Happy 15th Anniversary to John Mayer’s fourth studio album Battle Studies, originally released November 17, 2009.
Coming off the success of 2006’s acclaimed Continuum, John Mayer was riding high on popularity, becoming as well known for his sometimes goofy, not so serious take of fame and celebrity as he was for his songwriting craft and musicianship. He was likeable, disarming; a fun guy with immense talent. And with that level of success and exposure came pressure. Pressure to follow up (and even outdo) Continuum. Pressure to reel back the public persona and reclaim the serious musician moniker—or at least a musician who wanted his music to be taken seriously, even when he presented his persona as anything but.
It’s a high wire act. Trying to move forward and not be weighed down by previous success or the dizzying public’s perception of him.
Speaking to Guitarist magazine about the pressure to follow up Continuum, Mayer observed, “it got a lot easier when I realized that no matter what I do, it's not going to be Continuum, good or bad. And then that became really liberating."
So shaking off the shackles of expectation, Mayer and his trusted cohorts of musicians decided to record an album on the fly, in the moment. Writing and crafting songs while they burned up precious studio time. Seemingly swapping the pressure to best his last effort for the pressure to produce something worthy of releasing into the world.
Maybe it didn’t hurt then that Mayer had come through a tumultuous time in his life. A time of overly public loves and loss. Of success and solitude. Of everyone knowing his business, but not really knowing what was on his mind.
So with guitar in hand, he began to craft an album that takes the listener through an emotional journey of disintegrating relationships, the promise of new love and acceptance that he is who he is.
Although he set out just to make an album that was a collection of great songs, a through line theme presented itself; the idea of relationships being an emotional battle of wits and hearts, and Mayer being shell shocked through it.
Kicking off with “Heartbreak Warfare,” Mayer sets the groundwork for the album with a reflection of a relationship in demise, where his lover is overtaken by who can inflict more pain on the way down. He explores the pangs and passions, the emotional tug-of-war of push pull. Calling on the guitar melody of U2’s “Bad,” Mayer contrasts the desire to give the love one desires set against the fear of asking for it. Mayer draws on his public relationships without having to spell things out in lines like “Drop his name / Push it in and twist the knife again,” where he’s allowing the listener to fill in the blanks, almost tongue in cheek rewarding them for their consumption of his life as tabloid fodder.
It’s one of his gifts as a songwriter, being able to draw from his public persona and experience and present it in a way that becomes relatable and possibly ownable in the listener’s own life. And when he sings in the refrain, “If you want more love / why don’t you say so?” it’s delivered in a way that leaves it open to dual meaning; he could be asking it of his lover or asking the question of himself. It’s these little lyrical twists and open observations that makes Mayer’s lyrics intriguing (when he gets it right). As he sings of “Clouds of sulfur in the air / Bombs are falling everywhere,” the ongoing and destructive battles alluded to in the album title are clearly present. This love as warfare motif is presented throughout the album in tracks like the smooth rocker “War of My Life” and the sweetly inviting “Edge of Desire.”
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“Heartbreak Warfare” evidences the maturity of an artist still growing musically and is present in the restraint of Mayer’s playing as well as his songcraft. As a gifted guitarist he doesn’t push for all flair in a song that doesn’t deserve it. He plays in service of the song and not the other way round.
The jingle jangle of “All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye” is a beautiful composition exploring the on-off nature of relationships destined to fall perfectly summed up in the line “I bought a ticket on a plane / And by the time it landed, you were gone again.” When Mayer switches from his natural breathy voice to a soft higher register as the song hits the chorus, he elevates the emotion of the song and wrings it for all it is worth.
Mayer is a master of musicianship and can draw a feeling or a vibe for a classic sound and idle up alongside it with authenticity. It’s not so much replicating a sound as revisiting and re-presenting its tone and style. Case in point is the country pop “Half of My Heart” which has a decidedly Tom Petty swagger to it. Rounding out the nod to a Petty/Stevie Nicks echo, Mayer taps Taylor Swift, a talent on the rise at the time, to complete the sound. And it works. The song with its honest lyrics depicts Mayer as a man both afraid to fully invest in relationships and a man who’s own self-preservation holds him back. The addition of Swift—in a very understated role—gives the song added charm and innocence.
The acoustic torchlight shuffle singalong that is “Who Says” starts off feeling a little throwaway in the initial lines, but as the song progresses a greater sense of depth presents itself. Mayer confronts the expectations placed on him and a desire to thine own self be true. It’s a gentleman’s defiance, a soft swipe at the public persona.
Bridging the sound from Continuum, “Perfectly Lonely” sums up Mayer’s own take on his relationship woes and his own belligerent outlook. It’s a power call to isolation and maybe an affirmation of independence, but the weeping guitar licks that call out in the spaces perhaps belie the content.
Playing with his Lothario persona, Mayer embraces the role of the detached lover in “Assassin,” with its moody melody and “Get in, Get Gone” manifesto. Describing himself as “the best they’d ever seen / I’d steal your heart before you ever heard a thing,” he plays the role of emotional hitman who has met his match, and finds himself targeted by a worthy adversary who ends up getting the upper hand.
Whether playing the lover, the lothario or the loveless, Mayer brings a sense of authenticity to the part. Likewise, no matter what musical avenue he strolls down, Mayer plays with a degree of respect and reference as evidenced with his rock blues cover of Robert Johnson’s iconic “Crossroads,” which he plugs in and amps up with a fuzztone hook and propulsive beat.
“War of My Life” finds Mayer lamenting a love in decline as he takes part in a slow, drawn out battle to the emotional death. Yet in the aftermath, Mayer finds himself longing in the beautiful “Edge of Desire,” grappling with the idea of lost love, loneliness and the feeling of being replaced. The searching in the song is evident in the repeated melody that plays under the main line, like a nagging that won’t let go, drawing you back in leading to perhaps Mayer’s most honest lyric on the album: “There I just said it / I’m scared you’ll forget about me.”
But once the smoke has cleared, the dreamy and airy “Do You Know Me” awakens a new sense of hope. It’s one of Mayer’s most restrained yet most alluring tracks on the album (even in his own canon) with sparse noodling, warm backing vocals that soothe you, almost calming and lulling you to sleep in dreams of finding love when you wake.
Mayer closes the album out with the Beatles-esque “Friends, Lovers or Nothing,” as he searches for clarification in his relationship. The lyrics again allow for interpretation with Mayer either building boundaries or encouraging a potential suitor to cross them. He could be closing a chapter or starting a new one. Setting a new set of rules as he sings in the extended outro, “Anything other than 'yes' is 'no' / Anything other than 'stay' is 'go' / Anything less than 'I love you' is lying.”
Battle Studies is John Mayer at his most focused and finest. It’s a near perfect album, one you can listen to from start to finish with a satisfying sense of storytelling at your disposal. It’s an album to while away late nights or listen to during lazy day sleep-ins. So as the sun sets or rises, dust it off and put it on.
LISTEN:
Editor's note: this anniversary tribute was originally published in 2019 and has since been edited for accuracy and timeliness.