Mayer explained the meaning behind this song when he appeared on the VH1 program Storytellers in 2011, when he explained that he was very frustrated with so many beautiful women who have "daddy issues." Said Mayer: "I loved a girl a lot, but she couldn't trust men. And if you trace it back, it was the first man in her life she couldn't trust. I know this song sounds like I'm just sitting around the house, spitballing, thinking of really lofty things to think about, but it really is the result of tracing it backwards to find out how I could possibly love this person. And the answer is: you can't. Because someone else didn't before you."
Part of the inspiration for this song was a Chris Rock comedy bit where he talks about how a father's main responsibility is to keep his daughter "off the pole," meaning to make sure she doesn't become a stripper.
This won for Song Of The Year at the 2005 Grammy Awards.
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