Neon (song)

"Neon"
Song by John Mayer from the album Room for Squares
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2001
Genre	Pop Funk rock
Length	4:22
Label	Columbia
Composer	John Mayer Clay Cook
Producer	John Alagia John Mayer
Room for Squares track listing
"Your Body Is a Wonderland" (4) "Neon" (5) "City Love" (6)
Inside Wants Out track listing "My Stupid Mouth" (3) "Neon" (4) "Victoria" (5) Any Given Thursday track listing "Comfortable" (6) "Neon" (7) as/is track listing "Comfortable" (6) "Neon" (7) Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles track listing "Neon" (1) "Stop This Train" (2)

"Neon" is a song performed by John Mayer and written by Mayer and his former songwriting partner Clay Cook. The two wrote the song while they were known as LoFi Masters. The studio edition of the song appears as track five on Mayer's platinum album, Room for Squares.

Versions

The song appeared twice in Mayer's initial indie EP, Inside Wants Out, once simply under the title "Neon", which is a vocal acoustic version, and a second time as "Neon 12:47 AM" which is a live version with a full band as well as altered versions of "Neon" main riffs, but was notably much shorter than the first version. Mayer then re-recorded the song for his first full studio album, Room for Squares, merging elements of the two EP versions (i.e., the length and lyrics of the first and full band from the second). The song has later appeared on three of Mayer's live albums; Any Given Thursday, and returning to its acoustic form as a guitar and vocal duet between Mayer and David Ryan Harris on the albums as/is and alone on Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles "Neon" remains one of only a few of Mayer's early songs which has been featured on many of his releases and is still included in his regular setlist after it was given a more acoustic and solo style revision as heard on Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles. Starting as early as 2007, the Zac Brown Band began covering this song at shows, before co-writer Clay Cook even joined the band, and for a while it remained the only song in their set list that he had a hand in writing.

Guitar used on "Neon"

The guitar from the cover of Room for Squares is a Novax Expression Solidbody 6 guitar with fanned frets (for multiscale purposes along different strings) and is the guitar which Mayer plays on "Neon". "Neon" is the only song from the album that Mayer used this guitar for, and he has the guitar tuned uniquely with the low E string dropped to C. The style employed by Mayer for the piece is noted for the strumming hand only using the thumb and index finger. Whilst performing the song live, Mayer is known to play a lengthy introduction before beginning the song.

Lyrics and Meaning

The song tells the story of a woman who is addicted to nightlife, clubbing, and (presumably) drugs. The song tells this story from the point of view of a man, probably her boyfriend. The man is torn between his fear that she will hurt herself and his wish that she be a free spirit and do what she please. His indecision leaves him completely powerless, and he resigns himself to letting her become increasingly distant and slip away from him.

External links

• "Neon" lyrics at Yahoo! Music