John Mayer. So.... do we like him?

[Smarmie Doofus]

I'm always a decade behind the pack... sometimes more... where pop music is concerned. Suffice it to say, I seem to be hooked on this guy. "Room for Squares" was playing on my CD player all summer; and...this is the scary part... playing in my head when I wasn't in the car.

That album was given to me. Yesterday I bought Continuum at Barnes and Noble. Probably the first new CD i've bought for myself in about eight years.

Here's the dilemma: I can't really feel comfortable with an artist if I don't like their politics. And I mean "politics" in the broadest sense.

True, I won't and can't support someone who supported the Iraq war . I just can't do it. Similarly , i can't support someone who is in any way homophobic. But if an artist is apolitical , that's a bit of a negative for me, not necessarily a complete turnoff. OTOH if they are "here and there" .... I don't really know how to feel about him/her.

Mayer is in this category; he seems to be mixed bag. Aware and reflective HERE ... Waitin on the World to Change..... but a seemingly self-absorbed light weight THERE .... dating People Mag celebrity airhead types and making some goofy public pronouncements of his own.

But the more I HEAR of him , the deeper I'm sinking. The music. It's quicksand.

Isn't it?

I need to figure out how to FEEL about HIM.

So... do we like him?