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I recently heard a rebroadcast of an interview with Rick Rubin about the recording of this song; apparently, Johnny Cash was reading it as a song about drugs (with which he was pretty familiar) while Reznor's intention was probably more about cutting/self-mutilation. (the needle tears a hole...)
TBH, i'd probably have interpreted it the other way... "Hurt" is definitely a song about cutting as self-medication for me, and i think Cash's version, simply by virtue of being so muich more "bare" and stripped down, is actually by far the more emotionally powerful... it feels more like he means it, less like he's just trying to "artily" evoke the issue (as the NIN version gives a slight impression to me)...
I actually think "crown of thorns" works better than "crown of shit", both because of the added Christian reference (could be cos i'm an ex-Christian tho) and the visual metaphor of thorns = blades/needles (it also makes me think of "St" Paul's "thorn in the flesh")...
Haven't heard Cash's cover of "One", but, as it's the only U2 song i like, and the reasons i like it are very similar to the reasons i like Cash's version of "Hurt", i think i'd like to hear it...
Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head?
(slightly OT, there's a truly awful cover of "One" currently all over daytime radio here (UK), with a (probably American) woman singing on it, who totally butchers the song by trying to turn it into that whole American-female-pop-"diva" emoting-by-trying-to-fit-as-many-notes-as-possible-into-every-word thing... dunno who it is, but it really pisses me off...) |
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