Taylor Swift Fans React to John Mayer’s ‘Please Be Kind’ Message Amid ‘Dear John (Taylor’s Version)’
Taylor Swift delighted Swifties across the globe with the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on Friday (July 7). In addition to several previously unreleased “From the Vault” tracks, the record also features re-recorded songs from the 2010 album — including “Dear John (Taylor’s Version),” which is largely speculated to be about Swift’s relationship with John Mayer when she was 19 years old.
On the night prior to the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Mayer shared a message via Instagram, along with a carousel of photos from his Dead & Co. concert at Colorado’s Folsom Field. “It doesn’t get better than three nights at Folsom Field in Boulder with @deadandcompany. Oh wait no yes it does… it gets way better when Dave Matthews (@davematthewsband) shows up and for four songs makes everyone believe they’re dreaming. The afterglow is still shining bright…”
The final photo in the carousel features holograms in the sky that read “Please Be Kind” — a message that had Swifties raising their eyebrows.
“I know this isn’t supposed to be funny but… posting this tonight is the funniest thing John Mayer has ever done,” one Twitter user wrote. Meanwhile over on Instagram, a user commented, “Y’all see the caption? He’s telling us to stream ‘Afterglow’ by Taylor Swift,” while another added, “It’s funny because I bet he’s listening to ‘Dear John (Taylor’s Version)’ like ‘damn me breaking her heart made her write an amazing a– song about me.'” Other fans spammed Mayer’s comments section on the post with the entirety of the “Dear John (Taylor’s Version)” lyrics.
During the Minneapolis stop of Swift’s Eras Tour last month, she urged her fans to be kind ahead of the release of the re-recorded album and insisted that any perceived drama about anyone on the record is water under the bridge. “I’m 33 years old. I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19,” she said. “I was hoping to ask you, that as we lead up to this album, I would love for that kindness and that gentleness to extend onto our Internet activities. Right? I’m not putting this album out so you can go on the Internet and defend me against someone you think I wrote a song about 14 million years ago. I do not care, we have all grown up, we’re good,” she said before playing “Dear John” for the first time in a decade.
See Mayer’s Instagram post here and fan reactions to “Dear John (Taylor’s Version)” below.
Starr Bowenbank
Billboard
