Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash's cover of Trent Reznor's hurt is one of the best songs I've ever heard. I originally loved Trent's version, but the way Johnny's voice cracks and the great piano crescendo just makes this unbelievable. What an album for him to leave behind before he died.

My father-in-law met him about a week before he died. He does alarm work in Nashville, and he's worked on the Cash house many times, but never met him. When he was there the last time, he mentioned to the security guard that he'd been working the house for years and never met the Man in Black. The guard brought him upstairs where they were sorting and separting all of June Cash's stuff (she had died a month earlier), and he said that Johnny didn't look good, but he had a strong grip and fierce eyes.

For inspiration, here are the 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
What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
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 feeling disappears
You are someone else
I am still right here
What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
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

Added: 6/25/2004 11:56:00 AM
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