'Hurt': as sung by the inimitable Johnny Cash

Here Johnny Cash, the Man in Black who was a fixture of American popular music and imagination for decades, strums and croons a deeply moving performance of Nine Inch Nail's, "Hurt". It is almost eerie, almost haunting, since it was recorded very soon before Cash's death. The accompanying video offers vignettes from his life as a peformer, husband of June Carter, and as a deeply sincere Christian.

This is a raw, powerful and deeply emotional performance. Produced by Rick Rubin, The Man Comes Around was the fourth and final Grammy Award-winning album of Cash and Rubin's collaboration. 

"Hurt"

 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 shit
 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
 
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