You know how much I love you

Just listened to the podcast of last week's Sound Opinions which was dedicated to cover songs that are better than the original. Johnny Cash came up when a listener proposed that his version of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" was superior. Needless to say, when the subject of Cash covering contemporary "alternative" artists came up, there were many accolades for his version of Nine Inch Nails's "Hurt." But for my money, the Johnny Cash cover that puts both those to shame is his version of "I See a Darkness" by Bonnie Prince Billy.

Oldham's version is great. No doubt about it. He approaches the song with melancholy and it seems to be sung to himself in a kind of interior monologue, despite the fact that the lyrics are addressed to "You." And oddly, the chorus of "i see a darkness...." seems somehow triumphant. Like so many Oldham performances, there's a mysterious and otherworldly quality to it. I remember when I first heard that record, lying on the floor with a former girlfriend on a cold and snowy winter afternoon. In that scene, at that time in my life, lying on the floor, the darkness was mine, and I knew the girl couldn't save me, in part because I didn't love her.

When I first heard Cash's version, it was many years later, in a claustrophibic attic apartment lying in bed on a hot summer night with a different girlfriend. This girlfriend had had a bizarre and difficult childhood, she struggled with depression, but she had a fragile, magic center to her that was beautiful and rare. I loved her. Cash perfoms the song not with melancholy, but with resignation.. the weight of his years, his sins, and his regrets infuse every word. He sings it to us, not for us, and when he sings the chorus, he projects pure dread at the darkness and a terrifying uncertainty at whether love can save him from the darkness. In that attic apartment, it was my girlfriend who saw the darkness, and my love couldn't save her.

Not only does Cash's version best Oldham's, it's probably the best song on any of the American recordings. It's an amazing song. Period. As I said, Oldham's version is really good, but it's Cash's world-weary and wizened delivery that best captures the strange cocktail of dread, despair, and hope, and that is the terrible magic of the song. I get goosebumbs just thinking about it.

To this listener, Cash's version is the definitive version. Man, I miss him.

Go to Hype Machine and do a little compare and contrast. Here...I'll even make the link for you.