John Mayer has completed work on his new album (which he's calling Battle Studies) and he just debuted the record's first single on his official website (and, of course, via Twitter). Though much is always made about Mayer's guitar heroics, "Who Says" is a mellow acoustic shuffle with a real singer-songwriter bent to it (it's more "Daughters" than "Gravity"). But perhaps the most interesting aspect of the tune is its lyrical approach. While the chorus focuses squarely on a woman ("I don't remember you looking any better/But then again I don't remember you"), the verses all open with the line "Who says I can't get stoned?" Mayer — who famously smoked his way through a 2006 Rolling Stone interview — seems to be taking a stance on the nation's pot laws in an otherwise innocuous pop song.
The first verse continues: "Who says I can't get stoned?/Turn off the lights and the telephone/Me in my house alone/Who says I can't get stoned?" And the second verse begins with the line "Who says I can't be free?" Though he has joked on Twitter about no longer indulging in pot, that apparently doesn't mean he can't defend the rights of the college students and hippies who flock to his concerts.
In other album-related news, Mayer also tweeted recently about shooting the video for "Who Says" in New York City. "If you happen to be hanging out on top of the Brooklyn Bridge right now," he wrote last week, "by all means, please come and give a hellozie dozie!" Though there is no release date or details on the video yet, we do know that it involves a pool of some sort.
Battle Studies, Mayer's fourth album as a solo artist and the follow-up to his double-platinum Continuum, hits stores November 17.
