I'm not sure it's infinitely better, either. I mean, I absolutely adore Johnny's version of this song, but I think he missed out a pretty important part of Nick Cave's version that Adam actually highlighted: he's trying to make us sympathise with the character. Nick's version was massively sinister, and you get the impression more and more as the song goes on that the character is less and less good. But because Johnny's is meant to be a good character, the lines like "My kill hand's tattooed E.V.I.L" really fall flat. That said, I agree that Johnny made this one his own in a good way! I just think the original had a bit more impact.
I'm not sure it's infinitely better, either. I mean, I absolutely adore Johnny's version of this song, but I think he missed out a pretty important part of Nick Cave's version that Adam actually highlighted: he's trying to make us sympathise with the character. Nick's version was massively sinister, and you get the impression more and more as the song goes on that the character is less and less good. But because Johnny's is meant to be a good character, the lines like "My kill hand's tattooed E.V.I.L" really fall flat. That said, I agree that Johnny made this one his own in a good way! I just think the original had a bit more impact.