Song · John Mayer
“No Such Thing” by John Mayer
From the EP Inside Wants Out (1999)
“No Such Thing” by John Mayer appears on 14 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 2002 and 2025. It was first released in 1999 on the EP Inside Wants Out. Its best result is #16 on the WXRT Listener Poll: Top 30 Songs of 2002. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #111 alternative song of 2002 and #7,020 alternative song of all time.
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"No Such Thing" first surfaced on Inside Wants Out, John Mayer's 1999 EP, with Mayer producing alongside Glenn Matullo and handling the acoustic guitar and all the vocals himself, and Russ Fowler mixing. He and Clay Cook had written it in about a week in 1998 in Duluth, Georgia, and it's about as autobiographical as a debut gets: a kid fresh out of high school brushing off the guidance counselors who push college and careers in a grown-up world he doesn't believe exists.
The point is simple and a little cocky: skip the script, do what you love. When it resurfaced on his first studio album, Room for Squares, it went to adult alternative radio in June 2001 as his debut single and became his breakthrough, topping the Triple-A chart and reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 63 | CD101 Columbus, OH | CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2002 | 101 |
| 2002 | 75 | Y100 Philadelphia, PA | Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2002 | 100 |
| 2002 | 21 | Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA | Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2002 | 105 |
| 2002 | 52 (tie) | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 2002 | 224 |
| 2002 | 16 | 93XRT Chicago, IL | WXRT Listener Poll: Top 30 Songs of 2002 | 30 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 445 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) | 500 |
| 2009 | 313 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2009 | 379 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2013 | 52 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2022 | 304 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2024 | 501 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
| 2024 | 395 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 464 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 175 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
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