John Mayer’s Hilarious Music Video For ‘New Light’ Is So Bad It’s Actually Good

John Mayer is back in the best (and worst) way possible. His song “New Light” is light, breezy, and fun, as is the music video, which Mayer just dropped today.

Mayer’s video isn’t what you’d expect from a musician with his reputation. Instead of something sleek, sentimental, and visually stunning, Mayer danced badly (and nearly emotionlessly) in front of a green screen that shows backdrops that included a farm, the White House, an office setting, and a firework display. It feels much more like a fourth grade project than a professional music video.

His explanation for the terrible video is even better. He tweeted a clip with the caption, “I needed to make a music video for New Light but nobody could agree on a budget. (MUSIC INDUSTRY amirite?) So I went to a place downtown and made this with a company that usually does birthday and Bar Mitzvah videos.”

https://twitter.com/JohnMayer/status/999652465548054533

While the song may sound simple and breezy, it actually took Mayer two weeks to finally get the whole thing written down. “New Light was not easy to write, lyrically,” Mayer said. “It was written out of sequence. I had to write the first verse in a way that would be reverse engineered to a place where as you heard it, it still made sense. There’s code cracking involved.”

But Mayer’s all about fun now, as evidenced in this video. Instead of focusing on awards, he’s choosing to put his efforts into things that make him excited.

“I have selectively retired from certain things. I’ve retired from the idea that this song you hear is going to make me a star…a bigger star, and that I’m going to win a record of the year,” he told Apple Music’s Beats 1 two weeks ago. “I think that’s up to other people now, and I’m just more excited by the fact that I can do anything today.”