Sharon Van Etten

Sharon Van Etten covered Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" (watch)

Sound of Saving, in partnership with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, created the “Song that Found Me at the Right Time” series to encourage conversations about mental health, and Sharon Van Etten covered Nine Inch Nails‘ classic, The Downward Spiral-closing track “Hurt” for its most recent edition. She takes the song in a slightly different direction than the eerie original or Johnny Cash’s much-heralded cover, giving it a grungy feel, heavy on guitar, and you can watch her play it below.

Sharon also talks a little about her experiences with mental health struggles, and getting help, before playing “Hurt.” “It’s hard for anyone to ask for help,” she says. “But when you need it you have to learn how to do it even when its hard. In my life, when I’ve accepted help are the times when I have overcome it. I’ve found the road, you know? It was like someone opened the gate to a road that I knew was a better road. Even if it’s a different road. At least it’s moving. And you’re moving forward to something else than this dark place alone. Wouldn’t you rather go down the road with someone you care about that wants to help you? Sometimes it does take an outside perspective for you to understand yourself better.”

She also described her introduction to “Hurt,” saying, “I was the cliché middle child and always felt misunderstood, and then the oldest brother was the one that I connected to the most with music. When I was learning to play guitar, he gave me a box of cassettes. By the time ‘Hurt’ came on, I just remember connecting to it so much but also realizing that my brother had listened to it, and we’d never really talked about any deep feelings, but we always shared music. It was my first sign that my brother was trying to connect with me on a more emotional level than just ‘we’re sharing music.'”

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