John Mayer Admits “Paper Doll,” His Rumored Taylor Swift 2013 Breakup Song, Is “A Little B*tchy”

Taylor Swift and John Mayer, who briefly dated in 2009, have had a bit of a back-and-forth since their split, with each singer writing songs supposedly inspired by the other. Taylor fittingly named and allegedly penned 2010’s “Dear John” about the guitarist, then revisited their relationship in her scorching track “Could’ve, Would’ve, Should’ve” on 2022’s Midnights. John allegedly wrote his 2013 song “Paper Doll” about Taylor. Now, he’s candidly pointed out that the song sounds like he wrote it while “pissed off.”

John very recently performed “Paper Doll” on April 8 in California, and prefaced the song by saying: “I wonder if people don’t like it because it sounds a little pissed off.” (You can watch the whole thing on TikTok.) “I don’t really like ‘pissed off’ as a song… there’s something about it that’s a little bitchy.” 

“Paper Doll” is about a brief relationship with a line that seems directly inspired by Taylor: “‘Cause you’re like 22 girls in one / And none of them know what they’re runnin’ from.” Many Swifties interpreted the “22” line to be a reference to Taylor’s iconic Red track. Later in the song, he also talks about a scarf (!!!) and the color red.

This isn’t the first Taylor-centric track John Mayer has revisited as of late. As noted by Billboard, he also performed the song “Half of My Heart,” which was actually a duet with Taylor from 2009, while on tour in Detroit. This performance comes as a bit of a surprise, given the musician has previously spoken negatively about “Dear John” and the conversation surrounding his reported relationship with Taylor, not to mention their breakup. In 2012, he told Rolling Stone that he was “humiliated” by “Dear John.” 

“I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that,” he said at the time. “It was a pretty lousy thing for her to do.” In 2019, he “jokingly” rewrote lyrics for “Lover,” much to fans’ annoyance.