John Mayer Is a Friend of the Ewoks

And that “argument” is why he loves the Grateful Dead bears.

The Rolling Stones have the hot lips. Nirvana has a zoinked-out smiley face. And the Grateful Dead has Technicolor dancing bears that are so cute that you wouldn’t mind doing a few pre-show whippets with them in the back of their vans. (But at $25 a balloon? Talk about … inflation.) John Mayer, who has been touring with Dead & Company for almost a decade, is aware that some people find the iconography to be a tad too kitschy, telling GQ in a new interview that he likens the mammals to certain primitive heroes within the Star Wars universe. “Well, it sounds to me like this is a bit of the Ewok argument. It’s like there’s an Ewok aspect to the bears,” he explained, noting that they make several appearances at the band’s Sphere residency. “I also am a Return of the Jedi guy. I love the Ewoks. I wouldn’t have known the difference because I was too young. I think probably, if you remember the Dead from 1972, the bears might not be representative of your experience. But could you imagine them not being in the show? What an oversight that would be.” By that logic, would James Dolan be the appropriate stand-in for Palpatine?

• [gq]

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