I’ve never been a fan of John Mayer’s particular brand of soft pop-rock — if only because even THINKING about Your Body is a Wonderland gets it lodged in my brain. But I’ve always found his presence online rather charming. If only because there was no publicist filter, no spokesperson. Just a man, a blog, a MySpace page and a YouTube channel. But while he’s kept up with his online writing, his YouTube output has dropped off significantly over the past four months — and, to quote a more talented lyricist, “you don’t know what you got ’till it’s gone.”
What’s always been striking about Mayer’s online presence is that this guy has a fairly successful music career, but it doesn’t really seem to make him happy; what he really seems to care about is the Internet’s approval, and he seeks it with all this self-created content, clearly hoping to build the kind of fan-base achieved by truly cool musicians like Trent Reznor or Thom Yorke.
Of course, Trent Reznor and Thom Yorke don’t have YouTube accounts — the reason they’re cool is that they don’t seek this sort of attention. Sadly for John Mayer, because he so clearly sought the approval of online audiences, it was reluctant in coming — especially since his video efforts, such as Public Apology, weren’t quite the deadpan comic masterpieces he wanted them to be. Mayer personifies the core theme of Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous — some people are just not cool. No amount of tattoos, famous girlfriends or hit singles can change that.
One of my favorite Mayer facts, which perfectly encapsulates the man’s desire to escape the pop music ghetto, is is this: When The Office approached John Mayer to use Wonderland in an episode, even though they were clear that the song would be used mockingly, Mayer agreed, but with a price — his very own Dundie award.
I can only assume that John Mayer’s YouTube absence happened for the same reason other people stall out on their novels or knitting — the significant other got in the way. So, now that he has broken up with main squeeze Jennifer Aniston, I can only hope he’ll return, seeking validation at the cost of his own dignity — because it’s nice to know that just being famous doesn’t make you cool.
