Hurt : The Downward Spiral
The 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
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 stain of time
the feeling disappears
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
(Pre 5-12-98)
Trent Reznor is an artist that writes music that has a deep and personal connection with his listeners. Personnally, I find myself attracted to music that I most profoundly find personal feelings. That is why I am such a fan of NIN. I can take any song and apply it to myself, wether through actions of the past, or feelings of the future. Cosequently, the following is my own individual interpretation the song. It is about my own experiences, with complete disregard to what Reznor may or may not have been trying to convey. And so this is what the song means to me.
I was once a very happy person, and I had everything I wanted. Namely, this would be through my girlfriend, who provided me with all my contentment. Now the first lines
"i hurt myself today\to see if i still feel"
is a metaphor to my own destruction of my ideal life. The reason being that I cheated on this girl, whom I loved. I feel as though I felt too strong and took her for granted. That day I hurt myself not physically, but mentally. In retrospect
"i focus on the pain\the only thing that's real"
because that is all I have to dwell on. It is the most prominent thing that inflicts my life. the next lines
"what have i become?\my sweetest friend
everone i know\goes away in the end"
is tied to myself questioning my actions. These questions are directed at her, who does not even know I did what I did. But as a result of my actions, has caused her to change and all the happiness I knew has gone away. So in a sense, I have lost that old girl forever, but because she was everything to me, she was also "everyone".
"You could have it all/ my empire of dirt
i will let you down/i will make you hurt"
is again myself, deciding that I never did have any real substance to offer her. I gave her everything, but it wasn't enough. Because the only thing I didn't give her was love, according to my action above, which was all she needed. Therefore, all I really could do was hurt her.
The crown of shit lines are to me the infamous cover-up. I attempted to justify it all to myself with "shit" and told all kinds of lies, as I was a coward. But there was nothing I could do to make it all go away. My rational attempts to explain it all to find comfort were dismal failures. The damage already done, I cannot repair it.
"beneath the stains of time/ the feelings disappear
you are someone else/ i am still right here"
These lines really affect me as the more time passes, we grow farther apart. She is forgeting about me, her love disappearing. But I am still here, and she is someone else. This ties into the line above where she goes away in the end.
The last lines, are just wistful longing of being able to start all over and never get involved. Not just with the cheating, but with the whole relationship. Hence, a million miles away. In this way, I could be happy again. But it is just a hopeless longing. I know that it will never occur.
Like I said before, i only like songs with deep personal meaning. I have found that through this song. It may not be a correct interpretation, but the reason why Reznor is so good is his ability to write music that can be interpreted in various ways. The listeners identify with the emotion of the song, and formulate it to fit their own experiences. This is what I have done. I don't expect anyone to agree with me.
But it is hard to convey your feelings in such a way as this, and I feel as though I have only bored all of you with my personal problems. But each person is entitled to their own interpretation, and mine are all personal. I cannot look at a song by NIN with a universal meaning, instead, I apply it to myself, which is why I like it so much.
(Pre 5-12-98)
I didn't read all of these interpretations, because I didn't see any which was close to my own meanings for the song. I'm not saying that this is the only true meaning to this song, it's just why it's so important to me and what it represensts to me. I used to be engaged with this girl which I loved very much, but we had to fuck it all up. I was all torn up for a long time, it was four years I believe, and I was too afraid to feel anything, except hate. I used to memorize the past, my happiness with her just to feel pain, to see if I still feel. For me the needle is a symbol to my pain of love which I still kinda feel, but I also know now that it's impossible for us, so I try to kill it all away, but I remember the happines, the love, remember her. I hated everyone, my friends, my family even my whole life and suddendly I realized I was all alone and I was my only friend(what have I become? My sweetest friend.). Most of friends stood on her side when she left m,e and those who knew what she also had done to me and standed by me left because I started to hate them 'cause they reminded me of her (Evetyone I know goes away in the end). I would die for her, she could have it all and now I feel that my life is just a world full of shit, pain and lies from god (empire of dirt), but I'm also pissed at her for what she did to me and I would like to make her pay (I will let you down, I will make you hurt). I was all torn up and I didn't know what to think anymore (Full of broken thoughts that I cannot repair). Then I found this other girl called Annina and she is the best thing that has ever happened to me so I'm a whole lot better now (beneath the stains of time, the feeling disappears, you are someone else [I am still right here means to me that I found someone else but sometimes I still miss her]). If I could start my life again I would choose Annina, but I still had some great times with her. This is what "Hurt" means to me and the reason I like it because it is similar to my life and feelings. This is what happened to me.
-Dave Scott
(Pre 5-12-98)
OK, everybody has a different interpretation of this song, and here is mine, and my story to go along with it.
I love this song. I really, really do. And when somebody deals with self-mutilation, it probably speaks to them, too. I don't know if this is what it's written for, and I don't know if he had ever followed in the footsteps of his "semi-creation", Marilyn Manson, and cut himself for whatever reason, but I think it is quite possible that he did. I know that this song describes how I feel some of the time. Well, alot of the time, to be truthful. I listen to it every night before I go to bed. I started doing this becuz of a very bad break up, after 13 and a half months of being mentally and emotionally abused by the guy I was in love with. He was "my sweetest friend".
(Pre 5-12-98)
You could be completely assumptuous and say "yeah this is about drugs" (heroin) but then you obviously don't really know much about Trent. It would be pretty much ignorant to say he does not or has never used drugs because he has but he has only used heroin once and did not like it.
Now I'm not going to try and psycho-analyze Trent or what he writes and feels but I am going to say what this song represents to me. First of all being a self mutilator all though I can assure you I am not one who does it for the trend or the attention which sadly some people need to do, I can honestly say that the self-inflicted pain does numb the emotional hurt for the time being. But it will always come back and eventually the need to hurt yourself becomes stronger and your almost addicted to it. i think this is where the "the needle tears a hole, the old familar sting try to kill it all away but I remeber everything" part comes in.
I also feel that "hurt" represents a spiral down into a pit of hopeless depression and a loss of any feelings of self worth. Thus being reflected in "If I could start again a million miles away I would keep myself I would find a way." as well as most of the song. I think its about feeling like no matter what you do your coming up short no matter how populaur, rich, beautiful, smart or perfect you are or seem to others. I think it's about feeling lost and alone and having no where to go but the dark and the numb where nothing can hurt you. With "beneath the stains of time the feelings disapear you are someone else i am still right here" I think its like after awhile the glamoure of someone 'new' wears away and you are left once again with nothing inside and a million people around you that you don't even like. I have done this with best friends, boy friends and numerous others around me.
in saying that "you could have it all my empire of dirt I will let you down i will make you hurt etc etc..." I think it represents trying to give all the bullshit that is your life and letting them go in to it thinking this will be great and then them being stuck with the decay that has become you.
Now I know if you read this you may totally disagree and say "I don't give a shit about her life or her thoughts", and I think thats great. Have your own opinion . Thats a good thing not enough people are doing that today. Like I said this is how the song reflects on me and my life and how it makes me feel and I personally think none of us have the right to say "Well Trent is saying this" because the only person who truly knows what Trent was thinking about when he wrote this is Trent, and even he may not really know. The fact is this song is a brilliant work of art and you should really only care about how the song connects to you instead of what Trent was going through when he wrote this.
-Ivy's addiction
(Pre 5-12-98)
It seems like Jim and leah have never been depressed in their life, I didnt even bother reading all of what Jim wrote becaise I know the song has nothing to do with drugs.
I'm going through an episode in my life right now, that fits every lyric exactly. My closest friend is a girl, who I loved, and hurt, and that seems to match Niktah's interpretation. And all my thoughts and goals have been lost to trying to keep others happy, pleasing them, in a way a sacrificed myself for them. My "liars chair" is almost my entire life. I lie to the very few friends I have, who never understand a word I say anyway. I know I've gotten off track from what I meant to say, but at this moment, I'm very depressed and I think that shows in my writing a little, and I'm sorry to all of you who are reading it....anyway, drugs make the pain go away for a short time, in which the lyrics say that he is trying to feel the pain, the hurt. I know I dont have much of an interpitation, but I wanted to tell those who think it is about drugs that they are wrong, or at least I do not agree with them, not at all....
-Chad
(Pre 5-12-98)
The song "Hurt" has a really deep meaning to me.
I am going to attempt to explain my interpretation by a story. Bear with me.
I have a close friend who I one day noticed had scars and burns on her arms and legs that I had never seen before. It took her awhile to feel comfortable enough to tell me about them. She said that she has terrible stresses in her life; Parents, boyfriends, school, randomly harrasing people. She said that sometimes the mental pain gets so intense that you just can't take it anymore. That the only way to relieve such mental pain is through physical pain. Such as cutting, burning, self-torture. She said that there have been night's where she just cried alone in a bathroom with a knife. She said that the knife just took the pain away. That it was her only true friend. Something to make sure she could still feel. I worry greatly about her. I don't know if your going to read this or if you even care, but that is my interpretaion of the song.
(5-19-98)
I dont truly believe in making interpretations to other peoples thoughts. But I will boringly tell you what Hurt makes me think of every time i hear it. "The entire beginning of the song, "I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel, I focus on the pain, the only thing thats real", etc. That definatly reflects my life. I never understood my 'ways' until now. I now realize that my whole self mutalation trip is to get rid of the true pain for a while. So i can feel something that is real. I can actually describe what I am feeling for once. Not be so confused. But then when my cut heals, or the swelling goes down or whatever, I remember the real pain. And it all starts again. It seems as if it is better to know what you are feeling. Like, love. And to know that you love, and are loved. And if you can't know your real feelings, you give yourself something temporarily to feel. And the part t+hat really makes me think. (and cry)... "You could have it all, my empire of dirt..." This whole verse makes me think of my life right now. Like, 'he' could have me. My soul. My everything. It may not be much, but I am willing to give everything I am to him. And when takes me. When I can also have him, I will make him hurt. I will show him pain the way he showed me pain. I will pay him back for being so blind. Well, this is what I think. Some time when I have more time I will tell you all my feelings about sanctified. (my absolute favorite, with many thoughts)
(5-19-98)
i didnt know if i should write this or not, becuz i hate revealing my feelings to anyone, but i guess i will now.
When i used to listen to hurt like a long time ago, i thought it was really stoopid, but i see now, i was the one who was stupid.
it all started about two years ago when everyone i ever believed in, or trusted in started leaving all at once, i changed from the 'sunny' girl everyone was used to seeing, into the 'dark' person that i was inside, but just hid most of the time, by the time i heard this song again on the radio (two years after its release, airplay was sparse) i had found relief in what is commonly reffered to as 'self mutilation' the first sentence caught my attention like nothing before.
"I HURT MYSELF TODAY, TO SEE IF I STILL FEEL"
my head jerked up from the poem i was writing, i remembered this song, yet it was almost as if i had never heard it before, and in most ways..i hadn't
'I FOCUS ON THE PAIN, THE ONLY THING THATS REAL'
i looked down at the fresh cuts on the inside of my arm almost immediatly, i felt at the verge of tears, 2 sentences into the song.
'THE NEEDLE TEARS A HOLE, THE OLD FAMILIAR STING'
i pulled my head up and looked at the wall in a determined stare, "you promised yourself tara" i told myself, "youre not going to cry anymore over them"
'TRY TO KILL IT ALL AWAY, BUT I REMEMBER EVERYTHING'
along with the memories that had singed their way into my brain, came back every emotion. this song had already inched its way into my heart, and i hadnt even made it to the second verse
'WHAT HAVE I BECOME, MY SWEETEST FRIEND, EVERYONE ONE I KNOW GOES AWAY IN THE END'
i sat there for a second, shocked, this guy knew everything i was feeling, everything, i fell in love with this music, this guy's feelings, this guy, he was so deep.
'AND YOU COULD HAVE IT ALL MY EMPIRE OF DIRT, I WILL LET YOU DOWN, I WILL MAKE YOU HURT'
my eyes closed and a smile spread across my face, i rolled my tounge in my mouth, it tasted sweet, the sweet taste of the thought of revenge, i wonderend just how much sweeter actual revenge would be.
'I WEAR THIS CROWN OF SHIT, UPON MY LIARS CHAIR, FULL OF BROKEN THOUGHTS, I CAN NOT REPAIR'
by now i was hugging my knees, tears dripping from my chin, to my hands, to my knees, to my sheets.
'BENEATH THE STAINS OF TIME, THE FEELING DISSAPEARS, YOU ARE SOMEONE ELSE, I AM STILL RIGHT HERE'
my body tensed up, the tears rolled down my face even more, but they werent tears like i was used to crying they were tears of joy in there own way, but in a messed up way.
the chourus starts agin, this is better than the best sex.
'IF I COULD START AGAIN, A MILLION MILES ALWAY, I WOULD KEEP MYSELF, I WOULD FIND A WAY'
the song starts to fade out, but not in my memory, not at all, its the freshest thing yet. i sit on my bed, speechless, but my head whirling with thoughts, "who was that" and things of that sort, the DJ cuts in and i sigh, and then i hear him say ' that was nine inch nails....hurt...ahhh what a touching song' in a sincere voice, i sighed and resumed writing.
(5-19-98)
I don't really know why I'm writing this, but that song "hurt" . . . I don't know what it does to me each time I listen to it, but I guess that's just what it does . . . "hurt" . . . As "relations" goes, I can understand the song completely. It's about being alone, in every way a person can be alone, not just in a room by yourself, but knowing you're the only one who really understands yourself. After all these years--after being seperated from one friend after another, being seriously fucked over by people I thought were my friends, after being betrayed, after watching one of my good friends die in an accident I couldn't stop--after watching my friends fall when I couldn't be there to save them, all I want to do is fall apart. And soon, you've been through so much that pain is the only thing you feel. You go from extreme to extreme because it's the only way to feel anything anymore. At the end of it all, you stand back and you ask
yourself, much as in the song, "What have I become?" You feel a monster. Everyone I've ever known in my life, goes away in the end. You might never be alone--but all you do is wait for them to go away, because you know they will. Whether it's because they die on you, or they give up and cop out, or because they betray you, they all go away. Sometimes, there are friends in the world you meet, and I wonder to myself, when they're going to go away too--try to explain to them what kind of people they are, that they do go away, and leave me here, all alone, to face myself and my hurt. It doesn't mean anything. "You can have it all." I'm the only one who's going to be left, in the end. So you can have it all, my sweetest friend. Everyone I know, goes away in the end. And I think, what he talks about
in the last words, "I would keep myself . . ." If he could do it all over again, he'd choose to never get involved in the first place. That's why it hurts. Because it's too late. You get involved even just by living itself.
(5-20-98)
I know what it feels like to be "Hurt". We all know. At least the majority of us. After my boyfriend died in the car crash I went totally balistic. I was a total maniac that went anybody decided to come along and trample me (including my dad and even his girlfriend) I'd hurt them right back.
I got into the whole drug scene where all I wanted was that certain drug just so all the bruises both on me and in my mind would fade away. Thinking that it would be gone forever then realizing always after I came out of my strung out state that they were still there. "I hurt myself today." Every day. I wouldn't quit. It was an on going thing and I was too chicken to admit that I was wrong and all the pain that I was receiving from my dad and everybody else including myself. "To see if I still feel." What was left for me to feel? I'd always think that to myself. What was left that was a good feeling? Nothing true. "I focus on the pain. The only thing that's real." Like I said before nothing was left. Just physical and emotional scar left over from my downfall and my father. And Ethan my beloved. He had taken me up and wanted to come back and help me but it seemed as if there was a greater force out there that was not allowing him to. The only thing that was left was pain. An endless coridor of smacks in the face and blood. Bloody lips, bloody knees, bloody everything. Including what was left inside. "Try to kill it all away but I remember everything." I remembered loud and clear. The echoing voices inside my empty head. Driving me to insanity. All I could see through my clouded tearful bloody eyes was a long long hall empty. Only one door at the end. Death? Was that the answer? "What have I become?" What had I become? I looked in the mirror one day and all I saw was a monster. Blood shot eyes and nearly no pupils. No brain. No feeling anymore because I pushed it all out along with the pain thinking that was the only soulution so I wouldn't hurt anymore. "I will let you down. I will make you hurt." I let everybody downevn Ethan. I let him down. And most important I let myself down. I fucked up big time. There was basically nothing I could do. I was in a hole. A dirt hole when you grabbed onto the sides to climb up it crumbled down. Just like a t the end of the song when the whole thing crumbles and evaporates into noise.
-Kitty Andeski
(5-20-98)
This is really short! This about me how Screwed my life and others peoples life.
I tried to work it out but Its too hard. I got too much stuff on my back and its really painful. Dont take that literally. I really got nothing to do about it! It's too much! I sometimes wished that I could rewind the years and years of the pain I have been through and find a different way that could lead me to a perfect life. Very Impossible right! DUH! Theres only one option for me and that would be shooting myself So it would be over. Anyways, I relate my life at the very end of this song HURT. " (IF) I could start again a million miles away I will keep my self I will find a way".
-Kristi
Go to Hurt Interpretations.
Return to Ninterpretations.
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 stain of time
the feeling disappears
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
Trent Reznor is an artist that writes music that has a deep and personal connection with his listeners. Personnally, I find myself attracted to music that I most profoundly find personal feelings. That is why I am such a fan of NIN. I can take any song and apply it to myself, wether through actions of the past, or feelings of the future. Cosequently, the following is my own individual interpretation the song. It is about my own experiences, with complete disregard to what Reznor may or may not have been trying to convey. And so this is what the song means to me.
I was once a very happy person, and I had everything I wanted. Namely, this would be through my girlfriend, who provided me with all my contentment. Now the first lines
"i hurt myself today\to see if i still feel"
is a metaphor to my own destruction of my ideal life. The reason being that I cheated on this girl, whom I loved. I feel as though I felt too strong and took her for granted. That day I hurt myself not physically, but mentally. In retrospect
"i focus on the pain\the only thing that's real"
because that is all I have to dwell on. It is the most prominent thing that inflicts my life. the next lines
"what have i become?\my sweetest friend
everone i know\goes away in the end"
is tied to myself questioning my actions. These questions are directed at her, who does not even know I did what I did. But as a result of my actions, has caused her to change and all the happiness I knew has gone away. So in a sense, I have lost that old girl forever, but because she was everything to me, she was also "everyone".
"You could have it all/ my empire of dirt
i will let you down/i will make you hurt"
is again myself, deciding that I never did have any real substance to offer her. I gave her everything, but it wasn't enough. Because the only thing I didn't give her was love, according to my action above, which was all she needed. Therefore, all I really could do was hurt her.
The crown of shit lines are to me the infamous cover-up. I attempted to justify it all to myself with "shit" and told all kinds of lies, as I was a coward. But there was nothing I could do to make it all go away. My rational attempts to explain it all to find comfort were dismal failures. The damage already done, I cannot repair it.
"beneath the stains of time/ the feelings disappear
you are someone else/ i am still right here"
These lines really affect me as the more time passes, we grow farther apart. She is forgeting about me, her love disappearing. But I am still here, and she is someone else. This ties into the line above where she goes away in the end.
The last lines, are just wistful longing of being able to start all over and never get involved. Not just with the cheating, but with the whole relationship. Hence, a million miles away. In this way, I could be happy again. But it is just a hopeless longing. I know that it will never occur.
Like I said before, i only like songs with deep personal meaning. I have found that through this song. It may not be a correct interpretation, but the reason why Reznor is so good is his ability to write music that can be interpreted in various ways. The listeners identify with the emotion of the song, and formulate it to fit their own experiences. This is what I have done. I don't expect anyone to agree with me.
But it is hard to convey your feelings in such a way as this, and I feel as though I have only bored all of you with my personal problems. But each person is entitled to their own interpretation, and mine are all personal. I cannot look at a song by NIN with a universal meaning, instead, I apply it to myself, which is why I like it so much.
I didn't read all of these interpretations, because I didn't see any which was close to my own meanings for the song. I'm not saying that this is the only true meaning to this song, it's just why it's so important to me and what it represensts to me. I used to be engaged with this girl which I loved very much, but we had to fuck it all up. I was all torn up for a long time, it was four years I believe, and I was too afraid to feel anything, except hate. I used to memorize the past, my happiness with her just to feel pain, to see if I still feel. For me the needle is a symbol to my pain of love which I still kinda feel, but I also know now that it's impossible for us, so I try to kill it all away, but I remember the happines, the love, remember her. I hated everyone, my friends, my family even my whole life and suddendly I realized I was all alone and I was my only friend(what have I become? My sweetest friend.). Most of friends stood on her side when she left m,e and those who knew what she also had done to me and standed by me left because I started to hate them 'cause they reminded me of her (Evetyone I know goes away in the end). I would die for her, she could have it all and now I feel that my life is just a world full of shit, pain and lies from god (empire of dirt), but I'm also pissed at her for what she did to me and I would like to make her pay (I will let you down, I will make you hurt). I was all torn up and I didn't know what to think anymore (Full of broken thoughts that I cannot repair). Then I found this other girl called Annina and she is the best thing that has ever happened to me so I'm a whole lot better now (beneath the stains of time, the feeling disappears, you are someone else [I am still right here means to me that I found someone else but sometimes I still miss her]). If I could start my life again I would choose Annina, but I still had some great times with her. This is what "Hurt" means to me and the reason I like it because it is similar to my life and feelings. This is what happened to me.
OK, everybody has a different interpretation of this song, and here is mine, and my story to go along with it.
I love this song. I really, really do. And when somebody deals with self-mutilation, it probably speaks to them, too. I don't know if this is what it's written for, and I don't know if he had ever followed in the footsteps of his "semi-creation", Marilyn Manson, and cut himself for whatever reason, but I think it is quite possible that he did. I know that this song describes how I feel some of the time. Well, alot of the time, to be truthful. I listen to it every night before I go to bed. I started doing this becuz of a very bad break up, after 13 and a half months of being mentally and emotionally abused by the guy I was in love with. He was "my sweetest friend".
You could be completely assumptuous and say "yeah this is about drugs" (heroin) but then you obviously don't really know much about Trent. It would be pretty much ignorant to say he does not or has never used drugs because he has but he has only used heroin once and did not like it.
Now I'm not going to try and psycho-analyze Trent or what he writes and feels but I am going to say what this song represents to me. First of all being a self mutilator all though I can assure you I am not one who does it for the trend or the attention which sadly some people need to do, I can honestly say that the self-inflicted pain does numb the emotional hurt for the time being. But it will always come back and eventually the need to hurt yourself becomes stronger and your almost addicted to it. i think this is where the "the needle tears a hole, the old familar sting try to kill it all away but I remeber everything" part comes in.
I also feel that "hurt" represents a spiral down into a pit of hopeless depression and a loss of any feelings of self worth. Thus being reflected in "If I could start again a million miles away I would keep myself I would find a way." as well as most of the song. I think its about feeling like no matter what you do your coming up short no matter how populaur, rich, beautiful, smart or perfect you are or seem to others. I think it's about feeling lost and alone and having no where to go but the dark and the numb where nothing can hurt you. With "beneath the stains of time the feelings disapear you are someone else i am still right here" I think its like after awhile the glamoure of someone 'new' wears away and you are left once again with nothing inside and a million people around you that you don't even like. I have done this with best friends, boy friends and numerous others around me.
in saying that "you could have it all my empire of dirt I will let you down i will make you hurt etc etc..." I think it represents trying to give all the bullshit that is your life and letting them go in to it thinking this will be great and then them being stuck with the decay that has become you.
Now I know if you read this you may totally disagree and say "I don't give a shit about her life or her thoughts", and I think thats great. Have your own opinion . Thats a good thing not enough people are doing that today. Like I said this is how the song reflects on me and my life and how it makes me feel and I personally think none of us have the right to say "Well Trent is saying this" because the only person who truly knows what Trent was thinking about when he wrote this is Trent, and even he may not really know. The fact is this song is a brilliant work of art and you should really only care about how the song connects to you instead of what Trent was going through when he wrote this.
It seems like Jim and leah have never been depressed in their life, I didnt even bother reading all of what Jim wrote becaise I know the song has nothing to do with drugs.
I'm going through an episode in my life right now, that fits every lyric exactly. My closest friend is a girl, who I loved, and hurt, and that seems to match Niktah's interpretation. And all my thoughts and goals have been lost to trying to keep others happy, pleasing them, in a way a sacrificed myself for them. My "liars chair" is almost my entire life. I lie to the very few friends I have, who never understand a word I say anyway. I know I've gotten off track from what I meant to say, but at this moment, I'm very depressed and I think that shows in my writing a little, and I'm sorry to all of you who are reading it....anyway, drugs make the pain go away for a short time, in which the lyrics say that he is trying to feel the pain, the hurt. I know I dont have much of an interpitation, but I wanted to tell those who think it is about drugs that they are wrong, or at least I do not agree with them, not at all....
The song "Hurt" has a really deep meaning to me.
I am going to attempt to explain my interpretation by a story. Bear with me.
I have a close friend who I one day noticed had scars and burns on her arms and legs that I had never seen before. It took her awhile to feel comfortable enough to tell me about them. She said that she has terrible stresses in her life; Parents, boyfriends, school, randomly harrasing people. She said that sometimes the mental pain gets so intense that you just can't take it anymore. That the only way to relieve such mental pain is through physical pain. Such as cutting, burning, self-torture. She said that there have been night's where she just cried alone in a bathroom with a knife. She said that the knife just took the pain away. That it was her only true friend. Something to make sure she could still feel. I worry greatly about her. I don't know if your going to read this or if you even care, but that is my interpretaion of the song.
I dont truly believe in making interpretations to other peoples thoughts. But I will boringly tell you what Hurt makes me think of every time i hear it. "The entire beginning of the song, "I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel, I focus on the pain, the only thing thats real", etc. That definatly reflects my life. I never understood my 'ways' until now. I now realize that my whole self mutalation trip is to get rid of the true pain for a while. So i can feel something that is real. I can actually describe what I am feeling for once. Not be so confused. But then when my cut heals, or the swelling goes down or whatever, I remember the real pain. And it all starts again. It seems as if it is better to know what you are feeling. Like, love. And to know that you love, and are loved. And if you can't know your real feelings, you give yourself something temporarily to feel. And the part t+hat really makes me think. (and cry)... "You could have it all, my empire of dirt..." This whole verse makes me think of my life right now. Like, 'he' could have me. My soul. My everything. It may not be much, but I am willing to give everything I am to him. And when takes me. When I can also have him, I will make him hurt. I will show him pain the way he showed me pain. I will pay him back for being so blind. Well, this is what I think. Some time when I have more time I will tell you all my feelings about sanctified. (my absolute favorite, with many thoughts)
i didnt know if i should write this or not, becuz i hate revealing my feelings to anyone, but i guess i will now.
When i used to listen to hurt like a long time ago, i thought it was really stoopid, but i see now, i was the one who was stupid.
it all started about two years ago when everyone i ever believed in, or trusted in started leaving all at once, i changed from the 'sunny' girl everyone was used to seeing, into the 'dark' person that i was inside, but just hid most of the time, by the time i heard this song again on the radio (two years after its release, airplay was sparse) i had found relief in what is commonly reffered to as 'self mutilation' the first sentence caught my attention like nothing before.
"I HURT MYSELF TODAY, TO SEE IF I STILL FEEL"
my head jerked up from the poem i was writing, i remembered this song, yet it was almost as if i had never heard it before, and in most ways..i hadn't
'I FOCUS ON THE PAIN, THE ONLY THING THATS REAL'
i looked down at the fresh cuts on the inside of my arm almost immediatly, i felt at the verge of tears, 2 sentences into the song.
'THE NEEDLE TEARS A HOLE, THE OLD FAMILIAR STING'
i pulled my head up and looked at the wall in a determined stare, "you promised yourself tara" i told myself, "youre not going to cry anymore over them"
'TRY TO KILL IT ALL AWAY, BUT I REMEMBER EVERYTHING'
along with the memories that had singed their way into my brain, came back every emotion. this song had already inched its way into my heart, and i hadnt even made it to the second verse
'WHAT HAVE I BECOME, MY SWEETEST FRIEND, EVERYONE ONE I KNOW GOES AWAY IN THE END'
i sat there for a second, shocked, this guy knew everything i was feeling, everything, i fell in love with this music, this guy's feelings, this guy, he was so deep.
'AND YOU COULD HAVE IT ALL MY EMPIRE OF DIRT, I WILL LET YOU DOWN, I WILL MAKE YOU HURT'
my eyes closed and a smile spread across my face, i rolled my tounge in my mouth, it tasted sweet, the sweet taste of the thought of revenge, i wonderend just how much sweeter actual revenge would be.
'I WEAR THIS CROWN OF SHIT, UPON MY LIARS CHAIR, FULL OF BROKEN THOUGHTS, I CAN NOT REPAIR'
by now i was hugging my knees, tears dripping from my chin, to my hands, to my knees, to my sheets.
'BENEATH THE STAINS OF TIME, THE FEELING DISSAPEARS, YOU ARE SOMEONE ELSE, I AM STILL RIGHT HERE'
my body tensed up, the tears rolled down my face even more, but they werent tears like i was used to crying they were tears of joy in there own way, but in a messed up way.
the chourus starts agin, this is better than the best sex.
'IF I COULD START AGAIN, A MILLION MILES ALWAY, I WOULD KEEP MYSELF, I WOULD FIND A WAY'
the song starts to fade out, but not in my memory, not at all, its the freshest thing yet. i sit on my bed, speechless, but my head whirling with thoughts, "who was that" and things of that sort, the DJ cuts in and i sigh, and then i hear him say ' that was nine inch nails....hurt...ahhh what a touching song' in a sincere voice, i sighed and resumed writing.
I don't really know why I'm writing this, but that song "hurt" . . . I don't know what it does to me each time I listen to it, but I guess that's just what it does . . . "hurt" . . . As "relations" goes, I can understand the song completely. It's about being alone, in every way a person can be alone, not just in a room by yourself, but knowing you're the only one who really understands yourself. After all these years--after being seperated from one friend after another, being seriously fucked over by people I thought were my friends, after being betrayed, after watching one of my good friends die in an accident I couldn't stop--after watching my friends fall when I couldn't be there to save them, all I want to do is fall apart. And soon, you've been through so much that pain is the only thing you feel. You go from extreme to extreme because it's the only way to feel anything anymore. At the end of it all, you stand back and you ask yourself, much as in the song, "What have I become?" You feel a monster. Everyone I've ever known in my life, goes away in the end. You might never be alone--but all you do is wait for them to go away, because you know they will. Whether it's because they die on you, or they give up and cop out, or because they betray you, they all go away. Sometimes, there are friends in the world you meet, and I wonder to myself, when they're going to go away too--try to explain to them what kind of people they are, that they do go away, and leave me here, all alone, to face myself and my hurt. It doesn't mean anything. "You can have it all." I'm the only one who's going to be left, in the end. So you can have it all, my sweetest friend. Everyone I know, goes away in the end. And I think, what he talks about in the last words, "I would keep myself . . ." If he could do it all over again, he'd choose to never get involved in the first place. That's why it hurts. Because it's too late. You get involved even just by living itself.
I know what it feels like to be "Hurt". We all know. At least the majority of us. After my boyfriend died in the car crash I went totally balistic. I was a total maniac that went anybody decided to come along and trample me (including my dad and even his girlfriend) I'd hurt them right back.
I got into the whole drug scene where all I wanted was that certain drug just so all the bruises both on me and in my mind would fade away. Thinking that it would be gone forever then realizing always after I came out of my strung out state that they were still there. "I hurt myself today." Every day. I wouldn't quit. It was an on going thing and I was too chicken to admit that I was wrong and all the pain that I was receiving from my dad and everybody else including myself. "To see if I still feel." What was left for me to feel? I'd always think that to myself. What was left that was a good feeling? Nothing true. "I focus on the pain. The only thing that's real." Like I said before nothing was left. Just physical and emotional scar left over from my downfall and my father. And Ethan my beloved. He had taken me up and wanted to come back and help me but it seemed as if there was a greater force out there that was not allowing him to. The only thing that was left was pain. An endless coridor of smacks in the face and blood. Bloody lips, bloody knees, bloody everything. Including what was left inside. "Try to kill it all away but I remember everything." I remembered loud and clear. The echoing voices inside my empty head. Driving me to insanity. All I could see through my clouded tearful bloody eyes was a long long hall empty. Only one door at the end. Death? Was that the answer? "What have I become?" What had I become? I looked in the mirror one day and all I saw was a monster. Blood shot eyes and nearly no pupils. No brain. No feeling anymore because I pushed it all out along with the pain thinking that was the only soulution so I wouldn't hurt anymore. "I will let you down. I will make you hurt." I let everybody downevn Ethan. I let him down. And most important I let myself down. I fucked up big time. There was basically nothing I could do. I was in a hole. A dirt hole when you grabbed onto the sides to climb up it crumbled down. Just like a t the end of the song when the whole thing crumbles and evaporates into noise.
This is really short! This about me how Screwed my life and others peoples life.
I tried to work it out but Its too hard. I got too much stuff on my back and its really painful. Dont take that literally. I really got nothing to do about it! It's too much! I sometimes wished that I could rewind the years and years of the pain I have been through and find a different way that could lead me to a perfect life. Very Impossible right! DUH! Theres only one option for me and that would be shooting myself So it would be over. Anyways, I relate my life at the very end of this song HURT. " (IF) I could start again a million miles away I will keep my self I will find a way".
Go to Hurt Interpretations.
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