Song · John Mayer
“Waiting On The World To Change” by John Mayer
From the EP Waiting on the World to Change: Limited Edition (2006)
“Waiting On The World To Change” by John Mayer appears on 6 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2009 and 2026. It was first released in 2006 on the EP Waiting on the World to Change: Limited Edition. Its best result is #97 on the WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,380 indie & aaa song of all time and #365 of the '00s.
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"Waiting on the World to Change" led the way for Continuum, John Mayer's third studio album, in 2006, and it's a shrug of a protest song: Mayer, its sole writer, singing about himself and his generation sitting on their hands while the state of the world goes unchallenged. He sings lead and backing vocals over Steve Jordan on drums and percussion and Pino Palladino on bass, with Ricky Peterson on keys and Roy Hargrove adding brass.
The groove rides a chord cycle straight out of blues, rock and soul, set in D, but the drums put a kink in it, landing a snare accent just after the fourth beat instead of right on it. It won Mayer the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and it was the most-played song of 2007 on American adult contemporary radio.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 197 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2013 | 97 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2022 | 476 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2025 | 856 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 208 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
| 2026 | 532 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: Waiting on the World to Change.
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