Okay okay we all know Johnny cash did his cover of Hurt and we were all like “ok he owns that now” but I watched the music video he made and I’m like “oh he OWNS it owns it”
It’s totally wild to me because most people agree that Trent Reznor is a master of his craft and Hurt is considered one of NIN’s best songs. Imagine having this great hit and 8 years later a musical legend who hasn’t done anything great in a long time and is ostensibly dying takes your song and fucking. Just fucking obliterates you
Taken from the Wikipedia page. Even Trent Reznor said it’s not his song anymore.
in case you hadn’t seen
Holy hell that’s video is…painful and stunning. If you grew up listening to Johnny Cash I think it’ll hit even harder. And June Carter Cash is in the video, which takes hard and doubles it.
I’m glad people who didn’t know who are discovering it’s a cover, not just because Trent Reznor deserves that much, but because I think the fact that Cash did not write it is crucial to the power of his version. This is a young man’s song about suffering, about addiction and self-destruction in youth. And Cash is, in the most majestic possible way, taking that and going “oh kid, you have no idea”, and changes the meaning without changing the lyrics (except for a single word). In his voice, on his face, in his aged hands on the guitar and piano, it becomes about the agonising brevity of life, the irretrievability of mistakes, and the inevitable loss of everything, including a recognisable self. But the creativity of repurposing only shows if you can still see what was originally there.
