Crown of Shit Versus Crown of Thorns

I believe that some cover songs are good and some not so much. So this week I am going to start off with the song "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails.



The cover is done by Johnny Cash. I like the original, however I prefer Johnny Cash's version. Nine Inch Nails sound very raw in their singing while Johnny Cash sounds a bit more worn and depressed. Some of the lyrics really resonate and stand out like the first stanza:

"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."

These lyrics seem to work better for Johnny Cash because he has more experience with pain and loss. When he sings it I can feel his pain and relate to it more so than I can with the Nine Inch Nails version. Even the music video for his version of the song is interspersed with several different clips of when he was young which shows his nostalgia for being young again. The last stanza in the song is a perfect example of this:

"If I could start again/ A million miles away/ I would keep myself/ I would find a way."

After assessing the lyrics it is seems that Nine Inch Nails is singing about doing drugs or cutting themselves when they mention the line “The needle tears a whole.” While Johnny Cash seems to be singing about possibly committing suicide because he has gone through this loss and there really is nothing left for him to live for because he's already so much older and I can feel his pain when he sings "Everyone I know goes away/ in the end". Which is why Johnny Cash's version sounds so much better, because it's more understandable for him to want to do that and his soulful voice adds to the song and the lyrics. Nine Inch Nails also paint a picture with the lyrics with the lines “You could have it all/ My empire of dirt” as well as the lines “I wear this crown of shit/ Upon my liar’s chair.” It’s interesting that they refer to their empire as a “pile of dirt” and their crown is made of shit. I normally associate terms like empire and crown with royalty and wealth not as something as negative as shit or dirt. Except in Johnny Cash’s version he replaces “crown of shit” with “crown of thorns” which somehow sounds more painful and depressing than the original lyrics.

Though both the band and Johnny Cash seem to be implying suicide in the song I believe that each of the songs is good for different reasons. I also find it interesting that Nine Inch Nails is considered an industrial rock or alternative rock band whereas Johnny Cash is better known as a country singer. Though Johnny Cash did not try to make the song sound country at all, it still sounds like a rock song. I find it very ironic that “Hurt” was Johnny Cash’s last hit before he passed away and the song happens to be talking all about suicide. Johnny Cash’s lyrics are not all that different from Nine Inch Nails’ lyrics since he only replaces one word and where some of the stanzas and lines start and end. I believe the main difference is how both of the songs are performed and what kinds of emotions both the band and Johnny Cash manage to evoke in the audience. I would have assumed that Nine Inch Nails’ version would be more depressing, however after looking at the lyrics and listening to the songs again I have come to the conclusion that Johnny Cash’s version is much more depressing.