He’s dated some of the hottest hunnies in Hollywood and said some pretty outrageous things on Twitter, but ultimately serial dater John Mayer hopes it’s his music — and not his sometimes sordid personal life — that will be his legacy.

John tells the December issue of Details: “What do you think is stronger: a dozen press articles that say I’m this guy, or a record with 10 songs on it that you enjoy? Which has greater staying power? At the end of the day, all I owe the world in exchange for my dumb face being in their lives are 10 songs every couple years that are hopefully of greater magnitude than somebody’s press story about me… you’ll walk away from the record liking me a hell of a lot more than you would walking away from an interview.”