Being in Your Late 20s

"I remember being in my late 20s. The trick about being in your late 20s is that it's the first time that you go to access some of your memories and they come up, 'Error 404! File not found. Broken JPEG icon.' And that's a very scary thing because that was what you held on to.

Well, every Christmas time, 'Have yourself—OH I REMEMBER, I can smell the carpet, I remember every hallway in the house.' And then you get into your late 20s and I just think it's based on how long the booked trip is, but you can't see the harbor behind you, you can't see where you left from. And that's a very frightening thing 'cause you don't know what you hold on to. Your memories start fading, and that's a tricky thing.

I remember at that age, right before I wrote this next song, hearing Christmas song and crying because I couldn't find every last little imaginary friend and thing and shag carpet and first song and first movie. It really knocked me for a loop because that's what I get by. I spend more time in my memories holding on to these little things. And I think that's okay, you know.

When they first start to disappear—not disappear, but you just can't reach them whenever you want—that's just a scary, scary thing. And I wrote about that and I was obsessed with it for a few years. Like there are times—I don't drink anymore—but when I used to drink, I used to lay down on a bed and just obsess myself with time travel. Why can't I? Why can't I? They made clouds, they made oranges, they made all these little other things, you tell me we can't go back in time and I can't go back in sit on the shag carpet and I can't listen to my first song "Wrapped Around Your Finger" off of MTV in 1983... I can't go back there? You're telling me that's impossible?

And then I discovered a new kinda here and that's when everything gets okay, when you realize it's a very fair trade. It's a very fair trade. The world liked you as a child but needs you as an adult. They need you, the world needs you. And it's all fair, it's all okay. But, I still wanna go back in time. And I still wanna stop this train. I'm never ever stopping this train."

—John Mayer's introduction to Stop This Train live at Madison Square Garden, New York (July 2019)