John Mayer has seemingly confirmed that his song “Paper Doll” is aimed at his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift and mate, now is not the time.
It’s long been rumoured that the 2013 song was a diss track directed at Swift. In case you’ve forgotten, the pair briefly dated between 2009 and 2010, when she was 19 and he was 32.
The lyrics contain a bunch of nods to Swift, such as: “You’re like 22 girls in one,” a possible reference to her song “22”.
There’s also the line “fold a scarf, Moroccan red,” a potential shoutout to both the infamous scarf lyric in “All Too Well” as well as her album and song Red.
Not only that, but the video features a lady awkwardly dancing and Swift has long been mocked for her dance moves.
Have a watch below:
At a recent John Mayer show, the bloke discussed the inspo behind the song and oh man, he is ASKING for trouble (I knew he was trouble when he walked in…).
He admits that the song is a “bitchy” track about an ex. Although he admits that he doesn’t like to sound “pissed off” on his songs.
This is a potential hint at the fact that Taylor Swift used her defunct relationship with Mayer as inspo for numerous tracks including “Dear John,” which pissed him off at the time.
@covidcovers John Mayer reflecting on his Paper Doll lyrics #johnmayer #johnmayersolotour #taylorswift #couldveshouldvewouldve #dearjohn #paperdoll
Following the release of “Dear John”, Mayer told Rolling Stone that he felt “humiliated” by the lyrics.
“It made me feel terrible,” he said. “Because I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do.”
Mayer then added, “… I was really caught off guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I’d already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you’ve ever been, someone kicked you even lower?”
Mayer went on to say that it was a “cheap” songwriting tactic to reference an ex in a song and that’s mighty contradictory of you to go and do the same thing, but go off, king.
The timing is certainly interesting, for several reasons:
- Taylor Swift just called it quits with her BF of six years Joe Alwyn and it’s dominating the news right now — which is probs why he’s done this because he’s despo for attention.
- She’s currently on her Eras Tour and I’m sure he’s baiting her for a clap back at her next show. Just watch as “Dear John” is suddenly added to the set list — she’s been playing around with the tracks to suit what’s going on in her life RN.
- Taylor Swift is rumoured to be re-recording Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) right now, the ver y album that contains the scathing track “Dear John”.
Does he want to get Gyllenhaaled? And by that, I mean have “Dear John” reworked into a 10-minute version with even more biting lyrics, much like “All Too Well” which reignited fans’ fury at Jake Gyllenhaal?
As I previously pointed out, perhaps he does? No press is bad press, etc.
Welp, I’m sure Jake Gyllenhaal respectfully disagrees with that notion.
Oh, it is on, John. It is on like Donkey Kong. Or in this case, Johnkey Kong.
Matty Galea is the Managing Editor of PEDESTRIAN.TV, as well as our resident astrologer. You can find him on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
