As I anticipated, The Maine released another single in the lead up to their seventh album, You Are OK, coming March 29th. "My Best Habit" continues to reveal the new direction and sound of the forthcoming album, although it paints a different picture than "Numb Without You" did.
This single has a very catchy feel to it - as I discovered from Genius, the working name for this song throughout the recording process was "Bop", and the band members have been referring to the song (in a fairly joking manner) as such. For those who aren't familiar, a bop is a term for a song that is fantastic, that's repeatable and that you can't get out of your head - a bit similar to banger, but slightly different context. When listening, you can hear how the band would think of it as such - it's got a brighter, more tapping-your-feet-along feel to it than "Numb Without You" did. There isn't this huge wall of sound that pushes it towards epic territory, but it's a more fun tune - at least, without taking the lyrics into account.
The lyrical content feels like what we've come to expect from The Maine - full of relatability, depth, and vulnerability. Some of the best lines are not limited to, but include:
"If you're not you, you're everyone else",
"And if you're searching for a sure thing, nice dream
Something like a machine
Then my best habit's letting you down",
and
"One part anxiety using two parts naivety
Just to keep sane".
The song talks of the struggle to meet the expectations of others, and how that's not something that should be wasted, especially when those expectations are unrealistic or unhealthy ("something like a machine"). It's empowering in the message it conveys, the pursuit of being oneself and not caving to the pressures of fitting in or appeasing someone's expectations ("if you're not you, you're everyone else").
Musically, this song is really cool - it highlights all the members of the bands at different points, showing off their strengths both apart and together. The gang vocal aspect is also really intriguing, as something that is not often explored in The Maine's previous work. It all has a rhythm, a groove to it that really does make it feel like a bop. It's a song you can cruise in your car with, jam out to through your headphones, and enjoy with others or by yourself.
Now, there is one thing I will highlight that I feel comes out more strongly in this song that any recorded music that The Maine has put out recently - John's voice. My fiance (I got engaged last month!!!) and I have had a few conversations over the years, especially after seeing The Maine in concert, about John's voice and the condition it's in. This song shows something that we've both hear in the live performances (and especially in the acoustic version of "Numb Without You" here) - the raspy quality that's become more and more prominent. It feels as if his voice is slowly going, which I sincerely hope is not the case, but I worry about nonetheless. I love this band, this group, and the songs that John has defined with his vocals. I want to be able to keep hearing them, and keep hearing that voice lead the charge. I mean this all with only love - no disrespect in the slightest.
Besides that last point, I really enjoy this song - while it didn't captivate me with the same intensity that "Numb Without You" did, it definitely continues to pump me up for what is going to be a truly incredible album.
Rating: 4/5
Monday, February 25, 2019
Saturday, February 23, 2019
I Guess I Just Feel Like (Single) - John Mayer
I've felt myself slowly shift from a casual John Mayer fan to a more avid one.
My roommate from freshman year of college, Josh, was really into him, and shared almost all of his music with me. I really enjoyed it, especially "Slow Dancing In A Burning Room", but didn't follow his career very closely - only listening to new songs if I happened upon them.
It was when I started following him on social media that I really began to develop my interest in him - not only as a musician, but as a person. It's hard to gauge a person through social media, especially a celebrity figure, but throughout my time watching Mayer from afar, I feel a deep sense of honesty and vulnerability from his posts (along with a fantastic sense of humor). The point where it really hit me was when Mac Miller passed - even though Mayer didn't know him that well, he shared some of their time together and the sense of loss he felt within about his passing. This was something I very much related to - not that I knew Mac Miller, but that I felt like I was just starting to get to know him as a musician, as an artist, and then he was gone.
Right before he released "I Guess I Just Feel Like", Mayer posted a picture of himself with a guitar/in the process of recording, and a bit of an explanation about the process behind the song. That was the moment where I knew this song was going to be something special. He talked about how he had been struggling with writing new songs in August & September of last year, and how after trying and failing to write songs in a specific way, he took it back to the basics in October and stopped trying to make something that wasn't going to happen - and "I Guess I Just Feels Like" was born.
The song itself is a very stripped down, almost country-sounding tune, primarily featuring vocals and acoustic guitar with later additions of drums and a fitting solo from Mayer himself. The vulnerability is heavy from the start, especially in the lyrics, and that's what has captured me with each and every listen. There's a definite sense of losing innocence, of this struggling between the desired, idealized world, and the one that we currently live in. Of having hope, yet struggling with loss and depression and negativity. It's hard to pinpoint these ideas to specific lines, so I copied all the lyrics below. I've said a little about them, but they truly speak for themselves:
(Verse 1)
"I guess I just feel like
I guess I just feel like
Nobody's honest, nobody's true
Everyone's lyin' to make it on through
I guess I just feel like I'm the same way too
(Verse 2)
I guess I just feel like good things are gone
And the weight of my worries is too much to take on
I think I remember the dream that I had
That love's gonna save us from a world that's gone mad
I guess I just feel like
What happened to that?
(Verse 3)
I guess I just feel like the joke's gettin' old
And the future is fading and the past is on hold
But I know that I'm open and I know that I'm free
And I'll always let hope in wherever I'll be
And if I go blind, I'd still find my way
I guess I just felt like givin' up today"
This doesn't feel like a song that's written to make money. It's purpose isn't to be this smash hit, to have a ton of airtime on the radio or be an internet sensation. It was made to convey the way that Mayer felt, which was not long after Mac Miller passed, and I'm sure was a reason/influence for this song coming to be. By being open and sharing his insides, sharing his feelings, Mayer has created a piece of art; one that is relatable, beautiful, and heart-wrenching to listen to. This is Mayer at his best - just him, his guitar, and his talent as a wordsmith and poet. Easily my favorite song by him in a long time. So much respect for him, as both a musician, and as a human being.
My roommate from freshman year of college, Josh, was really into him, and shared almost all of his music with me. I really enjoyed it, especially "Slow Dancing In A Burning Room", but didn't follow his career very closely - only listening to new songs if I happened upon them.
It was when I started following him on social media that I really began to develop my interest in him - not only as a musician, but as a person. It's hard to gauge a person through social media, especially a celebrity figure, but throughout my time watching Mayer from afar, I feel a deep sense of honesty and vulnerability from his posts (along with a fantastic sense of humor). The point where it really hit me was when Mac Miller passed - even though Mayer didn't know him that well, he shared some of their time together and the sense of loss he felt within about his passing. This was something I very much related to - not that I knew Mac Miller, but that I felt like I was just starting to get to know him as a musician, as an artist, and then he was gone.
Right before he released "I Guess I Just Feel Like", Mayer posted a picture of himself with a guitar/in the process of recording, and a bit of an explanation about the process behind the song. That was the moment where I knew this song was going to be something special. He talked about how he had been struggling with writing new songs in August & September of last year, and how after trying and failing to write songs in a specific way, he took it back to the basics in October and stopped trying to make something that wasn't going to happen - and "I Guess I Just Feels Like" was born.
The song itself is a very stripped down, almost country-sounding tune, primarily featuring vocals and acoustic guitar with later additions of drums and a fitting solo from Mayer himself. The vulnerability is heavy from the start, especially in the lyrics, and that's what has captured me with each and every listen. There's a definite sense of losing innocence, of this struggling between the desired, idealized world, and the one that we currently live in. Of having hope, yet struggling with loss and depression and negativity. It's hard to pinpoint these ideas to specific lines, so I copied all the lyrics below. I've said a little about them, but they truly speak for themselves:
(Verse 1)
"I guess I just feel like
I guess I just feel like
Nobody's honest, nobody's true
Everyone's lyin' to make it on through
I guess I just feel like I'm the same way too
(Verse 2)
I guess I just feel like good things are gone
And the weight of my worries is too much to take on
I think I remember the dream that I had
That love's gonna save us from a world that's gone mad
I guess I just feel like
What happened to that?
(Verse 3)
I guess I just feel like the joke's gettin' old
And the future is fading and the past is on hold
But I know that I'm open and I know that I'm free
And I'll always let hope in wherever I'll be
And if I go blind, I'd still find my way
I guess I just felt like givin' up today"
This doesn't feel like a song that's written to make money. It's purpose isn't to be this smash hit, to have a ton of airtime on the radio or be an internet sensation. It was made to convey the way that Mayer felt, which was not long after Mac Miller passed, and I'm sure was a reason/influence for this song coming to be. By being open and sharing his insides, sharing his feelings, Mayer has created a piece of art; one that is relatable, beautiful, and heart-wrenching to listen to. This is Mayer at his best - just him, his guitar, and his talent as a wordsmith and poet. Easily my favorite song by him in a long time. So much respect for him, as both a musician, and as a human being.
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