“Hurt” was a perfect song for Johnny Cash, a tortured declaration of pain and purpose sung by a man as famous for his demons as his talent. Listeners responded to the gravity in his voice, and the earned wisdom it conveyed, as much as anything else. Another singer might have just turned in karaoke.

Drozd said he regrets that his father will never hear Nelson’s rendition. “I wish he was still alive to see this happening, that Willie Nelson is doing a Flaming Lips song I had a part in co-writing,” he said. “He’d be very proud.” The two Lips expounded more on their feelings about the cover in a video interview.