John Mayer has gained clarity on one of his songs.
The singer revisted his 2013 track "Paper Doll" during an April 8 concert at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. As seen in a video circulating on social media, John mused as he strummed the opening chords on his guitar, "I wonder if people don't like it because it sounds a little pissed off."
"I don't really like 'pissed off' as a song," he continued, before admitting "there's something about it that's a little bitchy."
While the 45-year-old tries "not to give bitchiness" in his music, he acknowledged that it "happens sometimes" and called out the song for what he described as "sarcastic bitch" vibes.
John added, "I guess it is sort a little bit bleh."
Released as the lead single for his sixth studio album Paradise Valley, "Paper Doll" has long been speculated to be a musical response to John's rumored ex Taylor Swift and her 2010 track "Dear John." Though neither artists have ever revealed the inspiration behind their respective tracks, fans have noted similarities between their lyrics.
"'Cause you're like 22 girls in one / And none of them know what they're runnin' from," John sings in the chorus of "Paper Doll."
Meanwhile, Taylor belts on her track, "And you'll add my name to your long list of traitors who don't understand / And I'll look back and regret how I ignored when they said 'run as fast as you can.'"
In 2019, John addressed the speculation surrounding the subject of "Paper Doll," saying that the song "didn't get the love it deserved" because of all the chatter.
"One of the tenets of being a singer-songwriter...is: We don't talk about who the songs are either inspired by or reference," he explained in an Instagram Live at the time. "And when 'Paper Doll' came out, 100 percent of the people believed it was about somebody and the person that they thought it was about brought a certain amount of a superficial pop culture back and forth."
Refusing to share the meaning behind the track, John said he "had to burn 'Paper Doll' to save the integrity of being a singer-songwriter."
"The song didn't get the credit it deserves," he added. "I had to let it go."