Analyzing John Mayer

Often, lyrics are created for people to relate to them. It is common for many individuals to feel as though they found a "common ground" with the artist who wrote the lyrics. In John Mayer's song. "Split Screen Sadness", it is very easy to relate to. The music to the song is very influential in setting the mood for the lyrics. Violins and other string instruments add to the sad tone of the song. The theme of this song is that the speaker is explaining how he broke up with his girlfriend ("And I know well it's me who called it over..."), but now he regrets it.

The speaker of the lyrics could either be a man or a woman, who is in love with somebody who lives far away from them. Mayer uses colloquial language to set the "common" tone of the song. John Mayer uses quotes from other songs ("'All you need is love...'") to express how other songs express how the speaker is feeling. Inside, he wishes that his significant other would have fought for him to not end it and not let him get away. The speaker can not figure out why he isn't the way he was when deep down inside, he knows it's because he doesn't have the person he depended on most.

In the lines, "I called...because...I just...need to feel you on the line", the speaker is expressing how he takes comfort in hearing her voice. She was most likely the stability in his life and now he doesn't have that anymore. The speaker is sick of fighting the feeling of longing he has for her and wishes that they were still together since their love was so strong. Mayer uses the repetition of certain lines to form a general refrain ("Two wrongs make it all alright tonight"). Mayer also personifies water in the way that the water is speaking to him ("It says here in the water, you must be gone by now...")..

The lyrics in this song are very descriptive to what it feels like to be in a long distance relationship, or rather, how it feels to lose somebody you still love.