Trent Reznor's recording of Hurt had no emotion. No feeling. It meant absolutely nothing till Johnny Cash covered it. Cash put a lifetime of pain and emotion into the song and transformed it from nothing to amazing.
It wasn't written to be a hit single. You have to take it in the context of the album. He hurts so much that he's forced to choose between turning his back on his old feelings or killing himself. In order to survive, he severs the twisted emotions like a gangrenous limb. He stares at the stump in an anesthesia haze and is left wondering who he is now.
Mr. Cash performed it as an ending song, full of regrets. Mr. Reznor was still young and trying to make a new life, so he performed it as a beginning song, full of regrets, but also full of possibilities. Both have their own meaning, but tie goes to the songwriter.
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