Songs...

So I was listening to the song "Hurt" by Johnny Cash, and it was orginally written and sung by Trent Reznor. I started listening really carefully to the lyrics of the song and then I listened to Trent Reznor's version of the song also. Both of them have the same exact lyrics, but when I listened to both of them I got a completely different feeling and understanding of the song. Where both songs are talking about their lives and what they have become in it, Trent Reznor's song is a lot more hard core. It seems like he is talking about demons, or drugs, that are ruining somebody's life. Johnny Cash on the other hand speaks of his whole life, and what he has become throughout his life. He talks about how none of it matters to him, and the money and the fame is useless in the end. There is a part of this song and the lyrics say,
"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."
Listening to both of these different artists sing this part of the song is really crazy to me, because each of them portray a completely different picture in your mind. Johnny Cash's version showing that nothing that matters in life, matters in the end. Whereas Trent Reznor's version portrays the message that people can have everything he does and he will still not perish. Both of these songs are extremely different, in the tone, and the way they portray what they are trying to say.

I think that this has a lot to do in writing, and I think that it is the same way that we write. When I read a piece of work, or I see a piece of work that inspires me, I never copy their piece of work completely, but I put it in my own terms, and my own views on a subject. I add meaning in it so that it becomes my work and not a copied piece. Two pieces of work will always be a lot the same, when you copy one and make it your own, in the sense that they have the same lyrics. They are so different though because two artists, or writers, or composers can put a totally different meaning on the same piece.

I know that when I am rewriting or revising a draft, each time I do it, I add a little bit more meaning and a little bit more emphasis to my paper. Each time my paper becomes a little bit more mine, and how I truly feel. I think that rewriting a song, and making it your own, is a lot like revising a paper. The more you do it, and the more time and effort you put in it to make it yours, the better and more meaningful it will be to not only you but your listeners, or readers as well.