“It’s a little bit of a cheat”: John Mayer’s “critical take” on why country songs are always talking about drinking
John Mayer says there’s one topic country music leans on a little too much: alcohol.
In a new conversation with country singer Lainey Wilson on his SiriusXM show Life With John Mayer, the guitarist shares his “critical take” on country music as a whole, specifically how its lyrics often lean on inebriation.
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“My hottest take about country, the only critical take about country… it’s the constant invocation of drinking,” he says. “Everyone loves drinking. So when you think about drinking, you get excited.
“When you hear about drinking, you have a smile on your face. To me, sometimes, it’s a little bit of a cheat. Because it’s like telling people, ‘Remember how cool tequila is? My song is playing while you are thinking about tequila.’ See what I’m saying?”
John Mayer isn’t the only artist critical of the country genre in recent years. In 2024, Nashville guitarist and Billy Gibbons and Dolly Parton collaborator Guthrie Trapp said the sound of country music had deviated so much from its roots it should be given a new name entirely.
“Country music is the only genre where it’s gotten away from the actual sound of the music as it’s supposed to be. They should change the name to ‘southern pop.’”
Elsewhere, John Mayer recently recalled writing his 2003 track Daughters, revealing his true intentions behind the track, which on the face serves as a call for fathers to nurture their daughters properly.
“What was a 24-year-old boy doing, telling fathers,” Mayer laughed.
Mayer explained that beneath the surface, the song was really about the fact he couldn’t be with a woman he loved.
“I was thinking in very circuitous and clever ways that it was really about me, a young guy, so selfishly upset that he couldn’t be with the woman he loved, because he thought that her father must have had something to do with it,” he added.
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