Issue 003 — July 2025

Header

Intro letter

~ John

I wrote this song five years ago, during the height of the pandemic, just after a record deal crashed and burned before the ink was dry. I won’t bore you with the details. Just know I joined a long line of artists getting ______.

When I wrote Wearing Thin, I fully intended it to be the last Common Jack song. I was heartbroken by the industry and convinced there was no place for me in it. Driven by a need for vengeance, I thought the best way to stick it to the label was to…quit music altogether (lol).

It’s a Very Sad Song™ but listening now, I hear something else: the voice of someone who’s stopped chasing external validation. Someone fresh out of fucks to give. Someone who is oddly hopeful about what can emerge from the ashes.

I recorded this one a little differently. After getting the live take, I added some harmonies to fill it out. Hope you enjoy :)

Wearing Thin

Affirmation

Let the wind be still.
Let the orchestra be tuned.
Let every impulse inside of me find its courage and run freely, deliberately toward this world.

I have a story I have never told:
Once, when I was small,
I looked up at the sky and saw the planes
and knew I was a spirit made of air.

I am still a spirit made of air.

A prompt

How this works

I’ll ask a question that’s been on my mind lately. If you want, use the form to reply with your answer. It can be as brief or as long as you want it to be.

If you don’t add your name/email, your response will be completely anonymous. If you do add them, it’ll stay between us.

Here’s your prompt

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