Waiting On The World To Change

"Waiting on the World to Change" is the first single released from John Mayer's 2006 studio album, Continuum. The song enjoyed general critical acclaim as well as commercial success as a single. For this song, Mayer won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 49th Grammy Awards. Because of its theme of discontent and hope, it quickly came into demand in a variety of television programs, charity benefits, and other events.

"Waiting on the World to Change" contains a highly popular chord progression often found in blues, rock and soul songs, such as The Impressions's "People Get Ready" and Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing". The chord progression is "1-6m-4-1 - 5-6m-4-1" and, in the case of "Waiting on the World to Change", is in the key of D.[citation needed] Another interesting fact is the accenting of the beats in the verses. Contrary to most popular music, the second snare backbeat of the second measure of the two-bar beat that repeats through most of the song features an accent on the "and" of "4", and not directly on "4."

The song's theme centers on the singer and his generation's inaction in regard to current world conditions. However, he attributes this inaction to a lack of power:


He also laments the corruption among leaders:


John Mayer confirmed this feeling of disconnect between the leaders and the led in an interview with The Advocate, explaining the song this way: "It’s saying, ‘Well, I’ll just watch American Idol because I know that if I were engaged in changing anything for the better, or the better as I see it, it would go unnoticed or be completely ineffective. A lot of people have that feeling." Even so, the song alludes to hope for the future, with the singer intoning that with his generation's ascension to power, things will change:


Politics was a topic that Mayer had not previously tackled. On his decision to include a politically-tinged song, he commented, "You cannot avoid war in life, you cannot avoid the fear of terrorism, you cannot avoid those things now, they are a part of everyday demeanor. So in that sense it's become more of an acceptable thing to comment on because it's just so much of a white elephant."

The music video for the song was directed by Philip Andelman and features Mayer walking along the East River while commissioned graffiti artists Futura, Tats Cru, and Daze spray paint messages relating to the song's content on New York City billboards.

A limited-edition EP of "Waiting on the World to Change" was released featuring both an album version and a bonus, acoustic version of the song (which features Ben Harper). The EP also has a studio version of "Good Love Is on the Way", which was previously released on the live album Try! by the John Mayer Trio. This particular EP has only been made available through Best Buy and with the purchase of the Continuum album. However, acoustic and studio versions of this song are also available on Mayer's EP entitled, The Village Sessions, released on December 12, 2006.

Critical response to "Waiting on the World to Change" was largely positive, and primarily centered around the adept handling of a timely theme. Kelefa Sanneh of the New York Times called the song "a lovely and anger-free ode to a vaguely dissatisfied generation," while Matt Collar with AMG wrote that "Nobody — not a single one of Mayer's contemporaries — has come up with anything resembling a worthwhile anti-war anthem that is as good and speaks for their generation as much as his "Waiting on the World to Change" Rolling Stone called the opening track and first single "a moving apologia for Gen Y's seeming 'apathy'". Other reviewers commented on his progression as an artist; Tony Pascarella found the song "gives listeners, both old and new, an idea of how far Mayer has come. To be frank, this is no 'Your Body Is A Wonderland.' With Continuum, Mayer broadens his fan base by infusing a very blues and R&B-influenced sound." Not all reviews were glowing: Entertainment Weekly and the Los Angeles Times were both less than impressed, with the Times saying that, in the song, "his mood tightens up unpleasantly." Greg Kot in The Chicago Tribune also referred to the song (in his report on Mayer's appearance at the Crossroads Guitar Festival) as '[perhaps] the most spineless social-justice song ever written. It advocates a passive approach, whereas the song it most closely resembles --- Curtis Mayfield’s classic “People Get Ready” --- urges everyone to get involved, or risk being left behind'.

On February 22, 2007, it peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. It has stayed on the charts for 41 weeks. The single also reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks Chart, remaining on the chart for over a year. It is Mayer's most successful single (both in sales and chart positions). To date, in the U.S., the single has sold 1,111,132 in digital downloads. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA, a distinction for downloads and sales in excess of one million. The song has found success internationally as well. It peaked at #17 on the Australian ARIA Digital Singles Chart. It also peaked at #36 on the New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 Singles Chart.

The song's theme of discontent in world conditions, but optimism for future change, contributed to its use in many television programs, movies and charity events. The song was chosen as accompaniment to shows about world conditions, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, 7th Heaven, and a 20/20 special actually titled "Waiting on the World to Change". The Deaf Performing Artists Network (D-PAN), an organization that raises awareness for performing art of the deaf, produced a video showing people signing ASL interpretations of the song intermixed with a montage of deaf civil-rights images.

"Waiting on the World to Change" was also featured on several competition shows. Sanjaya Malakar chose to sing the song on a 2007 episode of American Idol. Likewise, Australian Idol contestant Dean Geyer made it his song selection in a 2006 episode of the show. But most prominently, choreographer Wade Robson choreographed a dance routine to an abbreviated version of the song for the third season of the US version of So You Think You Can Dance. The song was played a total of ten times, as each of the remaining contestants had to perform a solo of the identical dance for comparison before a panel of judges.

The single was heard in the 2007 comedy film Evan Almighty, starring Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman, and on an episode of CSI: Las Vegas.

On July 7, 2007, Mayer performed the song at Live Earth, changing the lyrics to "we're not waiting on the world to change" to reflect the proactive nature of the event. Mayer also performed a brief acoustic version of the song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on July 12, 2007 on the recurring 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien Summer Concert Series', a spin-off on the popular 'Today Show Summer Concert Series', also on NBC.

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