I like both versions but after watching the video for Cash's I was hit with one thought... he is ready to die and is watching his life go before his eyes.

Then I forget how much later (half-year or so?) I hear that Johnny passed away.

I agree that Cash's version is the better of the two. When NIN released the Downward Spiral, I was 25 and one year away from hitting rock bottom with my alcoholism and drug use. The song did have some meaning for me and I connected with the song. However, it wasn't until I watched the Johnny Cash video did I truly connect with the song in a deeper way. Seven years into my sobriety, I could reflect with a clearer head how my addictions "hurt" myself and others around me. I could see how other people my age - and even younger - have all passed me by in achievements and career because I was too busy getting high and drunk. I believe I cried the first time I saw the video.

The Nine Inch Nails version has always been a killer song to me, but it's hard to top Cash's version. I still choke up whenever I watch the video or listen to the song. Not many artists can take a newer, well-known song and make it a whole new living creature, but Cash did.