This week we are drastically changing moods from last week's selection to feature what may be the best cover ever. Johnny Cash singing Nine Inch Nail's "Hurt":
Like many I suppose, my interest in Cash was rekindled with the biopic Walk the Line. Like the movie, this video symbolically captures Cash's life in powerful ways. The song's meaning has been interpreted in different ways, but this rendition seems to capture the struggle to move forward when faced with the emptiness of so much in this life. I find beauty in this in the way I see beauty in the book of Ecclesiastes especially knowing that Cash had found answers and meaning in a relationship with Jesus. Next week, we'll begin feature some Christmas covers that are my favorites.
Yesterday, we were challenged with James' words at the end of chapter 1,
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James is continuing the long-running biblical theme of caring for the most vulnerable around us (Ex. 22:22, Isaiah 1:16-17, Acts 6:1-6, etc). There are plenty of modern day examples and ways of application of this principle. But one that fits our "Music Monday" theme is one of my favorite artists of all time, Johnny Cash. His entire persona, appearance, and career turned into a service on behalf of the overlooked. He captured this in his song "The Man in Black".
So often, music is an escape or simple entertainment. Cash stops us from overindulging in that ambivalence. He reminds us of the need to live out our "pure and undefiled" faith.
