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On John Mayer

 My admiration for John Mayer's gift is really about "My Stupid Mouth":

My stupid mouth
Got me in trouble.
I said too much again--
To a date over dinner yesterday.
I could see she was offended--
She said, Well....anyway....

This is shockingly low-stakes and so honest. Mayer--known for saying dumb things--has perhaps compared his own penis to David Duke. He is kicking himself. Well....anyway....

We bit our lips--
Looked out the window.
Rolling tiny balls of napkin paper....
I played a quick game of chess with the salt- and pepper-shaker.

The song gets funnier: There is a gap between the speaker's self-pity and his awkward dinnertime performance. The lips, the napkins, the salt-shaker: God is in the details.

One more thing....
Why is it -my- fault? 
Maybe I try too hard....
But it's all because of this desire.
I just want to be liked.
I just want to be funny....
Looks like the joke's on me!

A punchline: The speaker, having vowed never to comment again, suddenly says, "One more thing!" I think the genius of this last verse is that the jury is still out. Mayer decides to defend himself, to play devil's advocate. But another voice in his head is still saying: "Nope, you're an idiot." This argument never ends: Our two halves are almost always fighting with each other. Mayer has found a smart way to dramatize ambivalence--and to leave some questions open.

Here is Audra McDonald, doing her version.

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