Taylor Swift has a talent for taking her life experiences and turning them into heartfelt songs that her fans adore. The singer’s latest record of one of the pits of her love life—‘All Too Well’, which chronicles her relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal—has just become the longest billboard number one song ever.
Fans love it when Swift opens up about her relationships and the pain she experienced going through them because they can relate to that pain themselves.
Although fans all but froth at the mouth for Swift’s real-life-inspired music, not everyone is happy when she the superstar releases a new song. In particular, the subjects of her songs have responded with harsh words and, in some cases, songs that are supposed to answer Swift back.
John Mayer, whom Swift dated in 2009, definitely wasn’t feeling the song she wrote about him. Keep reading to find out what happened.
Taylor Swift’s Relationship With John Mayer
In 2009, Taylor Swift linked up with John Mayer to collaborate on his song ‘Half of My Heart,’ which appeared on his album Battle Studies.
Although neither ever spoke openly about their relationship at the time, Swift did reveal to Ellen DeGeneres that she was excited about working with Mayer after being a big fan of his. At the time they were dating, Swift was 19 and Mayer was 32.
It’s not clear why they broke up, but the relationship between Swift and Mayer seems to have fizzled out in 2010.
The Song ‘Dear John’
In 2010, Swift famously wrote the song ‘Dear John’ which is believed to be about her relationship with Mayer. Judging by the lyrics, the pair had broken up by the time the song was released:
“Dear John, I see it all, now it was wrong / Don’t you think 19 is too young / To be played by your dark twisted games, when I loved you so?”
According to Us, John Mayer wasn’t happy about being the subject of Swift’s song.
John Mayer’s First Response To Taylor Swift’s Song
John Mayer didn’t hold back in a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, where he opened about how he felt about the song ‘Dear John.’
“It made me feel terrible,” he said in the interview (via Us). “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” song-writing trick to directly reference an ex in a song.
Taylor Swift’s Policy On Her Exes Writing About Her
Some fans have pointed out that if Taylor Swift is going to openly pen tracks about people in her life, then she has to be okay with them writing about her.
And according to Today, the singer confirmed that is more than happy for her exes to write about her, too.
It didn’t come as much of a surprise, then, when John Mayer released a song that appeared to be in response to ‘Dear John.'
The Song John Mayer Released In Response
In 2013, John Mayer released the song ‘Paper Doll’ off his album ‘Paradise Valley,’ which fans suspect was about Taylor Swift.
In the song, Mayer sings, “You’re like 22 girls in one.” This may have been a reference to Swift, as the year prior she released her hit song ‘22’ off her album ‘Red.’
The song also seems to make other references to ‘Dear John,’ including saying, “Here’s a dress of gold and blue/Sure was fun being good to you.” In ‘Dear John,’ Swift refers to herself as, “the girl in the dress.”
According to Today, the song appears to accuse Swift of several negative things, including not being honest with him and becoming someone else as soon as they broke up.
‘Paper Dolls’ also seems to insinuate that Swift doesn’t know herself, let alone her boyfriends, and uses men for song-writing inspo, dumps them, and then pretends to be the victim.
What John Mayer Said Later
While Mayer didn’t try to sugarcoat his feelings about ‘Dear John’ after it had just been released, he seemed to have changed his stance by 2021, reportedly telling Andy Cohen that he’s “a fan.”
“I don't think it's a dirty admission. Sometimes, a song is so good, I go, ‘Man, I hope that’s about me.' ... I'll check everyone's music out. I'm a fan,” the singer confessed.
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