Room for Squares

Background[edit]

The album's title is a reference to Hank Mobley's No Room for Squares album.^[7] All songs from the album are written by Mayer; three songs, "No Such Thing", "Neon", and "Love Song for No One", were co-written with Clay Cook. The first two of these, along with "My Stupid Mouth" and "Back to You", originally appeared on Mayer's 1999 EP Inside Wants Out. The songs are largely based on Mayer's personal experiences.^[8]


Through constant shows, including in the Atlanta-area Eddie's Attic, Mayer's reputation began to build. In March, an acquaintance of Mayer's, a lawyer, sent an EP to Gregg Latterman at Aware Records.^[9][10] After including him in the Aware Festival concerts and having his songs included on Aware compilations, in early 2001, Aware released Room for Squares as an internet-only album. During that time, Aware signed a deal with Columbia Records that gave Columbia first pick in signing Aware artists, and so in September 2001, Columbia remixed and re-released Room for Squares.^[11] As part of the major label "debut", the album's artwork was updated, and the track "3x5" was added, which did not appear on the original as the recording was not yet complete at the time. The re-release included reworked studio versions of the first four songs from his indie album, Inside Wants Out.^[12] The cover art for the most recent release of Room for Squares features a periodic table design beginning from the back cover which continues to the front cover, ending at the right-side.


The album was relatively unknown at its time of release, but it became more well known through word of mouth and John's touring,^[8] and reached number one Billboard's Heatseekers chart by March 2002.^[13] By the end of that year, Room for Squares had spawned several radio hits, including "No Such Thing", "Your Body Is a Wonderland", and ultimately, "Why Georgia" (a radio-only single).