Cameron Morsberger: John Mayer, ‘Stop The Train’

John Mayer is my (not-so) guilty pleasure, and I’ll be the first to admit that. So, in preparation for my five-anda-half-hour car ride home to Bucks County, PA for the holidays, it made sense to queue up “Continuum,” arguably Mayer’s best work.

It’s an album he’s performed front to back for special concert-goers over the years, notably at Madison Square Garden for a sold- out crowd in 2019. I was lucky enough to see Mayer perform at Boston’s own Garden in May this year, just days before my graduation from Boston University.

“Continuum” is packed with hits: “Vultures,” “In Repair,” “I Don’t Trust Myself ( With Loving You),” “Gravity.” “GRAVITY” — I mean, come on. And though Mayer didn’t perform the 2006 album in full for me, he did pull out some of those iconic songs.

One was “Stop This Train,” which details the pains of growing older, seeing your parents age and watching your life change around you. We have no control of time, but sometimes it’s difficult to confront that painful reality. The realization that you’ll never be in high school or college again, that you’re no longer a child in your mom and dad’s house and that you can’t relive the memories of your youth.

Hearing Mayer sing that song, before I had to walk across a stage and accept my diploma and leave BU behind, I got emotional.

“Stop this train/i want to get off and go home again/i can’t take the speed it’s moving in/i know I can’t/ But honestly, won’t someone stop this train?”

I welled up with tears when I heard the song again last week, as I drove alone and reached the rolling hills and farmlands in my hometown. I may not be able to stop this train and may be “scared of getting older,” as Mayer sings about, I’m excited for what this next chapter and new year will bring.