This is the 20th John Mayer song I’ve featured on the blog, yet the first from his 2003 album Heavier Things (my #5 album from that year).

I’m actually surprised by both of those stats. Mayer has occupied a huge place in my personal listening time, in no small part because he is one of the very few artists beloved by multiple members of my family, and yet he has made up less than one half of one percent of my posts here. And among those 20 songs, I’m shocked that I didn’t find room for anything from the excellent Heavier Things.

This was Mayer’s sophomore album, released two years after his popular debut, Room For Squares. The label took a low-key approach to marketing the record, not leaning into the hype over his last release but looking instead to build a lasting career. For all of Mayer’s juvenile tabloid relationship drama, he has always been very serious about how he approaches his music.

The approach worked, with the album earning strong reviews and still going triple platinum. It also landed Mayer two Grammys, including Best Song for ‘Daughters’ (which is, for my money, the worst track on the album).

He introduced horns and more electric guitar to the largely acoustic mix on Room For Squares, and stretched himself as a songwriter. ‘Come Back to Bed’ sees him in romantic crooner mode, while jazzy tracks ‘Home Life’ and ‘Split Screen Sadness’ sound a bit like Sting (who Mayer once called the greatest living songwriter).

Opening track ‘Clarity’ was a great way to kick off this new direction. It’s a soaring beauty that remains one of my favorite Mayer songs.