Hurt
Johnny Cash Lyrics
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
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 will keep myself
I would find a way
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Trent Reznor
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
"Hurt" was written by Trent Reznor and first released on Nine Inch Nails' 1994 album The Downward Spiral. Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" was released on his 2002 album, American IV: The Man Comes Around.
Rick Rubin, producer of Cash's American series and a friend of Reznor's, suggested the song to Cash. The line "crown of shit" was changed to "crown of thorns", not only removing profanity from the lyrics, but also more directly referencing Christ. Read Full Bio"Hurt" was written by Trent Reznor and first released on Nine Inch Nails' 1994 album The Downward Spiral. Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" was released on his 2002 album, American IV: The Man Comes Around.
Rick Rubin, producer of Cash's American series and a friend of Reznor's, suggested the song to Cash. The line "crown of shit" was changed to "crown of thorns", not only removing profanity from the lyrics, but also more directly referencing Christ. The cover was released on a single with the B-side "Personal Jesus", a cover of the Depeche Mode single.
Reznor said that when Rubin first asked if Cash could cover his song, he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." He became a fan of Cash's version, however, once he saw the music video: “I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore… It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning - different, but every bit as pure.”
Johnny Cash's version was awarded the Country Music Award for "Single of the Year" in 2003. It ranked as CMT's top video for 2003, #1 on CMT's 100 Greatest Country Music Videos the following year, and #1 on the Top 40 Most Memorable Music Videos on MuchMoreMusic's Listed in October 2007. As of July 2008, the single occupies the number one spot on Rate Your Music's Top Singles of the 2000s. The song is also Cash's sole chart entry on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, where it hit #33 in 2003.
The house where Cash's music video for "Hurt" was shot, which was Cash's home for nearly 30 years, was destroyed in a fire on April 10, 2007.
Rick Rubin, producer of Cash's American series and a friend of Reznor's, suggested the song to Cash. The line "crown of shit" was changed to "crown of thorns", not only removing profanity from the lyrics, but also more directly referencing Christ. Read Full Bio"Hurt" was written by Trent Reznor and first released on Nine Inch Nails' 1994 album The Downward Spiral. Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" was released on his 2002 album, American IV: The Man Comes Around.
Rick Rubin, producer of Cash's American series and a friend of Reznor's, suggested the song to Cash. The line "crown of shit" was changed to "crown of thorns", not only removing profanity from the lyrics, but also more directly referencing Christ. The cover was released on a single with the B-side "Personal Jesus", a cover of the Depeche Mode single.
Reznor said that when Rubin first asked if Cash could cover his song, he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." He became a fan of Cash's version, however, once he saw the music video: “I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore… It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning - different, but every bit as pure.”
Johnny Cash's version was awarded the Country Music Award for "Single of the Year" in 2003. It ranked as CMT's top video for 2003, #1 on CMT's 100 Greatest Country Music Videos the following year, and #1 on the Top 40 Most Memorable Music Videos on MuchMoreMusic's Listed in October 2007. As of July 2008, the single occupies the number one spot on Rate Your Music's Top Singles of the 2000s. The song is also Cash's sole chart entry on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, where it hit #33 in 2003.
The house where Cash's music video for "Hurt" was shot, which was Cash's home for nearly 30 years, was destroyed in a fire on April 10, 2007.
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Ronald Joshua Rosario
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'm 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
Gerret Outdoors
This is the greatest cover of all time. To take a song and re-sing it, re-record it successfully takes skill.
To give it entirely new meaning without changing the words is legendary.
Nine inch nails is without a doubt, one of the most impactful and meaningful bands of all times.
And Mr. Cash sings their song in such a way... it's difficult to put to words.
He doesn't have his youthful voice anymore. And he isn't "in tune". But it hits like a sledgehammer.
With context, this is one of the greatest pieces of art human kind has created. The fact that he did not write the song makes it 10 times better. Because we have all heard songs and connected with them.
But you feel his soul and heart in this.
It's truly something that cannot be explained and must be experienced.
It is my sincerest hope, that at the end of humanity, when we send out a beacon to tell any other advanced civilized societies that may exist now, or in the future, that we existed, and what we accomplished, and why we matter, that this song is included.
Mr. Speed
I know I’m not the only one, but “everyone I know goes away in the end” hits harder and harder the older I get.
Benny on 60hz
Dude u can't forgot those words they hit so harddddd
Chatorson
commenting to complete 500
R May
sometime when you are alone, you are with the best that can be found
Graeme Brown
@Tmek Gainz Travel
Scott Charney
I'm 41, and while it still hits hard, it hit harder back when the song (Cash's version) first came out. Also, I'm not sure what effect this had, but I was also frequently listening to NIN's live album "And All That Might Have Been" (which came out shortly before), and it closes with "Hurt." I was a lot more emotional back then, and maybe by now I'm used to so many people leaving me, and I expect it.
JBzone
This song almost brings me to tears as a man. This reminds me so much of my father when he was dying and the things he told me. Minus the drug references. He was clean as a whistle in that way, but his regrets on his feeling of letting me down. I would trade everything he lost or I would ever own to have more time with my father. Something you don't learn until you lose something of real value is what you thought you valued is worthless compared a missing parent. All the stupid fights you thought were important were a waste of time and wasted time you could be spending with someone who loves you unconditionally. Hug and make up and most of all respect the man and woman that brought you into this world. Walk a mile in their shoes If you think you know better than your elders. After 10ft of walking the weight of their wisdom will make you stop and wonder why you didn't listen to them sooner!. I wish I learned that lesson much younger in my life. I am just happy I learned that before it was to late and had some great years with my father before he passed.
Eniril Nihil
Yeah, for 27 years i focused on that alone to forgive most of my parent's slights, from alcoholism to insults and whatnot, i wiped it all away several times in the name of love. Supported them through illness, depression, poverty, loneliness. Three years ago their actions led me to a psychotic break and i've been fighting my way back ever since. Your comment only seems sanctimonious to my eyes now. Let them walk in my shoes and fight a schizophrenia they induced. Regardless, peace.
Kurt Billups
Something I learned late (comparatively) in life: PEOPLE are the most valuable thing in life. Family & friends. Fathers, mothers, daughters, and sons. In the end, you will be willing to trade all you have for even just one of them. I hope others learn it before I did. I truly do. Keep all the good people in your life as long as you can. And if time takes them away, they will live in your heart forever.
JBI AUTOMOTIVE
AMEN