Is John Mayer chivalrous and refreshingly candid, or an indiscreet heartbreaker incapable of keeping his cakehole closed when cameras are present? In an apparent bid to quiet the rumor mill and get the paparazzi to back off following his recent split from Jennifer Aniston, the motormouth crooner did an emotional purge on the streets of New York on Saturday.

When shutterbugs closed in as he exited the gym, Mayer, 30, decided it was time to say his piece about the fizzled four-month romance, which, depending on which chatty insider you believe, was either ended by the actress, 39, because of his supposedly wandering eye, his publicity seeking or his parsimony; by the singer because of Aniston's ostensible desire to settle down; or by both because it simply ran its course.

Jen goes solo in Los Angeles on Aug. 5.

In an earnest discourse, he graciously sings Aniston's praises even as he pulls the less-than-gentlemanlike move of making it clear -- repeatedly -- that he dumped her.

"It's the most normal thing in the world," he says of the bust-up. "There's no lying. There's no cheating. There's no nothing."

Suggests Mayer, "You know, if you guys are going to run stuff and run every lie under the sun, have somebody stand up for somebody. Have me as a man who ended a relationship stand here and write some truth. Have me stand up for somebody and write that Jennifer Aniston is the smartest, most sophisticated person I think I've ever met."

So, why'd he end things with such a catch, whom the tabloids were predicting he'd soon marry and/or knock up?

"People are different, people have different chemistry, they have different lives," explains John. "It's not about years, it's about going out with somebody, being truthful on the way in, being truthful in the middle and being truthful on the way out."

And despite those allegations that he had trouble with the monogamy portion of the program, Mayer defends his boyfriend behavior as beyond reproach.

"You're either a cheater or you break up," he declares. "And I'm not the first. I'm the second one. And that's it. There's no lying, there's no bulls---."

The face-contortion-prone singer-songwriter then points out to the photographers, "I just don't want to be followed around New York City like an animal."

When a reporter responds to his true confessions by asking if he's dating anyone new, John quickly launches into another talkathon.

"Why would you ask me that question? I'm being as honest as I can possibly be," he chastises, before offering a handy-dandy replacement for the oh-so-tired "it's not you, it's me" kiss-off.

"I ended a relationship because there is no lying," Mayer continued. "I ended a relationship to be alone because I don't want to waste somebody's time if something's not right. I don't waste people's time."

Jen and John get handsy in Miami last May.

The troubadour also doesn't do "the taper," he maintains. "I guarantee you [that] 20 percent of the people on this street right now who are in a relationship wish they could get out but they don't know how. And I'm going to be honest on the way in to my relationships, and I'm going to be honest on the way out of my relationships."

What's more, John wants the people reading about his love life to get their empathy on, and he even has a plan on how to make that happen.

"I just feel like spending a million dollars right now to put a mirror in every Us Weekly," he proposes, "so that when you're reading about it, you go, 'Oh, that was me, too, two years ago,' or, 'That was me a year ago.'"

According to Mayer, everyone should just stop looking for drama in such a run-of-the-mill situation.

"It's the most normal thing I can possibly tell you. There's no other element to it," he insists. "I'm sorry that the story's not interesting, but it's about time somebody stands up for that girl, and I think she's great.

When asked how he feels about rumors linking Aniston to a male model (denied all around), John let out an exasperated, "I don't care," before adding, "I just don't want people to get trashed all the time."

Jen, he concludes, is "one of the most lovely people I've ever met in my life and I'm going through something that's a very personal thing and you have to give that up. You have to give everything up because you can't have it all and it sucks. It sucks."

As for Aniston, she isn't displaying the same outward signs of suckitude as her former flame. People reports she looked absolutely fabulous when she bumped into BFF Courteney Cox at a Los Angeles restaurant Thursday night.

"They were pretty surprised and excited to run into each other," a fishily up-with-Aniston eyewitness details to the mag. "Jen looked incredible. Let me put it this way, it made me doubt the breakup story, because there is no way she was blue in any way. She was really happy ... There was no hint of any problems."

Anyhoo, this isn't the first time Mayer has publicly played the gallant ex.

In January, he took to his blog to defend Jessica Simpson after she was unfairly blamed for Dallas Cowboy beau Tony Romo's so-so performance on the gridiron.

"I just thought it would mean something coming from the guy who has the absolute least to gain from this," he wrote. "And if I'm out of line in having written it, too bad. I can spare a Wednesday's worth of bad press if it means sticking up for a good soul."