Nineteen may be too young to be messed with, but John Mayer had no problem talking professionally about the now-25-year-old Taylor Swift.
As part of Mayer’s 7 Days of Genius special on MSNBC (already infamous for Mayer’s “I’m a recovered ego addict” comments), Mayer discussed his respect for his ex-fling and “Half of My Heart” duet partner.
When interviewer Ronan Farrow brought up Swift while discussing technology and music, Mayer replied, “We have to be able to talk about Taylor Swift!” and shared that he thought it was “really cool” that Swift is taking on Spotify.
John Mayer: ‘I’m a Recovered Ego Addict’
“Artists need the person with the loudest voice to speak for them…I think that’s a really cool thing for a musician to do,” Mayer said. “Like two percent of the music industry has 80 percent of all the media about it. There’s like four people who get all the press, and if any of those four people say, ‘I want to speak for those people who would just never make this a story’–The only reason we’re talking about Taylor Swift taking Spotify on is because she’s Taylor Swift!”
He also discussed his 2013 song “Paper Doll” — which the media took as a lyrical jab at Swift following Swift’s 2010 tune “Dear John.”
“I’m not in the business of telling people what the song is about. I never said anything about it,” Mayer said. “And now I just go, ‘Look, I can say the name Taylor Swift. She’s an artist. I’m an artist. Let’s just…everybody stop. Nobody’s got an incurable cancer. We’re rich people who get to live out our dreams. Let’s just stop it…It’s really about the longevity of all the work that goes together, and I’m just not interested in the things that won’t last forever.”
h/t E! Online