Johnny Cash: Hurt Meaning
Song Released: 2003
Hurt Lyrics
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
[Chorus:]
What have I become
My sweetest...
-
My interpretation comes from a mixture of the original and Mr. Cash's
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
_______________________
I think that this verse is speaking through BOTH trent and Johnny, as an addiction (which he was addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Cash) as something used to stop the emotional pain that they both have gone through. The last part is more specific to Trent, but it makes a very graphic image none the less.
_______________________
Chorus
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
___________________________________
for the chorus, He is speaking to his addiction.
This is about the fact that as a part of life for a musician they often lose connection with family and friends, which is often compounded by drug abuse.
and that he is ready to give up everything to just fell something. He is stating here that he is depressed and that he will let people in his life down and hurt them emotionally.
_________________________________
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
This is where Trent and johnny begin to part.
I the original he does not say thorns, and it is much more of a self loathing dump.Johnny inserts his broken touch of religion into this song with an homage to the bible. Then he speaks to his brother, and of his guilt slowly fading, and that jack is an "angel", and johnny is still on earth. Speaking again to the regret
________________________
again the chorus, same meaning.
________________________
if I could start again
a million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way
_________________
this is my favorite part of the song,because it is Johnny saying that if he could only start over he would do everything right, and is in a matter of speaking saying sorry to all those he has hurt. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
-
Johnny Cash quit drugs back in 1968 and his major addiction wasn't heroine, he was addicted to speed, he would take a ton of it and then use tranquilizers to go to sleep, anyways. He had already been diagnosed with Autonomic neuropathy which means he some times didn't have control over his internal organs which really diables a person from being able to control a persons basic body functions. Given this is a cover song but I think this is what he means when he sings it.
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel (He still wants to know he is alive)
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real (Now with a lot of friends gone pain is the only feeling that has always been there)
The needle tears a hole (This would be a NIN referance to heroine I think)
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything (He still remembers the pain he has experianced over the years.)
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
(The chorus is a simple message to other people that it all passes in the end)
I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair (No matter what the bad memories stick with him)
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear (Good feeling disappear)
You are someone else
I am still right here
(In his old age and being hadicapped, he feels like the world has changed with out him)
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
(If he could start over he would trade all of his sucess to erase his past mistakes)
Both of the American 3 and 4 albums have a simular pattern of sad songs. As he knew he was dying he began to look back at the beginning and comparing his sucess to the sacrifce it took to get him there. -
I present an interpretation of my own...
"I hurt myself today" - he committed himself to something painful, not necessarily drugs, look beyond the obvious.
"To see if I still feel" - he wants to know if he is 'numb'
"I focus on the pain" - clearly, he's focusing on the pain
"The only thing that's real" - nothing else exists
"The needle tears a hole" - the pain has dug deep
"The old familiar sting" - he is used to it by now
"Try to kill it all away" - he tries to eliminate it all
"But I remember everything" - he is unsuccessful
"What have I become" - he does not recognise himself
"My sweetest friend" - he refers to his best friend
"Everyone I know goes away in the end" - everyone he cares about disappears at the end
"And you could have it all" - he is offering everything he owns
"My empire of dirt" - his empire of nothing
"I will let you down" - he will fail
"I will make you hurt" - he will make them suffer
"I wear this crown of thorns" - his crown of fame and fortune
"Upon my liars chair" - its all deciet
"Full of broken thoughts" - he has many regrets
"I cannot repair" - all is lost
"Beneath the stains of time" - under his hardened exterior
"The feelings disappear" - he becomes careless
"You are someone else" - his friend has changed
"I am still right here" - he has remained the same
[Chorus repeat]
"If I could start again" - if he could do it all again
"A million miles away" - anywhere but here
"I would keep myself" - he would not change
"I would find a way" - everything would be how it was -
I agree with the Jan 18th post. Yes, NIN's version had a different connotation, primarily that of self-loathing, self-harm, and drug addiction. Johnny Cash's version is, as said above, about the pain he endured through his life and his love/hate relationship with his fame. Johnny, however, was not really "lonely" in the end. Even though they had their problems throughout the years, he had June Carter. He loved her more than anything. Thus, after her death, he became severely depressed. It's been proven that after the loss of a loved one so close, a person will usually "give up" (die) in the near future afterward. My great grandmother and great great grandfather both died very shortly after losing their spouses. Therefor, I truly believe that, if not for the loss of June, Johnny would still be alive today. Essentially, the heartache was the last "nail in the coffin" so to speak.
-
This song was writen about drugs. But For Johnny Cash it more about his life. This song is Johnnys reflection on his life. In a way its his last goodbye.
-
The point of it all is the tone..........it hurts, its sad, and he's coming to the end, but he would go back and do it all over simply to live his life. He would give it all up for more time, the chance to correct wrongs done in the past. But he can't. Its his empire of dirt.
-
I hurt myself today (he has injected today)
to see if I still feel (he can't feel anything without drugs)
i focus on the pain
the only thing that's real
the needle tears a hole (he focuses on the pain of the entering needle -probably heroin- the pain is the only thing that feels real in his life now)
the old familiar sting
try to kill it all away
but I remember everything (he feels the familiar sting of the needle as he injects and tries to kill all the bad memories and regrets in his life -probably including his addictions and the pain it caused him, his family and friends- but he can't forget and instead he remembers everything clearly)
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
(he regrets what he has become -his sweetest friend could be his wife or even be heroin??- everyone he loved has deserted him and he is left with fame and fortune that is worth dirt. He regrets hurting the ones he loved)
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
(the crown of fame and fortune is like a crown of thorns, hurtful not glamourous -interestingly, johnny cash initials are same as jesus christ- his throne was not real as he was an ordinary man not some kind of god. The stains of time are bad moments in the past that have changed his loved ones and driven them away from him, while he has always remained the same -although trapped in his addiction and career- lonely and alone)
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way
(if he could have his life again, he would stay a million miles away from drugs and greed -regretting his choices in life)
VERY SAD SONG JOHNNY, BUT YOU DID NOT DIE IN VAIN, YOUR MUSIC GAVE JOY TO SO MANY. YOU WERE ALONE BUT YOU WERE AND ALWAYS WILL BE LOVED. R.I.P. -
I think that it is more then just drugs and all, you can interprt it anyway but everyone comes with something diffrent. The guy had a hard life, lost his brother had an asshole of a father became addicted to drugs failing marrage etc so maybe he thinks he failed some people along the way
-
This is such a hauntingly beautiful/sad video of a man who is reflecting on his life and wishing he had made other choices. That he chose to cover a NIN song I am sure surprised those close to him - he shared in the drugs, it' repercussions, jail and the "hurt" that it's use does to those around you and yourself. If he had to do it all over again he would have saved himself, he'd a found a way....but then he would not have lived the tragedy that inspired him -RIP-Johnny.
-
I don't think the song is about drugs, but rather self-mutilation, because those are the thoughts one goes through when hurting themselves. "Focus on the pain, etc."
-
This is johnny at his lowest, he has had a roller coaster life, drugs and break ups and discovery of love and getting dumped by his record company....
It's about him at his last months looking back soon after the death of his wife and the dwindling of his friends, he just doesn't want to go on anymore, simply this is his way of saying goodbye to his painful life, as it was not easy.
he was truely a legend in his time!
Rip big man -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
-
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
-
pretty self explanatory.
it was originally written by NiN songwriter Trent Reznor.
it's about a man who lost himself and is looking shamefully back.
Cash's version actually ahs a different connotation, it has an undertone of resentment about Cash's insubstantial relationship with his fans, and with his original record label (Columbia Records). The fact that they depict Cash in the video in nothing less than a throne, alone, at a feast, is just plain powerful.
that's my two bits.
More Johnny Cash songs »
Latest Articles
-
A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park -
Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable -
.jpg)
Dolly, we need you -
The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media -
The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s -
Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)
Trending:
Blog posts mentioning Johnny Cash
Blues Music For Your Great Recession 
Song Analysis Corner : Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody 
A Lyric Mapping Of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" 
The Couple That Plays Together, Stays Together 
Quentin Tarantino Has the Best Ear in the Film Business 
Storytelling Songs: Music That Does More Than Just Sound Nice 
Songs of Unity, Songs of Labor 
Blood Ballads - 7 Songs about murder 
Blasting Back to the Past: 5 Older Artists You Should Revisit Just Posted
| The Phrase That Pays | anonymous |
| Montreal | anonymous |
| Moonlight | anonymous |
| Beautiful People | anonymous |
| Amnesia | anonymous |
| Your Smiling Face | anonymous |
| You Should Be Dancing | anonymous |
| Washing Machine Heart | anonymous |
| Souvenirs | anonymous |
| Art Deco | anonymous |
| Let It Go | anonymous |
| The Greatest Show | anonymous |
| Vampire | anonymous |
| Vampire | anonymous |
| Sippy Cup | anonymous |
Weekly Most Popular
| 1 | Wale |
|---|---|
| 2 | Flogging Molly |
| 3 | Beatles |
| 4 | Common |
| 5 | Eminem |
| 6 | Alan Walker |
| 7 | Dashboard Confessional |
| 8 | Neighbourhood, The |
| 9 | One Direction |
| 10 | Drake |
