
John Mayer Taylor Swift - P 2012
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Underneath the goofy premise of John Mayer‘s lyric video for his latest, “Paper Doll,” speculation is swirling about the woman behind the heartbreak ballad.
Revealed on Tuesday, the clip features Prancercise guru Joanna Rohrback doing “a prance to romance to.” But as the lyrics unfurl, observers wonder if the song is an ode to Mayer’s famous ex Taylor Swift, who infamously aired the duo’s dirty laundry in her song “Dear John.” In response, Mayer said that the track had “humiliated” him.
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“You’re like 22 girls in one/ And none of them know what they’re running from/ Was it just too far to fall/ for a little paper doll?” Mayer croons in the chorus. Listen to the track here.
In addition to the “22” reference, which seemingly plays off Swift’s latest single, there are several other lyrical parallels between “Paper Doll” and Swift’s “Dear John.”
As noted by several outlets including MTV, E!, Huffington Post and People, among others, Mayer appears to respond to Swift on multiple levels.
Per MTV: ‘”Here’s a dress of gold and blue/Sure was fun being good to you,” Mayer sings at the beginning of the track, one of several mentions of dresses (remember, of course, that on “Dear John,” Swift referred to herself as “the girl in the dress [who] cried all the way home.”) Later, there’s a lyric that goes “Someone’s gonna paint you another sky,” which seems like a direct call-back to another “John” line: “You paint me a blue sky and go back and turn it to rain.”
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Lest we forget the reference to a “moroccan red” scarf — perhaps the same scarf mentioned in Swift’s “All Too Well,” as well as an ode to her album title, Red.
What do you think? Coincidence? Overanalysis? Or did John Mayer just Taylor Swift Taylor Swift? Sound off in the comments below.
“Paper Doll” is the first single to be released off Mayer’s sixth studio album, Paradise Valley, out Aug. 13.
Email: Sophie.Schillaci@THR.com; Twitter: @SophieSchillaci
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