John Mayer Jokes His Song 'Paper Doll,' Believed to Be About Taylor Swift, Was a 'Bit Bitchy'
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Though fans have long thought "Paper Doll" was inspired by Taylor Swift, John Mayer revealed in 2019 that it was not
A decade after its release, John Mayer is reflecting on the possible reasons why his song "Paper Doll" never quite took off as a fan favorite.
The guitarist, 45, played the track, the lead single off his 2013 album Paradise Valley, at his solo acoustic show on Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Afterward, he wondered aloud if perhaps some fans took issue with it due to its tone — even if that wasn't his intention.
"I wonder if some people don't like it because it sounds a little pissed off," he told the crowd, according to a fan video. "I don't really like pissed off as a song — I think it was more hurt. But I think there's something about it that's a little bitchy."
He continued: "I try not to get bitchiness in the songs, though it happens sometimes. I guess I don't do it very well, sarcastic bitchy. But I don't really see it… I guess it is sort of a little bit like [snarls]."
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"Paper Doll" has long been a source of curiosity for fans, many of whom believe it was inspired by Taylor Swift as a response to her 2010 song "Dear John."
Mayer, however, denied that was the case on an Instagram Live in 2019, during which he named "Paper Doll" as the song of his that he thought didn't get the love it deserved.
"I was in a situation where I had to stand strong on one of the tenets of being a singer-songwriter, which is, we don't talk about who the songs are either inspired by or reference, because many times they just don't inspire any one person," he said.
The singer-songwriter did not name Swift, but acknowledged that nearly everyone thought it was about one particular person — and they were wrong.
"When 'Paper Doll' came out, 100% of the people believed it was about somebody and the person that they thought it was about brought a certain amount of superficial pop culture back-and-forth about it that I think kind of s--- on the song," he said. "But the song was not about that person."
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Mayer went on to say that he felt as though he couldn't deny that it was about "that person" because he firmly believes in never revealing who his songs are or are not about, and quipped that he had to "burn 'Paper Doll' to save the integrity of being a singer-songwriter."
"I think because people thought that it was a shot across the bow in a pop culture sort of Hollywood story, the song didn't get the credit it deserved," he said. "But it wasn't what people thought it was and I had to let it go."
Swift and Mayer collaborated on his single "Half of My Heart" in 2009, and later sparked romance rumors, though neither ever confirmed they were an item.
When Swift released the song "Dear John" a year later, many fans believed it was inspired by the end of her rumored relationship with Mayer, though she played coy when asked by PEOPLE in 2010 who it was about.
Regardless of whether or not he served as her muse, Mayer took issue with the track anyway, telling Rolling Stone in 2012 that the lyrics made him "feel terrible."
"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," he said. "I never got an email. I never got a phone call. 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?"
Though Mayer has remained steadfast in his dedication to not revealing who his songs are about, he did break his rule last year, when he told the Call Her Daddy podcast that his breakthrough hit "Your Body Is a Wonderland" was inspired by his first girlfriend.
"That was about my first girlfriend," he said. "That was about the feeling, which I think was already sort of nostalgic… I was 21 when I wrote that song and I was nostalgic for being 16."
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