It's been ages since I've last listened to Hurt as Nine Inch Nails put it on The Downward Spiral.
I do really like Johnny Cash's cover of this song. In fact I think it's one of the best covers I've heard. But it's still impossible to compete with the atmosphere of the original.
It's not necessarily a pleasant song to listen to, with noise, detuned guitars and some audio jittering that breaks off one or the other channel in the mix.
But then there's the barely audible whispered second verse and Reznor's voice cracking every now and then. It is a haunting, authentic and deeply emotional song that touches me much deeper than Cash's cover. With the cover I'm empathizing with Cash's life. The sadness is his, even though the tears may be mine. While I'm sure he made a lot of bad choices he regretted later, I cannot really relate to any of them.
For some reason though, the NIN version, especially coming at the end of The Downward Spiral makes me question myself. "Could that have been me? Is that me?" It drags long forgotten memories to the surface, both happy and sad. And that's what makes it perfect to me.
IrgndSonDepp /
npub15x…hgspr
2025-04-04 19:07:52
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npub15xw0hdqlxsw6t0tf68d00yfsd4kfytfyv8y00xx0muqzgcr765yqthgsprPublished at
2025-04-04 19:07:52Event JSON
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