John Witherspoon – End of the Line Again (2025)
There’s something quietly devastating about the way John Witherspoon delivers the opening lines of ‘End of the Line Again’. His voice carries the exhaustion of someone who’s been asked too many questions they can’t answer, and right from the start, you sense this isn’t going to be another feel-good indie-folk anthem.
The Liverpool artist has crafted something that feels uncomfortably familiar – a song about the impossible position of being expected to have your life figured out while everything around you contradicts itself. It’s less about celebrity culture specifically and more about that universal experience of feeling like you’re supposed to know what you’re doing when absolutely nobody does.
What works best here is Witherspoon’s restraint. Where another songwriter might have gone for obvious targets or easy cynicism, he instead creates this character who’s trying to rationalise choices that don’t sit right with him. The way he weaves together contradictory self-help mantras feels like scrolling through social media at 2 AM – everything sounds profound until you realise it’s all noise.
The musical arrangement does something interesting by starting small and intimate before gradually becoming overwhelming, which mirrors the song’s emotional arc perfectly. By the time those layers of piano reach their peak, you feel the weight of all those competing voices and expectations pressing down.
The track was inspired by footballers’ controversial Saudi Arabia moves, a reference which might seem oddly specific, but it works because it’s really about any moment when principles meet paychecks. Witherspoon has found a way to make that dilemma feel personal rather than preachy, which is no small feat.
If there’s a weakness, it’s that the song occasionally feels too careful, so concerned with presenting all sides that it sometimes lacks the gut punch a truly great protest song delivers. But maybe that’s the point. This isn’t a song with easy answers because there aren’t any.
‘End of the Line Again’ succeeds because it captures something true about how we talk ourselves into things we’re not sure about, and how the noise of modern life makes it harder to hear our own moral compass. It’s the kind of song that grows on you precisely because it doesn’t try to solve the problems it presents.
Witherspoon has crafted a song that feels distinctly 2025 – rooted in the timeless musicality of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, yet unmistakably modern in its sensibility. It embraces the complexities of today’s world while still reaching for something real and meaningful.
Find out more about John Witherspoon on his official website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
