Oh Kermit, what has become of you?

I honestly thought that there couldn’t be a better — and, more to the point, more depressing — remix music video of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” than the one Johnny Cash did shortly before he passed away. That is, until I saw Kermit’s version. Yes, Kermit the Frog. Be warned: This is decidedly not for the kiddies — it’ll probably disturb the bejesus out of most adults for that matter. In fact, it’s kinda all with the NSFW (what Kermit does to Rowlf… my God…), so I’m just gonna give you the link and let you quiver underneath your computer after watching it on your own time.

Before you go, perhaps some background will put things into (limited) perspective: The video is the product of a website called SadKermit.com, which houses audio clips of Kermie’s takes on other depressing songs, like Radiohead’s “Creep” — “I am greeeeen” instead of “I’m a creeeeep” — and NIN’s “Something I Can Never Have” with a cameo by Fozzie Bear. The songs (which you can also stream at Sad Kermit’s MySpace page) were apparently cut after Jim Henson’s untimely death sent Kermit into a spiral of “drugs, alcohol and sex.”

Sure, it’s funny in an oh-so-sick-and-wrong way, but exactly how Sad Kermit can get away with all this — including peddling “not for profit” merch — without copyright lawyers breathing down his droopy felt collar is beyond me. Maybe Meet the Feebles and Avenue Q have (lovingly) pissed all over this ground so thoroughly that Sad Kermit’s melancholy splat at rock bottom barely registered. In any event, has there been a more disturbing “re-imagining” of a beloved childhood character? Because I’m hard pressed to think of one.