This week, Sharon Van Etten partnered with the organizations Sounds Of Saving and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in order to raise awareness for National Suicide Prevention Month, which has taken place throughout September. Along with touching on some of her own past experiences, Van Etten shared a cover of Nine Inch Nails‘ 1994 track “Hurt.”
In a Q&A ahead of the cover, Van Etten said she chose to cover the track because it helped her understand her own emotions during dark times in her life:
“Sometimes you don’t have the words for what you’re going through. I can pull up a song that I’ve listened to for the last ten years and sometimes it gives you words for what you’re going through but it also takes you outside of your own experience, which I think can help slow down the darker thoughts. […] It’s hard for anyone to ask for help. 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, ya 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 then 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.”
Listen to Sharon Van Etten cover “Hurt” above.