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Originally Posted by Strange Famous
Personally, I would say that this IS a Johnny Cash song now... it hardly matters who wrote it or performed it first.
I am perfectly willing to believe the dude from NiN has taken more drugs than Cash did, or had a turbulent life... but Johnny Cash is an icon and I believe he performed that track in a way no one else could. In every word and every note - its is filled with the knowledge that he was on his way out and he was so filled with regret. His version is simply more powerful and better to me.
Sinatra didnt write "My Way" as far as I know... but how could anyone else sing it in an unironic way now?
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And a million Nine Inch Nails fans suddenly cried out in pain without knowing why.
I have nothing against Cash, I like quite a few of his songs and definitely enjoy his
cover of Hurt, but it's not the original and it's not really close to what Sinatra did with "My Way."
Sinatra picked up a song by a few random guys and turned it into something huge based on his star power. Cash picked an iconic NIN song and did his own thing with it. I mean, if anything, this is the very definition of a GOOD cover. It took a great song and did something original with it while maintaining the magic that made the original good (I'm looking at you all you shitty punk bands who poorly cover great songs!). Hurt was secured in the industrial/metal/rock pantheon of great songs before Cash touched it, he just exposed it to a larger audience. It is interesting to note that Reznor himself does not feel like "Hurt" is really his song anymore, as you can see on the wikipedia article about the song.
Linky!
Part of the appeal of Cash's "hurt" I'm sure is that it was really his last big hit before he passed away. It really is an on the way out type of song, so everything clicked to make it a great hit. And I certainly won't detract from that.
Regardless, I think plenty of fans still know and love the original as the original and it speaks to a very different place and a very different group than Cash's version does. People are stupid and lazy so those who knew of the song only after Cash released his version are probably going to mis-attribute it to him, but I don't think the man in black would have any problem at all giving credit where credit was due.