



John Mayer is known as one of the more influential artists of the decade, delivering countless soulful songs since the early 2000s. Besides music however, John Mayer was an advocate for equality and making the world a better place in general. This message became clear in his video for “Waiting on the World to Change”, a hit single off of his 2006 studio album called Continuum. John Mayer makes use of the video’s camera angles, color hues, and other visual strategies, in the effort to convey his theme of taking action and working together to bring a positive change to the world. 

John Mayer chose a video format to deliver his theme because it would work best with music. Being able to see a picture while listening to words helps the viewer see the intended meaning a little bit better than if he/she were to simply listen to the song. A music video allows the director or artist to show visual examples of their message, instead of forcing the viewer to think of their own. The title of the video itself, “Waiting on the World to Change”, already signals to the viewer that there is a bigger message to be found. Immediately the viewers are encouraged to find out what John Mayer is waiting for. The soulful pop genre that John Mayer brings is influential as well, as it helps bring sincerity to the message he is trying to get across.

The setting of the video takes place in a grey New York City. Numerous times the director uses John as a center piece, with the gloomy, grey skyline in the background to show a bland, unexciting world. He uses the greys and blues on purpose, as those cooler, darker colors imply a gloomy, somber connotation. As the video progresses though, the hues change slightly, going from the cloudy, depressing, pale blue and gray skies to clearer, more hopeful ones. This was a representation of the the world coming out of the darkness into the light. 

Different camera shots also play a major role in getting across Mayer’s theme. In the very beginning, it shows everyone alone. One scene displays a shot of an empty looking city, with the camera showing John Mayer as he’s walking down an empty sidewalk. Then it goes on to show two more men, both working in rooms by themselves. But as the music video progresses, it shows more and more of the men in camera shots together, working side by side. The video displays more and more people together taking action. This is a subliminal message being sent by John Mayer, saying we must come together to bring the change in the world.

The music video continuously revisits graffiti artists, who all seem to be working on different things throughout the whole video. But in the end, it shows they were all working together to create the main messages which are presented at the end. It displays different pieces of the final product being made by different people. More specifically, the camera shot depicts a view from the city from above, like a bird looking down across the deserted streets. There is a sort of grey shadow covering the city, but through the shadows emerge 3 billboard poles with the spray-painted messages on them: “Exploited!”, “Wake Up!”, “Think!”. The graffiti artists used details within the 3 illustrations to clarify their message, such as replacing some of the letters with artillery in the shape of the letters. The “K” in “Wake Up!” is actually an AK-47 at minute 3:09. “Wake Up!” sends a feeling of alert, a demand to give attention to what was going on. At that time, the war was a big societal issue, which is where the gun idea came from. The artists also used the “O” in “Exploited!”  as a bomb that is exploding at minute 3:05. He’s reminding the viewer to pay attention to the world’s problems, as they’ve already been exploited, but no one is acting on them is a positive way. Separately, the billboards do not make much sense, but when all of the images are shown in sequence, the message comes together more clearly. John Mayer is giving society instructions, suggesting that world has been exploited, that we need to wake up from ignoring its problems, and think together to take action to bring positive change. Specifically, John Mayer was referring to governmental and environmental issues, like the war and global warming, that had been continuously ignored like they didn’t matter.

Paired with John Mayer’s soothing tone, and steady slow beat, the video also appeals to the viewers’ emotions. He’s not directly saying to get up and make a change, but he has a conversation with himself about what is wrong. His demeanor is a depressed one. As he mopes around the city, the viewer feels impelled to help him because of pity.  

In closing, John Mayer is successful in getting his theme across through his music video. Through both direct and subliminal messages, he conveys the instruction to finally get up and avidly work together to bring a positive change to the world. “Waiting on the World to Change” was a greatly influential song in the 2000s, bringing attention to some of the world’s obvious environmental, and societal issues. It’s safe to say the video carried the effect Mayer intended it to. He was awarded a Grammy for the song later. 


