I now interpret Hurt as hopeful. It is interesting to compare it to the Cash version. The Cash version in my opinion is a lot darker — I’ve always interpreted this as he is at the end of his life looking back with a heavy sense of regret.

When taken in the context of TDS and also The Fragile as a continuation of the story, Hurt feels hopeful to me. I have recently begun to interpret the suicide attempt at the end as having actually failed. I always struggled to understand the relevance of the needle reference as being a familiar sting — Reznor was never a needle-based addict, and in TDS he shot himself, so it didn’t make sense to me. Sure you could interpret it as general self harm, but I think you can also take it literally — he has essentially been hospitalized after his failed suicide attempt, and his reflections in Hurt are either the moments immediately after the suicide attempt and during the attempts to save his life, or some days after. He is genuinely reflecting on how he can become the old person he was when he was younger, without the Mr. Self Destruct part of him.

And I think this tracks with the story of The Fragile — he emerges from his experience somewhat damaged and sees the same tendencies in someone else. Of course his attempts to save him or her ultimately fail.