Convert

Nine-Inch Nails knew how to depict existential pain. Johnny Cash knew how to sing about it. The modern version of that despair involves different drugs, but similar damage to the soul.

"Hurt"

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

And you could have it all

My empire of dirt

I will let you down

I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns

Upon my liar's chair

Full of broken thoughts

I cannot repair

Beneath the stains of time

The feelings disappear

You are someone else

I am still right here

What have I become?

My sweetest friend

Everyone I know goes away

In the end

And 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

Written By: Nine-Inch Nails, 1994 - Reimagined by Johnny Cash in 2002

"Convert"

I Slacked myself today

To check that I’m still real

Is chat a new domain

With posts replacing steel?

The burnout sears my soul

Those unrelenting pings

I respond by end-of-day

But every night my smartphone dings

What have we become?

Each doomscroll’s trends?

Everything we click wastes our time

In the end

And I could buy it all

Some new Etsy shirt

Shipping’s free on Prime

Is that chat a flirt?

I read through code with scorn,

Upon my gamer’s chair

Packed arrays of asks

I did not declare

For agency, I pine,

Distractions interfere,

FAANG still steers my ship -

I’m its mutineer

Now we’re growing numb

We overspend

Every product placed is what bots

Recommend

And I consume it all,

Pop-up ads, alerts,

Lose my train of thought,

See, react, convert.

And so we comprehend,

Each plea and CTA

Make your mind your own

Not what ads display

Written By: "Weird Ev" Coopersmith & AE Studio, with a tip of the hat to Mason Seale for this inspirational opening line.

"Hurt"

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

And you could have it all

My empire of dirt

I will let you down

I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns

Upon my liar's chair

Full of broken thoughts

I cannot repair

Beneath the stains of time

The feelings disappear

You are someone else

I am still right here

What have I become?

My sweetest friend

Everyone I know goes away

In the end

And 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

Written By: Nine-Inch Nails, 1994 - Reimagined by Johnny Cash in 2002

Convert

Nine-Inch Nails knew how to depict existential pain. Johnny Cash knew how to sing about it. The modern version of that despair involves different drugs, but similar damage to the soul.

Rejoice. Help is Here.