Johnny Cash - Hurt

Johnny Cash - Hurt

  Lyrics

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

Here, Cash is reminiscing about the past, talking about his use of drugs. In this verse he seems deeply depressed, and talks about how he wants to wipe away his memories of the past but cannot do so. He also mentions how pain is "the only thing that's real", relating this to later in the song where he says that everyone else has left him and he is now alone with the pain. When he says "The old familiar sting" this is an admission that he used drugs in the past an possibly that he had problems or addictions related to drugs, so is now using them again in an attempt to distance himself from the past. The next two lines show how he is or was trying to rid himself of his pain through the use of drugs, but he still remembers the pain and the bad things that he has done throughout his life.

[Chorus]
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

The above verse is the chorus of the song, and contains the song's most poignant lyrics. The "what have I become" line refers to how much Cash has changed over the years, since he first gained fame to now, as an old man singing about the past. It also implies that he is not happy with the man that he now is, or the man that he previously was. Cash's "sweetest friend" is thought to be his wife, who appears in the video for short lengths of time, and it would appear that he is addressing her in the next few lines, where he tells her that "you could have it all". The next two lines are quite solemn, with Cash stating that all of the people he knows leave him eventually. This is likely a reference to his friends and members of his family who have passed away over the years, leaving Cash lonely and depressed, as can be seen from the lyrics of this song. Cash now feels as though he has nothing left, as he has lost everything and everyone that he ever had and knew, stating that his is an "empire of dirt" and that all he his good for is letting people down and hurting them. Due to the references towards the deaths of people that he had once known, we can assume that he is in part talking about not being able to apologise to these people for the ways in which he has wronged them by lying to them, as we hear in the next verse.

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liars 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

The first line of this verse seems to be a reference to Jesus wearing a crown of thorns when he was crucified, and at this point the video shows Cash sitting at a table with a large meal spread out in front of him, seeming to refer to the last supper. These references to Christ could be due to a similar fall from fame that Cash experienced throughout his career, as he was once idolised by many, but at this point had seemingly been almost forgotten. The liars chair statement seems to be Cash once again insulting himself, calling himself a liar, and that this has made him stand out from others for this particular reason. The next two lines are Cash reminiscing about the past, mainly about the mistakes that he has made in his life, and how he cannot forget these memories or make himself feel better about these events. The two lines after this state that many of the feelings and emotions that Cash once had have faded over time, now being non-existent. The final two lines of the verse talk about how the people around him have changed over time, most likely for the better, while Cash is still living in the mistakes of the past as he cannot move on or force himself to change.

[Chorus]

If I could start again
A million miles away
I will keep myself
I would find a way

This final verse is shorter than the others, perhaps serving to give it a larger impact as the lyrics here are mainly focused on Cash speaking about how he feels at this moment in time, rather than talking about the past. These four lines provide a summary for the song and come as a result of Cash reminiscing about the past. He states that if it was possible, he would start his life all over again somewhere far away, avoiding the fame that ultimately led him to the sorry state that he is now in. This shows that  Cash does indeed feel regret for the mistakes that he has previously made, and wishes that he could go back in time and correct the wrong turns that he has taken.