Hurt

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I love when I wake up with a specific song in mind. On Wednesday morning I was awake a good couple hours before I needed to be up and I had to be up by 5:30...so it was just plain strange to be thinking about Johnny Cash and the song, Hurt, in particular.

The song was originally done by Nine Inch Nails, but I never heard their version. It was Johnny's version that I loved and it was the one playing in my head. The writing is flat-out great. Just wonderful lyrics and Johnny sings it hauntingly. The 'empire of dirt' reference is specifically significant to me. The narrator is in some real pain, folks!

One other Johnny Cash note:

Years ago I was at a Book Expo in New York. Johnny had just died. His kid was signing books right next to me. He had written something about his Dad, of course, and I had a chance to shake his hand and talk a little about the Man in Black. He signed a poster, a book and gave me a tee-shirt. All very cool items and very generous of him. I asked him why he was loading me up with so much loot and he said:

"I live for the moments when Dad's fans share their appreciation of him.

Hurt - Johnny Cash/Nine Inch Nails

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 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 would keep myself
I would find a way

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