This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I am driving up 85 in the
Kind of morning that lasts all afternoon
I'm just stuck inside the gloom
4 more exits to my apartment but
I am tempted to keep the car in drive
And leave it all behind
'Cause I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, why Georgia, why?
I rent a room and I fill the spaces with
Wood in places to make it feel like home
But all I feel's alone
It might be a quarter life crisis
Or just the stirring in my soul
Either way I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, why Georgia, why?
So what, so I've got a smile on
But it's hiding the quiet superstitions in my head
Don't believe me
Don't believe me
When I say I've got it down
Everybody is just a stranger but
That's the danger in going my own way
I guess it's the price I have to pay
Still "everything happens for a reason"
Is no reason not to ask myself if I
Am living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, tell me why,
Why, why Georgia, why?
Kind of morning that lasts all afternoon
I'm just stuck inside the gloom
4 more exits to my apartment but
I am tempted to keep the car in drive
And leave it all behind
'Cause I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, why Georgia, why?
I rent a room and I fill the spaces with
Wood in places to make it feel like home
But all I feel's alone
It might be a quarter life crisis
Or just the stirring in my soul
Either way I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, why Georgia, why?
So what, so I've got a smile on
But it's hiding the quiet superstitions in my head
Don't believe me
Don't believe me
When I say I've got it down
Everybody is just a stranger but
That's the danger in going my own way
I guess it's the price I have to pay
Still "everything happens for a reason"
Is no reason not to ask myself if I
Am living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, tell me why,
Why, why Georgia, why?
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No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
You know I loved this song when I was 16. It was beautiful and all my friends thought John was cute. I remember having this playing when I was learning to drive, actually. But you know what I've realized. I'm 20 now, and I can finally understand what he is saying. I think that is his art. You can love a song for it's beat and how cute the singer is, but it's when you can stop and appreciate the lyrics and their deep meaning that I think you can actually love a song. This is one of those songs.
I always thought it was "I am driving, 85 N." As in north on highway 85. Listening again, I guess he does softly say "up 85 in..."
I lived in Georgia in my mid 20s and I really relate to this song. I think it's about getting to an age where you always thought you would be an adult and have things figured out. Instead you have no idea if you're really doing what you should be doing, a "quarter-life crisis." You're stuck in traffic (which is awful on 85 during rush hour) and don't feel like your life is meaningful.
It's really interesting that so many people wonder if this is a love song written to someone named Georgia. In a way I think it is. Living in a place and being unsure if you're doing the right thing is like being in a relationship but you don't know if the person is really the love of your life. The way he makes the place seem like a person really makes the song cool for me.
"it might be a quarter life crises or just the stirring in my soul" this is real good stuff
i totally missed the meaning of the song when i first heard it but now reading the lyrics it just struck me since i've been feeling this way. Im only 2 yrs shy from graduating high school and everyone is asking me what i want to be or what i want to do after hs. my friends are finding out what they want, my family is thinking how i'll be able to go to college and what college im going to and im also going through changes, im realising things, finding out suff, and trying to just survive each day of my life. Its very stressful and is full of uncertainty but i like not knowing what'll happen and just living the now so his song totally gives me relief and calmness that helps me balance and think things out.
"don’t believe me don’t you dare believe me when I say I’ve got it down"
totally me. 25 and still trying to figure it out. love this song! older john mayer is great
John began his career in athens GA.. he used to play at a coffe bar here called "bluesky". "driving up 85" refers to interstate 85 that runs up the east coast.. and right near athens. He just kinda moved out here without really settleing in.. so i dont think he knew alot of people.. and he was taking a big risk for his music by randomly moving here. by the way if you see the video for "no such thing" its footage from a concert at the "athens theater" where he kinda started out. the rest is kinda self explanitory.. the song is basically about his doubts, fears, and other feelings as hes basically trying to make a life for himself. athens is a big college town so it was a great place for him to start.
P.S. GO DAWGS (UGA)
okay, since no one has gotten this one right yet, let me do the deed. first of all, "driving down 85" refers to Interstate 85 that runs through Atlanta, Georgia not Athens. Mayer lived in Atlanta for a while and this song is about wondering if he made the right choice moving there. he is feeling homesick and he is experiencing the self-doubt and confusion that most of us mid 20somethings go through. he felt he had to get out of whatever town he is from and for some reason he was drawn to atlanta, ga. thus, "why georiga, why?" this song is about having the balls to say "fuck that, im not going to just move back home after college like everyone else. im going to take a chance and go somewhere new, even if i know no one and its scary as hell." great song; it is the much more introspective version of "wide open spaces" by the dixie chicks.
This is an incredibly well written song. Living in Atlanta really allows you to relate more with it, but it definitely captures that 20-something moment in life. I've always considered John Mayer to be a tool, but he has moments of brilliance like this song. I don't know what it is about this song, but it strikes a chord in me. It really captures that feeling of just being frustrated and unsure of where you're going in life.
"rent a room and I fill the spaces with wood and places to make it feel like home but all I feel's alone"
Lyrics like this are truly perfect, when it comes to capturing a moment in existence. It's that feeling of being very incomplete before you venture into your actual life.
I just love this song and think it reflects where I am right now. My Georgia is North Carolina and I'm still figuring out if "I'm living it right." Wrote more about it on my blog: newyorkinanutshell.blogspot.com
This song is absolutely gorgeous - it relates so well to that feeling of being unsure about your life and where you're headed. I adore this song.