A guy suffering from foot-in-mouth disease learns that not all humor is appropriate (“My Stupid Mouth”). Despite a mild profanity, “83” longs for youthful innocence. “Great Indoors” tells a couch potato to click off the TV and start experiencing life first-hand. Other cuts consider that there’s a “right” way to live (“Why Georgia”), want to fix a broken relationship (“Back to You”) and paint the world as a beautiful place (“3X5”). On “No Such Thing,” a restless high schooler senses that there’s more to life than the constricting conformity preached by his elders, but . . .
Bucking the system can go too far if it means rebelling against healthy standards and taking foolish risks. “Your Body Is a Wonderland” describes an apparently unmarried couple’s romp in bed. More than good dental hygiene is implied by the line “She keeps a toothbrush at my place” on “City Love.” The artist loves a girl heavily into “mixed drinks,” and he’s reluctant to pass judgment on her self-destructive party lifestyle (“Neon”).
Infused with jazz and AC accents, Room for Squares earned Mayer a spot on Rolling Stone’s list of “10 Artists to Watch.” Although some themes are great, others emphasizing sex and reckless living will put him on parents’ list of “Artists to Watch” for less honorable reasons.
