Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
John Dawson Delivers A Moment Of Reckoning With New Single “Mend In My Ways”

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • John Dawson Delivers A Moment Of Reckoning With New Single “Mend In My Ways”
John Dawson
Fri Apr 11, 2025
Cashbox Canada

There is a certain weight to a song that feels lived in, the kind that doesn’t just tell a story but carries the marks of time, regret, and redemption. John Dawson’s latest single, “Mend in My Ways,” is one of those songs—a quiet but powerful reflection on taking love for granted and the slow, often painful process of setting things right. Following the success of “Where You Belong,” “Things That I Meant to Say,” and “Life Just Came to Me,” Dawson continues to carve his space in the folk-roots tradition as a storyteller whose words feel as familiar as a well-worn book, yet as profound as a revelation.

Built on a simple but hypnotic ostinato, “Mend in My Ways” is not about grand declarations—it’s about humility, self-awareness, and the realization that love is not something to be assumed but continually earned. “I finally found my way back to you, love / I stumbled on the road to home,” Dawson sings, his voice carrying the weight of experience. The song’s bridge subtly shifts the harmonic ground beneath the listener, mirroring the quiet epiphany at its core: "I’ll get over the fear that got ahold of me / I feel older / It’s a feeling that has set me free."

Listen on Spotify here:
open.spotify.com/album/2gHswiczkG4eaZ5a3GCa5U

If Van Morrison’s “And It Stoned Me” used water as a metaphor for transcendence, Dawson draws from a similar well, closing the song with an image of deep, cool water that promises renewal. This is folk music in its purest form—a song that doesn’t demand attention but commands it through its honesty.

Thematically, “Mend in My Ways” fits into a long lineage of folk confessionals, from Jackson Browne’s “Late for the Sky” to John Prine’s “Long Monday”—songs that understand that regret is something to sit with. Dawson’s strength as a songwriter lies in his ability to craft a song that feels deeply personal yet universal, offering listeners a mirror in which to see their own moments of realization and renewal.

Dawson describes the song as a reckoning with the way love can become background noise when it should be the melody that leads us forward. “Mend in My Ways is the story of taking for granted the person I should have valued most,” he says. “It’s about recognizing that love isn’t just given, it’s chosen—every single day.”

As the fourth single from his album Outlier, “Mend in My Ways” provides a moment of breath before the weight of what follows. It is sparse yet resonant, a song that lands softly but stays long after its final note. Where past singles have explored finding one’s place in the world and making peace with the past, this track turns inward, grappling with the personal cost of complacency in love.

In a world of fleeting moments, John Dawson is crafting songs that linger, songs that understand that folk music is about truth-telling. And in “Mend in My Ways,” the truth is as clear as the water that promises a fresh start.

Reviews
Album
John Dawson
Month: Aug 2022
Too Much Of Anything White Rock, BC's Alt.Rockers Trio TOO MUCH OF ANYTHING Release "Just…
Aggie Pop Singer/Songwriter Aggie Express The Importance Of Self Love In Her…
Apricity Releases Cover Of Scorpions “Wind Of Change” With Ex-Canadian Tenor Joey Niceforo Apricity Releases Cover Of Scorpions “Wind Of Change” With Ex-Canadian Tenor…
Ottawa's Edison Rupert Does It All Himself In The Face Of Hard Times With "vultures" Ottawa's Edison Rupert Does It All Himself In The Face Of Hard Times With "…
Acclaimed Guitarist, Songwriter & Producer Jeff Gunn Releases “Angelicus” Acclaimed Guitarist, Songwriter & Producer Jeff Gunn Releases “Angelicus”
Lisa Humber Alt-Pop Artist Lisa Humber Urges Critical Thinking & Human Connection…
Sam Casey Pop Songstress Sam Casey Wrestles With the Hurt of a One-Sided Fling on Single “…
Steve Neville Stricken With Cancer And THIS Close To Dying, Guelph's Steve Neville…
The AltoRays Eclectic Jazz Duo The AltoRays Throwback to the Groovy Future with New Single “The Hop”…
UMBE B Cuban-Toronto’s UMBE B Delivers Cut-Throat Lyricism In Hard Hitting “Champions”…
Dany Horovitz Toronto Folk Artist Dany Horovitz Looks ‘Downward Into The Dark’ For New Single
Erika Kulnys Erika Kulnys Asks We All “Stand Together” in Support of Equality for Refugees,…
Erika Lamon Folk-Rock Songstress Erika Lamon Captures the Storminess of a Guilt-Laden…
Giancarlo & The Scarfones Giancarlo & The Scarfones Electrify With “Take The Money” Single
Hölt Try Not Speed While Listening To Niagara Falls' Hölt On Blast As "…

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 75
  • Page 76
  • Page 77
  • Page 78
  • Current page 79
  • Page 80
  • Page 81
  • Page 82
  • Page 83
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers