I chose the song Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer as my protest song of choice. I believe that this song is a challenge because Mayer is not very forward about the social issues he is speaking of in his songs. This song is not obvious in the issues that are being discussed. He is very ambiguous about what he is discussing. The song begins by saying that he and all of his friends are misunderstood. This makes me believe that they stray out from the social norm or typical persona you’d find at the age that Mayer and his friends are.

This song was released in 2006, I am unsure what events in politics and the social atmosphere in America were going on at the time of this song being released. What I believe this song will lead me to in my research is what social issues were occurring at the time of this song’s release date as well as John Mayer’s generation and why they felt like they were not being heard by the people in power. As of now, I am not sure what was occurring in history at this time but in my research this semester I believe that I will find out what social issues were taking place at this time.

What this song means to me personally will be dissected deeper within the semester but as of now this song, to me, is a peaceful protest song written by Mayer who seems to want to have more of a say in society. A specific lyric in the song says “It’s not that we don’t care”. Mayer’s lackadaisical attitude may come off as not caring but it is truly just him looking for a way to peacefully change the world without causing issues. In my findings, I hope I have a better understanding of Mayer’s generation and why they watched from a distance instead of acting upon the issues they had with the people in power as well as the way in which the country was being run.

John Mayer is one of my favorite artists of all time so I do not believe that I will get tired of listening to this song. Most times when I am home or in my car, I am listening to any and all music by John Mayer. I will never get sick of this song! The concerns that I have about this project are what if the song was not released at a time where anything was happening with social issues and Mayer just wanted to create a song like this? I am curious to see whether or not this song was inspired by anything. I am hoping there is enough in this song to dissect for 11 weeks this semester!

 

John Mayer – Waiting On the World to Change (Official Music Video)

 

John Mayer – Waiting On The World To Change Lyrics