. Nothing’s going to beat the original, obviously, but it’s fun to hear Mayer’s voice on an incredible song written by and incredible musician. Incredibly bold to cover a Hendrix song, but if any modern guitar player can do it justice, its Mayer. His live rant about love on Where the Light Is also adds to the song, no matter how incredibly corny it is.

Track 10: "Dreaming with a Broken Heart"

A piano ballad is a nice change of pace for the run of songs on this album. A piano ballad about a breakup? Timeless. It hits hard the first time, as well as the hundredth time. I’ve had many a sob session to this song post-breakup, so its safe to say the meaning of the lyrics was not lost on me. “Would you get them if I did? No you won’t, cause you’re gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.” “When you’re dreaming with a broken heart, the waking up is the hardest part.” God damn dude, that hurts.

Track 11: "In Repair"

Another introspective song, about how John is “in repair” and how he’s “not together, but he’s getting there.” A genuine moment of reflection, and admitting that you’re not all that. You’re not perfect, you’re not completely together, but hey you’re working on it, so good for you. Did Mayer release this song then immediately cement himself as the celebrity douchebag to end all celebrity douchebags over the next couple years? Yep! But hey, he admitted he’s not together and that he’s getting there. I’d say as of today he’s still working on getting there, so keep going John. This song also has a great accompanying video of John’s writing and recording process in the studio. If you have a spare 19 minutes and are interested in how music is recorded, it’s a great watch. Also, the best recorded guitar solo section on this album, and it’s not horribly close.

Track 12: "I’m Gonna Find Another You"

Mayer closes this album with a song not only inspired by the blues, but also by jazz. A jazzy chord progression, often garnering a rare appearance of a hollow-body guitar from John’s collection for live performances. Another song about a break-up, but a little farther along in the process this time. We’ve all been at that point with a breakup where we’re just saying shit, even when we know we we’re totally in the wrong, our pride is still going to keep us company (that’s definitely the problem.) “If I’m forced to find another, I hope she looks like you” is an absolutely insane thing to say out loud, but you know what, when you’re sad you can say whatever you want. This song feels like a real conclusion to an album. It is short and sweet, resolves well, and puts to bed the themes of romance and relationships talked about throughout the track list. John is “over” his ex, and is ready to find a new girl, in a totally healthy way. Good luck Jennifer Aniston, Taylor Swift, Jessica Simpson, Katy Perry, etc.

My ranking of the track list, if you were wondering:

1. "The Heart of Life"
2. "Stop This Train"
3. "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room"
4. "Gravity"
5. "Belief"
6. "I Don’t Trust Myself"
7. "I’m Gonna Find Another You"
8. "Vultures"
9. "Waiting on the World to Change"
10. "In Repair"
11. "Dreaming with a Broken Heart"
12. "Bold as Love"
    

If you could not tell, I like talking about Continuum. It’s my favorite album by my favorite artist, and it will forever occupy a space in the music section of my heart. Thanks for reading this, and if you got to the end, wow! You’re insane enough to read a 7-page paper about an album I like. That’s awesome. Thank you.