As promised, here is my personal insight into "In Your Atmosphere," one of John Mayer's best acoustic productions to date.
Unrequited love. A feeling most anyone can relate to; the author is no exception. He (John) has become very taken by a girl-- her aura and essence have begun to drag him in like a gravitational force.
However, it's not going to work out. Maybe she's out of his league; maybe she already has someone else. Maybe she was just a stranger passing on the street. Whatever the case may be, he has to pull back. To steer away from the pull and burn up in her atmosphere before he lands- or crashes.
He still carries feelings for her but is separated by distance and other barriers untold. She live in L.A., he presumably elsewhere. So at least for now, at the time the song is written, he is still remorsefully longing from a distance. Watching her pretty life play out in pictures from afar.
The beauty of the song, besides the guitar work and vocals, is what isn't said. The situation is left very much to interpretation, yet as told it's easy to relate to. A framework of many true-life love stories left unwritten.
15 years ago
