If you're reading along, then you already know that I have a fondness for covers that significantly change the original song and make something new of it. This is one of those songs. It's originally a Nine Inch Nails song (link to video here). That version was good. There was a reason it was a big hit. It captured a certain kind of sadness.
But, it's a very different song in the hands of Johnny Cash, especially at the age and point of life he was at when he recorded it. I'm not even a huge Johnny Cash fan, but I was aware of his addiction and relationship issues, and that added a "meta" layer to the song made of real biography on top of a great performance of a great song. So much sadness, and regret intermixed with acceptance that those things cannot actually be changed.
Lyrics from AtoZ:
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
What have I become
My sweetest friend?
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
What have I become
My sweetest friend?
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way
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This song and video always makes me cry. You can feel his Sadness and regrets and when his wife appears wishing she could help him, well it just makes break down. He should have won the best video that year and Justin Timberlake, who did win, thought Cash should have won. Who knew that a few m9nths later, she would die of a heart attack. When Cash was at his wife's funeral, he wore white in her honour.
ReplyDeleteSame. It breaks my heart in the best way.
DeleteSuch grief, pain, and sadness. Both versions are powerful, but the Cash version breaks my heart.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree.
DeleteThat is from a great album of covers. Just went to Wikipedia and they say it was the final album released before his death. 67th studio album!
ReplyDeleteRick Rubin produced it.
Not sure I've ever checked out the whole album. Ever since I got my first ipod back in the day, I've become a song-by-song listener more than an album-by-album listener.
DeleteI agree, this is one of those covers that recreates the song in a magical way.
ReplyDeleteGlad you agree!
DeleteYes, this does sound so very different than the Nine Inch Nails version.
ReplyDeleteIt's honestly hard to hear them as the same song.
DeleteSamantha, I am a big Johnny Cash fan from way back. I love what he did with "Hurt" and I love the video they made to go with it. I still cry every time I watch it and listen. Good choice for "H" today.
ReplyDeleteThank you. This one makes me tear up, too.
DeleteIt sounds like a whole new song!
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for A-Z Challenge The Chosen One: Horus & My Languishing TBR: H #AtoZChallenge2025 #Books #Bookreview
It really does!
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