<p id=”par-1_44″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/taylor-swift/”>Taylor Swift</a> writes songs about other celebrities — and sometimes, other celebrities write songs about her. There’s a rumor that John Mayer wrote a song that was critical of <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/taylor-swift-wasnt-1st-singer-hit-called-shake-it-off.html/”>the “Shake It Off” singer</a>. Mayer himself offered some vulgar words about the track’s meaning.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-a-sarcastic-john-mayer-song-was-rumored-to-be-about-taylor-swift”>A sarcastic John Mayer song was rumored to be about Taylor Swift </h2>
<p id=”par-2_55″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/john-mayer-played-solo-fall-out-boys-cover-michael-jacksons-beat-it.html/”>Mayer is a rock star</a> from the 2000s most known for his hits “Waiting on the World to Change” and “Your Body Is a Wonderland.” <a href=”https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/taylor-swift-dear-john-mayer-b2363774.html” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The Independent</a> reports that Mayer dated Swift from December 2009 to February 2010, when he was 31 and she was 19. Swift sang on Mayer’s song “Half of My Heart.”</p>
<p id=”par-3_77″>Years after the breakup, he released a song called “Paper Doll” on his album <em>Paradise Valley</em> that inspired rumors it was about the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/taylor-swifts-i-knew-you-were-trouble-video-inspired-lana-del-reys-ride.html/”>“I Knew You Were Trouble” star</a>. According to a 2023 <a href=”https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/john-mayer-taylor-swift-paper-doll-song-little-bitchy-1235301634/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Billboard</a> article, Mayer said at a concert that “Paper Doll” was controversial. “I wonder if people don’t like it because it sounds a little pissed off,” he said. “I don’t really like ‘pissed off’ as a song. I think it was more [about] hurt.”</p>
<p id=”par-4_55″>“Is there something about it that’s a little b****y?” he continued. “There might be. I try not to give b****iness in the songs, it happens sometimes. I guess I don’t do it very well — sarcastic b**** — but I didn’t really see it. I guess it is sort of a little bit like, ‘Meehhh.’”</p>
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<iframe title=”John Mayer – Paper Doll (Lyric)” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/565tXd1UyYI?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-john-mayer-said-the-song-is-not-about-a-certain-someone”>John Mayer said the song is not about a certain someone</h2>
<p id=”par-5_70″>During a 2019 video on Instagram Live, Mayer said the rumor was false. “The person they thought it was about brought a certain amount of superficial pop culture back-and-forth about it,” he said. “But the song was not about that person, and I could never tell anybody that’s not true because then I would be breaking my rule that songwriters don’t say who their songs are about or not about.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_46″>Why did fans think the track was about Swift? Swift is famous for writing songs about her boyfriends, many of whom have been well-known. They were assuming that Mayer might have done something similar. After all, numerous songwriters besides Swift have written songs about their exes.</p>
<p id=”par-7_77″>On top of that, the woman in the song “Paper Doll” is portrayed negatively. It’s not surprising that Mayer would have criticisms of a former girlfriend. Beyond that, the song puts a particular focus on the dresses that a woman wears. Swift is known both for wearing beautiful dresses and for mentioning dresses in many of her songs. Who could forget the lines about <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/taylor-swifts-love-story-inspired-crush-went-nowhere.html/”>Juliet’s wedding dress in “Love Story”</a> and the “nice dress” from “Wildest Dreams?”</p>
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<iframe title=”Taylor Swift – Wildest Dreams” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/IdneKLhsWOQ?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/halsey-mean-spoof-taylor-swifts-i-knew-you-were-trouble.html/”>
Halsey Did a Mean Spoof of Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ </a>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-john-mayer-s-paper-doll-performed”>How John Mayer’s ‘Paper Doll’ performed</h2>
<p id=”par-8_78″>“Paper Doll” barely charted in the United States. It reached No. 77 on the <a href=”https://www.billboard.com/artist/taylor-swift/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Billboard Hot 100</a> for a week. For context, Mayer has not had a top-40 single since the 2000s. In the 2010s and 2020s, he has less of a following among pop fans and more of a cult following. “Paper Doll” appeared on the album <em>Paradise Valley</em>. That record peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and lasted on the chart for 22 weeks.</p>
<p id=”par-9_21″>Swift has had a lot of influence on songs by other people — but “Paper Doll” is not one of them.</p>