John Mayer is trying to escape his Playboy past, and it looks like he’s taking the Taylor Swift route when it comes to dispelling the notion that he can’t stop seducing the other sex. (Funnily enough, Swift was one of his many exes). He’s writing about only one ex and denying serial dating.
In an interview with The New York Times, Mayer admitted that his most recent single, “Still Feel Like Your Man,” is indeed about former flame Katy Perry. “I still keep your shampoo in my shower / In case you wanna wash your hair,” he sings on the track.
“Who else would I be thinking about?” he said. “And by the way, it’s a testament to the fact that I have not dated a lot of people in the last five, six years. That was my only relationship. So it’s like, give me this, people.”
(F.Y.I. John, shampoo expires after a few years.)
The interview, like many articles about post-2010 Mayer, follows the narrative of the reformed badboy in the style of George Clooney — the one where he calls ex Jessica Simpson “sexual napalm” in Playboy and then moves to the Montana mountains and started jamming with Dead & Company.
“What has to happen for a guy to believe that he’s totally well-adjusted and be that far out of touch?” he said. “My GPS was shattered, just shattered.”
Mayer’s gearing up to release The Search For Everything (most of the songs are already out, if you want to check it out) on April 14, and he says that the project started off as a breakup album in 2014 (around his third split with Perry). Supposedly, as time went on, however, the songwriting grew into something more.
“There were times when tears came out of me, and I went, O.K., John, this is not about an on-again, off-again relationship. This is something more profound.”
Mayer also admitted in the Times that he’s ready to settle down. He recently became an uncle and is eyeing the family life.
“I wish there was somebody to throw me the 40th [birthday party],” Mayer said. “I want the baby with the protective earphones” on the side of the stage. “I’m right on time for my career, and I’m running late for my life.”
He still swipes around on an exclusive dating app, though.
“It’s just lot of chatter,” he said. “We all talk to the same people. There are very few people actually meeting up.”
Mayer embarks on his The Search for Everything Tour on March 31. Hot off “Chained to the Rhythm” Katy Perry is expected to release an album this year, as well. (She also just dropped a kitschy shoe line, if you’re interested.)
