Gravity and blues guitar
Gravity is working against me
And gravity wants to bring me down
-Gravity, John Mayer (Continuum)
I love the Blues. Thanks to Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Freddie King, and other countless guitar slingers, I’ve been addicted to the Blues. So when I picked up John Mayer’s new album, Continuum, I was surprised to find blues gems. Like many pop artists in the past, Mayer is going back to his roots, which is obviously the blues. As this wiki from last.fm indicates:
In September 2006, Mayer released his third studio album, Continuum. The album, written and produced exclusively by Mayer (with the help of Steve Jordan from the John Mayer Trio) is a culmination of Mayer’s growth as an artist and continues with the blues-rock style that he began to flirt with on Try!.Also notable is John Mayer’s various adaptations in style. He always maintained a blues tone, and in Try! he introduced a rockier edge. However, in Continuum, he adopts a calmer genre, returning to his previous styles.
Mayer is a schooled songwriter/musician, having studied at Berklee College of Music (although he did not finish). He started out on the acoustic guitar but eventually graduated to the electric with Heavier Things, and now Continuum. He also had another live album, John Mayer Trio Try!, which is also a blues-rock album. You can find more about Mayer at Wikipedia.
Gravity is one of the songs included in the Continuum album. It’s a heavy, and slow blues song that will keep your head bopping. But I love the tone of the guitar in this song. It reminds me of Clapton: it’s subtle yet it’s soulful. Add to it are good lyrics that read like a poem:
Gravity is working against me
And gravity wants to bring me downOh I’ll never know what makes this man
With all the love that his heart can stand
Dream of ways to throw it all awayOh Gravity is working against me
And gravity wants to bring me downOh twice as much ain’t twice as good
And can’t sustain like one half could
It’s wanting more
That’s gonna send me to my knees
Mayer also maintains a blog, where I found this video clip of Gravity.
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