The JMMAgazine covers have bonded JMMAers in a way that I never would have dreamed. Once I started posting these in our gallery, JMMAers started commenting on each other's covers and the next thing you know, they were adding each other as friends.
We've had lots of people ask us how they get one themselves. It's simple: Just ask. Well, there's a little more to it than that. I'll lay it out in steps:
1. Send us a message at the JMMA Myspace page saying you'd like a JMMAgazine cover. 2. Include the picture that you want on the cover, or let us know which picture in your gallery to use. Remember that it has to be a decent sized picture to work. 3. If you have any specific headlines you want on your magazine, let us know. Otherwise, we'll make them up on our own. *evil grin* 4. Give us a couple days to complete your cover, and we'll email it to you at your Myspace page when it's done.
Simple, huh? And all that we ask in return is that you comment on a few of your fellow JMMAers covers and make friends. :)
Have you ever wondered what the initial conversation was like between John and DRH when they came up with the idea of playing each other's guitars? Hmm...
*dreamy fade out*
*fade in to John and DRH, at John's apartment*
JOHN: Y'know, I was thinkin' it might be cool to play each other's guitars on stage.
DRH: Sure, you can use my guitar anytime, Jo--
JOHN: No, not using each other's guitars. PLAYING each other's guitars... while we're wearing them.
DRH: While we're... What?
JOHN: Like this...
*John gets up, walks behind DRH. Puts his arms around him and cups his stomach*
DRH: Ah, you know... I'm not really sure--
JOHN: WTF? You don't like it when I touch you there?
DRH: I'm not saying THAT, John! It's just--
JOHN: Chaves didn't want to do it either, and look what happened to him.
Okay, I've been running JMMA in one form or another for over four years now. During that time, I've had lots of crazy ideas on how to get people more involved in the discussions in an effort for us to get to know one another better. The funny thing is I'm always thinking, "It's not going to work - they're not going to respond." But you always surprise me! And the latest is this JMMAgazine thing.
What I love most about it is the interaction between JMMAers - the compliments on each other's pictures; the good-spirited poking fun at one another and the headlines; the general kindness we're showing one another. THAT'S what this Group is all about! Yeah, we're all here because we love Mayer's music. But it's starting to go beyond that: We're all here because we're fucking cool. =)
So thanks for always surprising me with your responsiveness to everything we do at JMMA!
Since John’s been listening to a lot of Frank Sinatra lately (see his blog from a couple weeks ago), I thought it would be appropriate to snag one of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ songs for the name of this Blog. But it wasn’t just a very good year; it was a great year, and that’s due mostly to all the wonderful friends of JMMA. I used think I had “friends” and then I had “online friends.” Now, I simply have friends, some of which happen to be online. Geographically speaking, we’re unable to touch one another; but that doesn’t stop us from touching one another. And I’ve been touched by so many of you that I couldn’t’ begin to thank you all... except to say, thank you.
Sharon and I talk all the time, and the thing we love best about running JMMA is the friendships it seems to help forge. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me feel when I see a comment on someone’s page that says, “Hey, thanks for adding me. I saw you on the JMMA page.” I like to think of JMMA as the John Mayer version of Hands-Across-America because in my twisted mind, that’s how I see us: as a GROUP, a GANG! We all have this wonderful thing in common – the love of John’s music – and that helps get us in the door with one another. And sometimes that’s all it takes to get a friendship off the ground because the next thing you know, we’re not just talking about John’s music - we’re telling each other what kind of mood we’re in through a Mayer-disguise; we’re asking each other to pray for us and for loved ones; and we’re supporting each other by just letting each other know we’re thinking about them.
Anyway, I can go on and on about this, but the bottom line is that the quality of people here is just mind-boggling and Sharon and I couldn’t be happier to be associated with such an amazing group of people.
Today at JMMA we're starting something called our "Song of the Day." Each Wednesday we will choose one John Mayer song to talk about from whatever perspective we'd like: lyrically, musically, personally. The first song we've chosen is "Wheel."
Here are some of my thoughts on the song. I wrote this for the JMMA Yahoo Group back in March of 2005.
Wheel - A Most Positive 'Negative' Love Song by Rob
"Wheel" is another example of why I love John's lyrics. It's like "Clarity" where he knows what he SHOULD be doing (enjoying moments as they happen instead of worry about the longevity of it all) but that doesn't mean it's easy to do.
To me, "Wheel" is the rationalization of why love goes away: IT'S SUPPOSED TO. Love is one of the few businesses that we can fail at 99% of the time and still be successful if the 1% is the right one.
People have the right to fly And will when it gets compromised
I love this. He's talking about the "Fortress Around Your Heart" that Sting sings about... how we built walls to protect ourselves. For some of us, as soon as we feel things are getting too serious (our "right to fly" getting compromised), our hearts say "move along" and our minds agree. Let's move it along." So we do, but someone is always left behind.
The next stanza is like something from a Paul Simon song where we've got the setting and the characters. A couple is saying goodbye at the airport. But it's more than this. Someone's LAST goodbye is blending in with someone's sigh. It's easy to know which is which. The one "going home" is saying goodbye, holding a single rose given to him/her by the other. The other is the one "sighing," the one whose heart is breaking. Because when you think about it, an "amicable breakup" is an oxymoron. Anytime you hear that a breakup is amicable, someone is trying to save face. Someone is almost always crushed.
But that's the way it is, John tells us. That's the way the wheel spins. He's not going to be the last person to love her, and she wasn't the first to love him. It's all very impermanent. And here's part of the problem:
You can't build a house of leaves And live like it's an evergreen
Those are my favorite two lines from "Wheel." If someone asked me to summarize "Tracing" in two lines, I'd repeat those lines from "Wheel." "Tracing" is merely an expansion of this thought. How many times do we rush into a relationship because we want it to work SO BAD, but we haven't laid the right foundation first? We try to convince ourselves that because we both love Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream and "Joan of Arcadia," we're meant to be together forever. What we need to remember is "there is a reason strong moves slow." But again, we are just following the natural course of love:
It's just a season thing It's just this thing the seasons do
The seasons change every year, and love changes too. We shouldn't be surprised by it.
You can find me If you ever want again I'll be around the bend I'll be around the bend I'll be around
It's appropriate that John is "around the bend" because the song takes a complete U-turn at this point. So far John's led us into a dark tunnel where love never lasts and love dying is as predictable as the seasons changing. Then he shows us the light (albeit a flickering one) at the end of the tunnel:
And if you never stop when you wave goodbye You just might find if you give it time You will wave hello again You just might wave hello again
This is me reading into nothing, I suppose. But when a relationship ends and someone is hurt, there's that period where you just reflect on things. Everything slows down because it has to. And maybe if we learn to take the "slow and steady" mentality and apply it to love, it may grow back in the same place where it was uprooted before. Maybe. John DOES say "might" twice in that stanza, hence the "flickering light" at the tunnel's end.
You can't love too much one part of it
The thing to do is not get too caught up in any one cycle of the wheel because it's GOING to run its course... many times. We're going to love and lose, then someone else is going to love us more, but we may have to let them go. It's as simple as directions on a shampoo bottle:
Love. Lose. Repeat.
And then comes the most positive message of the song:
I believe that my life's gonna see The love I give returned to me
This is the last cycle of the "Wheel." This is where the fortunate deboard the circle and hope never to ride it again.
This is the BlogSpot page for the John Mayer Music Appreciation (JMMA) Group's Myspace page. JMMA is dedicated to John Mayer cover songs as recorded by his fans. Add us at: www.myspace.com/jmmagroup.
:)
