Does John Mayer Read Martin's Musings?

It's always an exciting thing when a highly anticipated album leaks ahead of its official release date (at least it is for me. I can't say the same for the artist). Such was the case with John Mayer's Battle Studies, which I downloaded a week ago and have been listening to almost nonstop ever since. How great is it when an artist you like releases an album that's worth the wait? (This is the second time in a week or so that it's happened for me.) From the opening track, the U2-esque "Heartbreak Warfare" to the closer, "Friends, Lovers, or Nothing," Battle Studies is a keeper. Sure, traces of John's on again/off again relationship with Jennifer Aniston are all over this one (or at least, that's what a tabloid reader would assume), but they do say heartbreak is the impetus for the best art, right?

Anyway, as much as I like so many of the tracks on Battle Studies (a shout-out to the Taylor Swift collabo "Half of My Heart," as well as "Edge of Desire" and first single "Who Says"), my favorite one is the track called "Perfectly Lonely." Listening to it, I feel like John took my recent blog post about how "content" I am with being single, and just set it to music — with an upbeat melody, too. He perfectly captured the underlying denial that's inherent in a post like that. Have a listen for yourself and see if you don't see the similarities in tone. Or, just read some of the lyrics here:

"...Nothing to do, nowhere to be
A simple little kind of free.
Nothing to do, no one but me
And that's all I need.

I'm perfectly lonely
I'm perfectly lonely
I'm perfectly lonely, yeah
'Cause I don't belong to anyone
And nobody belongs to me.

I see my friends around from time to time
When their ladies let them slip away.
And when they ask me how I'm doing with mine
This is always what I say:

Nothing to do, nowhere to be
A simple little kind of free.
Nothing to do, no one to be
Is it really hard to see

Why I'm perfectly lonely
I'm perfectly lonely
I'm perfectly lonely, yeah
'Cause I don't belong to anyone
And nobody belongs to me.

And this is not to say,
There'll never come a day
I'll take my chances and start again.
[ ... ]

That's the way (3x)
That I want it."

Yeah, that's my new personal theme song. No wonder it's the track I've played the most times thus far.

Battle Studies officially drops tomorrow. Pick yourself up a copy and see which track speaks most directly to you.