Everybody Hurts Lyrics
Ooh
Hm-mm
[Verse 1: Leona Lewis & Rod Stewart]
When your day is long
And the night, the night is yours alone
When you're sure you've had enough
Of this life, well, hang on
[Chorus: Mariah Carey & Cheryl]
Mm, mm-mm
Don't let yourself go, ooh
'Cause everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes
[Verse 2: Cheryl, Mika, Michael Bublé, (Joe McElderry), Miley Cyrus & *James Blunt*]
Sometimes everything is wrong
Now it's time to sing along
When your day is night alone (Hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go (Hold on)
*If you think you've had too much
Of this life, well, hang on*
[Chorus: Gary Barlow & Mark Owen]
'Cause everybody hurts
Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts
Don't throw your hand, oh, no
Don't throw your hand
If you feel like you're alone
No, no, no, you're not alone
[Verse 3: Susan Boyle & JLS]
If you're on your own in this life
The days and nights are long
When you think you've had too much
Of this life to hang on
[Chorus: Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kylie Minogue & Robbie Williams]
Mm-mm, everybody hurts sometimes
Everybody cries
Ah-ah, everybody hurts, sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes
[Outro: All]
So hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on (Everybody hurts)
Hold on (Everybody hurts), hold on (Everybody hurts)
Hold on, hold on
And everybody hurts (Hold on, hold on)
Hold on, hold on (Hold on, hey)
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on (And everybody hurts)
Hold on, hold on (You are not alone)
Hold on, hold on (Everybody hurts)
About
An almost like-for-like cover of the R.E.M. song released as a charity single to support the 2010 Haiti Earthquake relief efforts. This cover was arranged by Simon Cowell, on the request of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and featured a star-studded cast of performers including X Factor alumni Alexandra Burke, Leona Lewis, JLS and Joe McElderry, as well as four members of Take That (including soon-to-rejoin Robbie Williams), Westlife, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue and Mariah Carey. It was released as a duty-free single; proceeds were split between the Sun’s Helping Haiti fund and the Disasters Emergency Committee, while R.E.M. also agreed to waive royalties.
Despite overwhelmingly negative reviews from most music sites, this cover topped the UK singles chart for two weeks in February 2010.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
The drummer (Peter Buck) said the following:
“Everybody Hurts” is similar to “Man on the Moon”. Bill brought it in, and it was a one-minute long country-and-western song. It didn’t have a chorus or a bridge. It had the verse… it kind of went around and around, and he was strumming it. We went through about four different ideas and how to approach it and eventually came to that Stax, Otis Redding, “Pain in My Heart” kind of vibe. I’m not sure if Michael would have copped that reference, but to a lot of our fans it was a Staxxy-type thing. It took us forever to figure out the arrangement and who was going to play what, and then Bill ended up not playing on the original track. It was me and Mike and a drum machine. And then we all overdubbed.
