Hurt

Originally a Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame) song, Johnny Cash does a fantastic cover. The more country version with a rather moving music video never fails to bring a tear to the eye.

"Hurt" is so simple, yet so powerful. The feeling of pain, hence the hurt is actually embraced in this as it replaces the emptiness, the longing and the regret. I guess it's all comes down to which is more bearable.

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.

I think the last verse is only really a downer if you've already conceded defeat. Or, it's time to simply start again...