At this point in our lives, we've had this feeling before. Bad news about someone we know personally--really bad news--where sadness turns to dread and concern to anxiety, where the need to control one's world runs into complete and utter helplessness.

So it was that Saturday in September when we heard about Jon's accident at the racetrack, and waited by our social networks for 140 character updates... "accident" ... "airlift" ...and finally, "coma". On Sunday I drove to Ft. Worth and met Jon's family for the first time, heard the detailed story of the day before, and saw my friend, who just seven days before had come over to my house with his son Ayden, who earlier this year became fast friends with Penn.

Jon Broom is one of those people who seems to navigate life with a certain calm equanimity. I imagined that was what made him such a good motorcycle racer. So to see him in that hospital bed with his body at the mercy of his traumatized brain was strange. I think we all thought he was just going to open his eyes and start talking to us at any minute.

I'm not sure exactly when the idea to write a song for Jon occurred to me. Often when I noodle on the guitar I'll make melodies and lyrics up on the fly, usually about things around me or going on in my life at that time. Some of these make it into complete songs, most do not. Especially lately. Something about a new baby and working for a startup.

So this melody over the words "Wake Up Jon" kind of lived in my head for a couple weeks. Whenever I picked up a guitar I played it and imagined it traveling to Jon. But I also had this idea to try and finish the song, record it with Salim, and put it online for paid download to help Jon's family with expenses. Other friends had already set up "Jon's Fund".

Finally, with nothing but that little chorus melody, I went into Pleasantry Lane requesting Salim's help with writing. I had never co-written a song before, not like this. Jason Roberts wrote the ending of American Dream Town, Rip Rowan the bridge of Fait Accompli, and Salim made every song what it was...something like 4 a.m. at Charles de Gaulle Airport is, honestly, mostly him.

But this time I had just a chorus, and the subject matter was sensitive to say the least. I'm so thankful to Salim for being not only an amazing musician and professional producer, but the kind of person who immediately connects to some of the deepest elements of our humanity. He's frequently melancholy, for sure, but from within that place he speaks always with great hope and with a great appreciation for all that life has given us.

As soon as I said, "The only thing I have for a verse is this little thing that kind of works off the chorus progression," and he said, "Yeah it should be something like that" and then played that Yes·ter·day line, I knew that was it. This was going to work.

So here we are, we finished the song with the help of many friends. John Lefler kindly donated his time and talents the to project. Rip Rowan played an awesome drum part when I failed to deliver. Steven Ray did art. Penny Kim is heading up our social networking operations. Carissa has been a fantastic supporter and advisor.

I hope we sell enough downloads to at least make the total we're able to give to Jon and his family more than if I had just given the balance of the costs straight to them. I really hope we get this song stuck in the heads of a couple thousand people, and they sing it to Jon from wherever they are. In the video in my mind, there are shots of all these people going about their day, singing "Wake Up Jon", and little ribbons of color fly from them, across the city, to Jon's window.

Follow Jon's progress on Facebook here.

Download "Wake Up Jon" in the widget at the top of this post or at wakeupjon.com.

Press! Read Pete Freedman's report on the Wake Up Jon project on the Dallas Observer music blog.