Emoji of a Wave

The writing of this melancholy love song started off with the line "oh honey, you don't have to try so hard to hurt me." That spark of inspiration came to John Mayer during the first couple weeks of sessions for The Search for Everything. He proceeded to pen an orchestrated folk tune that describes the emotional turmoil a person goes through during a relationship. Oh honey You don't have to try so hard To hurt me Don't worry I been thinking bout you too What do we do "It's about sitting in a feeling," Mayer explained to Rolling Stone. "There are two levels to the song. One of them is the beautiful destination I go to whenever I hear it, which is Santa Barbara on a rainy, cold day. The other level is just about this part of life and love that my brain doesn't understand: wanting to act to resolve a situation but knowing there's no resolution."

The song features backing vocals from Beach Boy Al Jardine and his son, Matt. Having already thought to himself that the swirling harmonies in the chorus were, "kind of a Beach Boys thing," Mayer experienced a stroke of serendipitous timing when he met Al Jardine in the Capitol Studio one Saturday afternoon in 2014. "He said, 'If you have anything I can sing on…'," the singer recalled, "And I was like, 'Well, I do have this one song…'" "How many artists do a Beach Boys thing and then have an actual Beach Boy come and sing the thing?" Mayer added. "That's the joy of being in a musical community."