Last Train Home

Album: Sob Rock (2021)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • After a long dating history with the likes of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jennifer Aniston, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, is John Mayer finally thinking of settling down? Here, he addresses a love interest to gauge her interest in a relationship. He's been hurt before, so Mayer is cautious, but he identifies the lady as perhaps the one he will spend the rest of his life with.

    So if you're comin' with me, let me know
    Maybe you're the last train
    Maybe you're the last train home


    Mayer is totally committed to their potential romance. If the lady is happy to put her all into it too, he invites her to come on board.
  • Mayer wrote the song himself and first teased it on his TikTok account in late March 2021. He released it as the fourth single from Sob Rock on June 4, 2021.
  • Sob Rock features a 1980s soft-rock vibe with this song sounding like it was recorded at the height of yacht rock. Mayer said he made the record to bring comfort from the COVID-19 lockdown. "I asked myself, 'What music makes me feel like everything's going to be OK?'" he said. "And it's the music I listened to growing up in the '80s. There's a security-blanket aspect about that sound that reminds me of a safer time."
  • Country music singer-songwriter Maren Morris joins Mayer on the track as guest vocalist.
  • Don Was fills his' slick production with synth keyboard stabs and guitar licks that reminded several reviewers of Toto. In fact, session musician Greg Phillinganes, who played with Toto between 2003 and 2008, played the keys, and Toto touring musician Lenny Castro is the percussionist.

    The other performers are:

    Guitar: John Mayer
    Bass: Sean Hurley
    Drums: Aaron Sterling
  • Cameron Duddy and Harper Smith directed the video, which features a leather-jacket-clad Mayer playing a bubblegum pink electric guitar. Maren Morris joins him at the end of the clip.
  • The song climbed to the top of Billboard's Adult Alternative Airplay chart. It was Mayer's seventh #1 on the tally and his first since "Who Says" in 2009.

Comments: 1

  • Niels from NetherlandsGreat track. I wish the whole album had this vibe, but unfortunately the rest of it is more mellow singer-songwriter type stuff… just my own preference of course.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Dino Cazares of Fear Factory

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"They're Playing My Song

The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."

John Parr

John ParrSongwriter Interviews

John tells the "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" story and explains why he disappeared for so long.

Grunge Bands Quiz

Grunge Bands QuizMusic Quiz

If the name Citizen Dick means anything to you, there's a chance you'll get some of these right.

Michelle Branch

Michelle BranchSongwriter Interviews

Michelle Branch talks about "Everywhere," "The Game Of Love," and her run-in with a Christian broadcasting network.