He Hated Legend’s Cover of His SIGNATURE Song...But Then He Saw The Music Video! | Professor of Rock
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- čas přidán 8. 03. 2023
- Up next: he’s an American institution… Even people who hate Country Music the genre he’s most tied to Love him. Johnny Cash the man in black… he’s the kind of Legend that legends are measured by. By the end of his long career, Johnny Cash had won every award a musician could dream of and had wealth only a few have attained. But when he was staring at his own mortality… when he was knocking on death’s door, he asked a question….does any of it matter? One of his final songs, a cover Nine Inch Nails' Hurt asks that question... The cover of Trent Reznor’s song that first appeared on his rock album The Downward Spiral. When Johnny Cash covered Hurt for his the Man Comes Around album Trent Reznor Originally hated it. But after seeing the amazing music video he changed his mind… He actually said that from that point forward it was Johnny’s song. The story of the classic from Cash’s American Recordings is next...
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#coversong #vinylstory #classicrock
Hey music junkies, Professor of Rock, always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time. If you figured out the perfect way to open up a brand new cassette, 8-track, vinyl, or Compact Disc or never got the hang of it… This channel’s for you … Music Nostalgia on steroids! subscribe below right now. I promise that you are going to love this channel. Also, take a look at our patreon… you’ll Dig it … More content and exclusives…
Today we tell the story of a song that effectively put the capstone on one of the most prolific and acclaimed careers in music history… that of the man in black, Mr. Johnny Cash. And for today’s show, to honor his storied career, we are taking an unexpected dive into a cover song that it was so good… even its creator said that it was no longer his.
The song? Cash’s haunting and gut-wrenching rendition of Hurt, originally written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt. If you haven’t heard Cash’s cover of this song yet, stay with me on this one. There is no doubt that Hurt is the perfect bookend to Johnny Cash’s phenomenal career. And it ranks up there with his very best recordings. I’m not kidding, this is going to blow you away.
A larger-than-life giant in American music history, Johnny Cash has released nearly 100 albums, not including greatest hits and compilation albums. Studio, live, soundtrack, video albums… the man was prolific. And that does not even include countless guest appearances he has made on other artists’ records.
From 1955 to his passing in 2003, Johnny Cash released more than 60 Top 20 singles on the US Country chart, more than 40 Top 10 singles, and something like 20 #1 and #2 hits. Adding in singles with June Carter Cash and other collaborations, those numbers go up even higher. You could spend a lifetime diving deep into his catalog and never reach the bottom… Eleven of those records, counting Live and Compilation versions, broke the Top 20 on the US Billboard Albums chart. And get this, 27 of his albums broke the Top 20 on the US Country charts. 27! I’m telling you, these numbers are ridiculous. - Zábava
Poll: What is your pick for the greatest cover song ever recorded?
THIS one lol
Is argue this, or any cover done by The Man In Black
Probably a toss between Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, Jimi Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower, Nirvana's The Man Who Sold the World, and this track!
Nazareth: Love Hurts
(R.I.P. Dan McCafferty)
Revolution Rock. The Clash took an okay reggae song and KILLED it!
Rosanne Cash tells the story that when Johnny finished recording this song that she had tears in her eyes and she looked at him and said “Daddy, it sounds like you’re saying goodbye“ he looked up at her and smiled and said “I am“.
And shortly after he went and joined June, so they could be together again.
When she left this world I knew he wasn't far behind.
I'm gettin teary just reading this comment
Yeah...
😭😭😭😭
I too felt/still feel that this was Johnny's "goodbye". I still tear up some 21 years later. Mr Reznor and Mr. Cash gave us a gift. Thank you both. 🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏
I am a 50yr old man, I did 20 yrs in the Army, Been deployed 4 times, seen stuff, did stuff, lived stuff that never fazed me. But this song by Johnny Cash tears me up every time I hear it. It is a truly awesome and powerful song. I avoid the video or I'll bubbler like a baby. You do good work man. Thank you.
21 in the Navy. I've seen war, death, and destruction. Seen most with a straight face. This video waters my eyes every time.
Thank you for your service, men and for your thoughtful comments. This is a very, very cool show, many great episodes and I look forward to the next ones!
Thank you for your service.
It’s likely as soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen, we are doing a serious job without the luxury of feeling emotional about it, we can’t. But after the noise fades and we hear a song like this, the reality of the horror our friends, ourselves and even our enemies have suffered sets in. It forces us to think and evaluate. Not for the sake of regret, but for the healing, understanding and forgiveness our souls search for. Not only forgiveness for ourselves but us forgiving others. Just a long winded thought, you may or may not agree. Thank you for serving.
@@Undertaker67203 I'm not religious, but I can only think of one legit response to comments like this and Kenneth Capps - Amen. Our country would not be what it is, even with all it's faults, you guys elevated the rest of us. I wish the people in our own government who are trying to destroy us would take a moment to listen to people like you and empathize - maybe it would straighten their path.
Gently closing the keyboard.....lightly caressing the piano>>>> for what may be the last time.....soul crushing to witness.
❤😮❤I feel their is a connection to The stairway to heaven . And hotel California. *I just feel it spirituality* First, the name of the band 9 inch Nails is awsome❤😮❤ç why how did they come up with that name. Has to be *biblically profound* ❤😮❤ Right the closing of the cover of the piano key board - is closing the *cover* of the *Nine Inch Nails-Song* - but more important is symbolizing closing the casket lid of everyone one I know goes away in the end. to then get the empire of dirt. ❤
😮❤ 25:32
Johnny's version always brings me to tears. Thank you TRENT for recognizing the beauty and giving up your "girlfriend" to someone we all recognize and love. Your song brought Johnny to us all in a way only you were able to do.
Reznor once said that when he heard Johnny's version of "Hurt" that Trent knew it wasn't his song anymore.
“Girlfriend”? It's more a kin to one’s “child.” But with artistic creations, once made, they no longer belong to you (even as you still retain the legal copyright.)
@@jeffstumpf9129You didn't watch the whole video, did you?
The original song was sad enough, but Johnny Cash's heartbreaking cover makes me tear up every time, thanks to his haunting vocals.
Same. But when you think about it, Johnny Cash LIVED this song
Haunting to be sure.
So right.
@@vanessahenry7238 same, my mother bawled her eyes out when she saw it
Johnny Cash’s version is the first time I heard this song, and when I found out who was the original artist, I was wowed. I never listened to NIN. Johnny Cash lived this song, and you can hear the hurt, sadness, and regret. 😢
“I wasn’t prepared for what I saw, and it really then, wasn’t my song anymore...”
-Trent Reznor
I kind of get that, the Cash version really isn't what I think anybody would have really expected out of that song. The video itself was even more so as they spliced together a bunch of images of him from his life.
I remember where I was when I first saw the video of Hurt with Johnny Cash. In a truck stop outside of Terre Haute Indiana. Several of us drivers where watching it. Before it was over there was not 1 driver that watched it that had a dry eye. Thank you for all the great times and memories. RIP Mr Cash. You are missed.
There are very few songs that leave me speechless and heartbroken.
In Cash's version, this is one of those songs.
I love Reznor's version too, but the raw pain in this version is so thick you could cut it with a knife.
It's a masterwork, a magnum opus, by both men.
Trent Reznor's recording is a tour of his pain and depression and has a certain strength. Cash's recording is a man composing his epitaph.
Suicide note vs eulogy
I cannot hear this song without shedding tears. The rawness with which he sings it. He knows everything that he has done in his life, the friends he has lost, the choices he made, the paths he walked. He knows he could have done better, and both mourns for, and accepts the sum of his life. You can have it all, my empire of dirt.
I remember when the song came out and even though it was a couple decades now, it feels all the more relatable as I went from young to middle age. As I've seen more friends and family pass out of my life and need to put more thought into my body as it continues the march to ultimate destruction decades from now.
I had always loved Nine Inch Nails' Hurt from the first time I'd heard it. But I remember the video of Johnny Cash singing it coming on and stopping me in my tracks. I couldn't look away - his whole life and pain and regrets pouring out of him. The emotional weight of the song built and filled the room. In that moment he was that song and I felt the enormity of his pain. When it ended I sobbed. I had never experienced anything like that before and never since. I'm crying now typing this. Thank you for the content you share Professor.
I was in the car and it came on, I arrived where i was going and I just sat there and listened to it all. when it ended I put it on again and listened to it all again. Very powerful song which gifts the listener their own relevance to their own lives.
I was raised listening to Johnny Cash. I am 67 years old now, and watching the video for Hurt brings me to tears every time. The most touching moment is when he closes the piano and runs his fingers over it. It's like he is caressing an old friend and saying goodbye.
That piano, to my knowledge, was never opened again. That was the last time he ever played it.
He was. When his daughter, Roseanne, saw the video, she said the same thing to Johnny, and he told her he WAS saying goodbye. To me, it's like he is touching his own coffin. This is the most heart wrenching song and video in history.
From what I understand, it was the last time he ever played anything.
Yeah & then the video fades to black , the perfect metaphor .
I'm 68, a recovering alcoholic (10 years sober), and I relate to this song on so many levels. Words cannot express how perfect this song is as the coda to Cash's amazing life and career.
The overlying reason this channel has always appealed to me is the respect and reverence you have for the artists and the art they created. I've never felt that more than in this submission. Thank you so much for how intelligently and eloquently you handle every subject you grapple with.
And they don't shy away from difficult moments and situations.
Well said.
Amen to that
I second this emotion!
This 👏👏👏
American IV is a masterpiece! The whole album feels like, especially "Hurt", is not that Johnny wanted to die, but that he was READY to.
Yes, there's not a single bad song on it and the tracks on it are up there with the best tracks he ever recorded. You can hear an entire career worth of study and practice in one album.
This is one of the greatest music videos ever made in my opinion. My uncle loved Mr. Cash and I grew up listening to his songs on a Curtis Mathis record player. From Folsom Prison to Hurt, Mr. Cash has been an American treasure. I think Hurt is his greatest performance with apologies to burning ring of fire, I walk the line and all the rest of his incredible legacy. When he died, it was like the musical equivalent of John Wayne passing.
Those two versions of 'Hurt' are two completely different songs to me. They both speak in different ways about the realities of life and what it holds. Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails' version was a song that came out when I was young, and I would kind of sit through it on the radio, but I never really listened to until a decade and a half later, after children, a divorce, and mental illness forced me to face a point in time when I would either rise up and remake myself, or die trying. Reznor's vocals and the musical journey the instrumentals take you on throughout kind of speak to me on a level of that journey. The journey of knowing that sometimes, you either make it though pain or you die, those are the only outcomes, and you have to accept that.
Cash's version, though, that is something different. It is a retrospective on the pain of life and a knowledge that even through regret and sorrow, the only thing you can do is carry it all with you to the end. Some things, there are just no ways to come back from, you have to bear the weight of your own transgressions. It's an experience that no matter how many times you are lauded for the good others see in you, there is always that part of you that knows things no one else does about you.
Because of that, the dismal hope in Reznor's version, and the bleak self-experience of Cash's, as a person who sings along with music as a form of self-expression, I can easily sing along with Reznor on his track, because it reminds me of the things I've come back from. Cash's though, I can make it about halfway through before I have to stop, and just be with myself and come back to terms with all the parts of myself that I try to forget and never will.
WOW, that’s a very thoughtful, incomparable synopsis. Very moving. Please continue forward with all the strength and positivity you can muster, and take care of yourself.
I’m not sure anyone could sum it all up better than that! Wow!
Brutally Honest Synopsis !
But Very Accurate !
You should be a song writer as it is difficult for most of us to convey these feelings into words
@@brianbill1 not the first person to tell me that, but I have zero experience with music aside from singing along to other folks good work. I do other writing, though
More than anything, the look on June's face hit me in this. It felt like she knew her time was coming, that she would be first and John would have to live without her through the worst pain of his life. IMO, they were the epitome of one soul living in two bodies
I remember thinking, when June passed - “Well, Johnny will not be far behind her.” Some couples simply can’t go on. Death by broken heart is very real.
The older you get the more meaningful this song becomes . It stops me in my tracks every time I hear it .
I agree. It hits me a lot harder now than it did when it was released.
The video rips me up every time.
A friend of mine saw some Jehovah Witnesses coming down the street one day back in the 90's, he was playing NIN and the line "Your god is dead and no one cares" came on as they crossed to the other side of the street.... good times.
So very, very true. 20 years ago, I was a young man just starting out in my path with a young family. My kids are all adults now and I'm the old man in the room most of the time at work. I hurt a lot of people I love along the way, though none of it was intentional. It hit me hard when I first heard it. It hits so much harder these days.
It's strange, I've had this song travel through my life with me and it has constantly been there and hit close to home but the singer changed a few times. I was about 13 when the Cash version came out and I had literally just discovered NIN and the original just a while before the Cash release. I have always loved the Cash version but when I was 13 into my early 20s it was the NIN version that spoke to me. I loved the song and honestly the whole album all through high school not knowing just how much more relatable it would become into my late teens and early 20s. Kinda like Trent it was like a premonition for things to come for me. In my mid 20s it was the Bowie version that ended up speaking to me because the way he sang it was a reflection instead of a premonition and by that point I had put a lot behind me and it was far enough that I could reflect myself. Now coming into my mid 30s I still listen to the Bowie version more than anything else because the reflection has only become clearer with time but I'm starting to understand some of the Cash elements. I'm not ready to move into the phase where Cash's voice is the one that makes the most sense but I know that when I get there I'll still have one of my favorite songs and it will still mean just as much from the first time I heard it just in yet another beautiful different way.
As an addict this song speaks directly to my soul and says all the things that I don't know how to. It's a cultural touch point for anyone who struggles with self-destructive behaviors and wants to do better. I once sang and played this song in a church as a lead-in to my personal testimony. I remember one woman telling me that the song really helped give her a picture of the darkness I dealt with.
You couldn't have said it better that this song, it captured his entire career. When you know Johnny's history, it just makes the song so great. The video made me cry.
The fact that Cash picked that song to say goodbye... it is haunting. Cash is a hero to the broken soul, the conflicted and tormented. He, better than most artists, fully understood the complexity of man's internal struggle with good and evil. With duty versus desire. The torture to look back at your failures and weaknesses. To see who you hurt along the way while you battled your demons. When I need a cathartic moment of release... I sit alone with this song and Pink Floyd's Pulse Comfortably Numb performance. Cash ended his career with perfection.
Well said.
Absolutely a brilliant summation of the song, and of Johnny Cash as an artist and as a man.
It wasn't just the end of his career.
It was an absolute victory lap... done HIS own humble, amazing way.
We shall surely never see the likes of him again, so special was he.
Dang Bro! You went 6 feet deep in this comment.
Life
Lessons
Learned
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote
"... gladly I lived and gladly I died,
and lay me down with a will."
He's buried on a high hill in Samoa, overlooking the sea.
Cash didn't go gladly ... or as I read this ... maybe it was more, he was ready to go.
According to producer Rick Rubin, Cash had never heard the song and Rubin brought it to him with the idea of him covering it. Cash didn't want to cover it at first but Rubin convinced him.
Reznor’s song came out when I was young and didn’t understand the depression that held me. I’ll never forget hearing Hurt for the first time, tears streaming and thinking yeah that’s it that’s how I am. When Johnny Cash’s version came out I had known great loss and surprisingly Hurt spoke to me again on a whole new level. What an amazing song Hurt is to be able to morph through time to fit a personal pain.
This song for anyone who remembers hearing it the first time sung by Trent when they were young and then hearing Johnny's rendition after they lived life as an adult for a while is so deeply engrained in the pains of figuring out that living hurts and nobody fucking knows how to do it correctly. Ever. Gah I'm a blubbering mess
No matter how many times I will hear this song it always gives me goosebumps and begin to tear up. He poured his soul into singing this song.
Cash called Hurt "the greatest song about addiction he ever heard". Cash himself battled the addiction demon and beat it but an addict never forgets that pain. I admire them how they turn that pain into something good.
It's when they show June, gets me in the gut.
I'm not sure that I'd care to meet the person that can listen to this song without having a strong reaction.
I was 13 years old when the original came out. I was falling into my Downward Spiral of alcohol and drugs. That album was validation of all the pain I was going through and it made my escapism feel justified. 14 years later I was on the path to recovery and Mr. Cash's rendition of Hurt was there to make me believe that I could make it out, that I was worth saving. Thank you for highlighting this song. Thanks to both of those creative giants who made it all real.
Cash is one of the most powerful artists to have emerged ever. His music really tells stories that are unequaled. He isn't called the Man in Black for nothing!
THat's right. Thanks RC32
LEGEND.
agreed, he might be a country music artist but he did it his way and it sounded different than the rest and even his message was very different making him very unique, in my mind he was the punk rocker of country yet he was approachable, one of a few musicians to play prisons?? that's epic lol and the San Quinten & Folsom prison live albums are epic
I'm a very rock, metal, techno and even rap guy and even I dig what Johnny Cash did
Hey RC32… YOU MEAN YOU GOTTA PAY TO CALL HIM THAT?
@@judgedrekk2981 Actually, Johnny Cash started out as a 1950’s rock ‘n’ roller on Sun Records, with Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis! They were all separate acts, of course…
I grew up thinking that there would never be a better cover than Hendrix version of All along the watchtower until Mr Cash covered hurt and I get emotional every time I listen to it
There is no finer music video than Johnny's "Hurt." I'll admit to not having been a huge fan of his throughout my life, but this song completely knocked me for six (and no doubt countless others, like your son). As a recovering alcoholic/addict, sober for years like Johnny was, it speaks to me on so many levels. Because of Johnny's past with speed, he refused painkillers for the jaw that was broken during dental work and never repaired. His physical agony must have been indescribable. As someone with chronic pain, I can only imagine how he managed the tsunamis of agony that accompanied him every day of his latter years. God bless Johnny Cash. He's an American icon. Now my English composition students watch this video as part of an assignment and give their reactions. Most have seen it, but there's always one who hasn't and reacts like your son did, Professor. We who love it pass it on to those who matter.
When Cash closed the lid on the piano at the end I lost it. It was such a simple but yet profound moment as he said goodbye to his music and career.
I totally agree with your thought, the piano lid clising was a profound statement. Closing the piano lid appeared, to me, appeared to be a metaphor for completing your life's missions and ending the work. At 74 (last week) this video made made an incedible point that we all need to finish our work because we're be closing the lid too soon.
@@livefree6455 I will always keep to heart something my Mom said. She was in the hospital at the age of 92 with a common complaint which can be life ending for the elderly. She said "I am ready to go, but I am not going to sit around and wait to die". I took that to mean her work was done and she was spiritually comfortable. Whatever time left was a gift. She had 3 good years after that and passed peacefully at 95
Trent Reznor's comment about the song not being his any more is one of the greatest tributes that anyone could ever give someone. To take a song that means so much to you about part of your life, and then say it's someone elses after they did a cover of it... that is the greatest gift... ever!
I never really "heard" the song, "Hurt" until hearing Cash's version.
Cash's interpretation is so raw...it's almost like walking in on someone's most intimate moment. It's uncomfortable, but you can't seem to look away.
The song becomes the human condition...and you know that your not immune.
The video is just glorious and terrifying at the same time. It's unforgettable.
The world is somehow a lesser place with Cash gone.
Really, really amazing video, Professor!
Both versions of this song are amazing in their own way. Trent's version is a haunting story of a man falling apart, while Johnny's version is about a man at the end of his life. I love both equally. I do have to agree with you that the video for Johnny's version is still the best video I have ever seen. It always makes me tear up every time I see it. Thank you for telling the story behind this amazing song.❤
And in answer to your poll....this is the greatest cover of all time.
Adam, This has been by far my most favorite espisode you've done! THANK YOU! This means alot to me. This song, "Hurt" is very personal to me because I can relate alot to the lyrics. Back in 1994 , I was a junkie /crackhead and spiraling downward more and more in addiction. The price of my addiction led me to lose custody of my 2 young kids, my son and my daughter, some stints in county jail, homelessness, detoxes,rehabs, whatever else drama and chaos happened . In 1998 , I had to relinquish my parental rights with my daughter. My mother couldn't take care of both of my kids financially and emotionally. It was the most difficult thing ,I had to do in my life but, I loved my daughter very much and I wanted her to have a life that I know in reality couldn't give her. But, after that, I felt like a failure, ashamed , guilty, "HURT". So,that gave me the excuse to keep doing what I was doin'. I pretty much gave up ; I didn't care anymore,escpecially what would happen to me. Also, I just want to say, THANK GOD FOR MY MOTHER because she used alot of "TOUGH LOVE " on me many , many times through my addiction. I truly believe, by her doing that, saved me and my life! God was watching over me too. Back in 2004, I saw on MTV , Johnny's rendition of, "HURT".Even though I was in a haze and a daze, it made such a huge impact on me, that I FINALLY decided to get myself clean and sober, FOR ME,NOT ANYBODY ELSE! ME! It was the 2nd hardest thing I had to do in my life. Getting clean and sober sucks at 1st, for a couple of years even. But, with alot of support and actually doing what I NEEDED TO DO,sticking with it at all costs......HERE I AM! I have been in recovery from crack and heroin since 2004;alcohol since 2011. I feel truly grateful and blessed. I should've been dead yeeeeeeeeeeeears ago! Life isn't perfect but it sure beats the hell of me being 6 feet under! When I still hear this song, I break down and cry. It's very cleansing for me and reminds me just how far I've overcame. Now,my mission is to help those strugglin' with addiction/ alcoholism and/or mental illness . With all, that being said, THANK YOU,ADAM FOR SHARING AND DOING THIS EPISODE! I APPRECIATE YOU AND WHAT YOU DO! YOU ROCK! 🤘😎
Thanks for your honesty. Your story is helping other people.
@@garyswank1043 Thank you very much. I truly appreciate the compliment. :)
@elgoog zed Thank you. I truly appreciate it. It means alot
@Benjamin Liles You're quite welcome! THANK YOU FOR SHARING & YOUR COMPLIMENT! I truly believe , WE ALL are on this Earth for a reason, a purpose of some kind. Also, I truly believe that WE ALL searching for "something", are on a spiritual journey . For me, GOD was ALWAYS there watching over me ; waiting for me to come home to HIM with HIS arms wide open . Because HE knew I had a voice ( at times, A LOUD ONE and STRONG ONE at that because well, I'm from Jersey ...wadda ya expect!😉) and knew once I found my purpose , there would be nothin' hold me back from telling my story and being service to others struggling with addiction,alcoholism and/or mental illness like HE intended for me to do along. HIS PLAN! 🥰🙏
@@RocketQueen71 I can only pray that one day I can find the strength that you've found, so that I can also recover and maybe one day help others who are searching for salvation. God Bless!
Thinking about how Johnny gave this to us so close to his death and how close we all came to not having this incredible piece of art makes me cry. Thank you Johnny.
Yeah Rick Rubin had a good eye
Fuck, if Johnny REALLY wanted to punish us he'd make us listen to this twice.
Hey Prof….LOVE your channel. I used to be an FM radio DJ, mainly overnights, on stations that let me self-program, like the old WNEW in NYC. I also have written thousands of album reviews over the years. One day, an A&R guy called from CA, saying he always looks for my reviews because he can tell I know music. He asked me to talent scout for him and send him any new acts that I think. are special. He turned out to be THE guy who sign NIN. When I sent him the first batch of around 10 artists, he called and said he was interested in two…and that he was impressed that I was smart enough to keep their IDs secret, so he had to go through me.))
Music is a language in it's own right; What's truly beautiful about both of these renditions is that they tell completely different stories, but demonstrate that no matter how different our stories are - whether we're a 29 year old on the cusp of our downward spiral or a 70 year old facing our own demise - those emotions we feel are the same when it comes down to it.
Wherever we are in life's journey, we're all just trying to find a way.
I actually cried the first time I heard him sing Hurt. I knew the song of course, actually I really like the song already, but when the man in black sang it, it was like I heard it for the first time.
I know he didn’t write it, but for me this will always be his song. This song tells us who he is, it tells us where he’s been, and tells us how he’s persevered.
It’s the perfect song for Johnny, and it is the perfect last song for such an amazing career.
He pretty much did write it.
He really made the song his own.
I cried as well. And I still tear up if I listen to it, it is a masterpiece and I can’t emotionally handle it.
@@mpm1125 my mother was a big fan of Johnny Cash. We had an old Wurlitzer jukebox in our family room when I was growing up. It played 78’s and was often playing music in the background when I was growing up.
If no one else was causing noise, as she called it, she would listen to recordings from Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, and of course Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash was he4 favourite singer by far.
That being said, I didn’t know is she knew this song, or had even seen the video. So a few hours ago I told her of the song and sent her the video. She cried, she cried a lot. She thanked me for showing it to her and she felt it was the perfect last song for him.
I know my mom and it takes a lot to make her cry, but this sure did. I also know that while she loved it, she will never again watch that video again.
I feel the same way about so many songs that Johnny sang, like "City of New Orleans", It was originally written and performed by Arlo Guthrie, who had a big hit with it. But Johnny recorded it and I heard it and now it's another Johnny Cash song. Can't get away from it.
I never understood how Reznor could've hated it. It's powerful vocally and Cash transcends genres. It's one of the best covers, if not the best.
Damn, didn't know I'd need a Kleenex for this episode. 😢
It was 'his baby'. The cover just didn't align with his vision for the song, which made him predisposed to dislike it.
@@zyffyr That's exactly it. Anyone who has ever written a song or a story, or created art, can relate.
That's right.
Because Reznor's song is about regret. Cash's video/song performance is about resignation. Two very different things. It takes seeing the video to recognize the difference and that is what happened to Reznor. A great demonstration of the interconnection in art and the new shapes it can take in our experiences.
I hated it. Still don't like it as much as the original but with the video it's powerful.
I first heard this song a few years ago at a ceremony to Honor Vietnam Veterans when The Traveling Wall came to Benson, Az. A young man wanted to offer it to his father as a sign that he had cleaned himself up. It was very touching to me. So much so that I now cover it myself. At 76, I do the Johnny Cash version. Yes, it can be a struggle to finish it. We all have our own pain. Thanx to the man in black and to this channel.
I had the chance to take my two then teenaged sons to see Mr. Johnny Cash in the late 90s in Knoxville and could kick my ass today because I didn’t, they knew him through me playing the Folsom Prison album over and over, my late brother and I loved it and played it over and over again when we were kids, we knew every clink and clank of the background noises and when he told the warden “I’ll take all the time I want “ we cheered as much as the prisoners did, he was an awesome man , a great storyteller and a true American Institution and I am so very sorry that I didn’t make the time to go see him, Adam, thank you so much for this video, I am still crying as I type this.
The end of both versions of this song give me chills every time. Both Reznor and Cash. With Trent you get the droning white noise like a tape player left recording with no one left to turn it off when they finished speaking. With Cash you get the final drone and the closing of the piano like closing a book reflecting on everything you've just read. Truly a song for the ages.
As a fan of NIN I can say Cash's version of this song blew me away when I first heard it. The video was so emotional and added an extra dimension. Just outstanding.
Met Mr Cash in I think 2002. He was on my unit and he talked with a patient in the next room with end stage C.O.P.D. and he made her feel very special. He was a real gentleman to all the staff. He never came off with the "Do you know who I am" attitude. Remember him fondly.
This is one of Johnny Cash’s greatest performances. From a man with a multitude of great performances, this is the one that grabs my soul.
There is no better example of how an artist can own a song, even if they don’t really change it.
It has such power and grace, Cash’s ‘Hurt’ never fails to make tears form.
They may not flow, but they’re there, just the same.
When I watched the video this time around, at the end my eyes were very wet. No tears flew down as strongly as when I heard it in 7th grade, but I was absolutely speechless and the power in that song felt like a punch to the gut.
He changed a lyric to "I wear this crown of thorns".
I didn’t even know that it was a Nine Inch Nails song the first time that I heard it. I bought the album because of “The Man Comes Around” and then just got sucked in by “Hurt”. It was like a sucker punch. I listened to it a few times in a row before I could tear away from it. Then the music video hit and I get a lump in my throat and brush away tears every single time I see it. The final shot of Johnny closing the piano is like he’s closing the door on his life. He knows that he won’t be making any more videos or albums and as he brushes his hands along the piano and puts his head down you feel the pain that he feels through the issues that he dealt with, the loss of his loved ones and now dealing with his own mortality. That moment is just poignant and somehow manages to eclipse the entire roller coaster ride of emotions that you’ve just gone on through the entire song and video. It’s a masterpiece and one that, in my opinion, will probably never be eclipsed.
My musical tastes are very eclectic, but NO song has ever moved me like Mr. Cash's cover of Hurt. In fact, having listened to many of Mr. Cash's music in my life, I actually thought that this was one of his songs. I was amazed that this was a cover!
I didn't hear Trent Rezners original version until after, and I saw the two very different meanings in this song.
The fact that Mr. Rezner graciously said that Hurt was no longer his song, was a true testiment to Mr. Rezner's appreciation for the musical arts and an incredible gift to Johnny Cash's legacy.
Thanks for this video. Keep up the great work!
Johnny Cash' version is excellent as a stand alone track. Perfectly bookending a glorious and brilliant career/talent in music.
Reznor's original is untouchable as the last chapter of the phenomenal album The Downward Spiral, which is still my all time favourite album. Genius on every level.
When he shuts the piano down you can feel the end. Beautiful video.
I love how he closes the Piano. Though it is with an air of finality. Closing out his lifetime of achievement. He gives it a little caress. Like a thank you...
You knocked it out of the park with this one! Made this old sinful cowboy get emotional. I grew up on the ranch, then went to the city and did the 90’s thing and then became a Soldier and cop after 09/11… got hurt pretty darn bad and made my way back to horses. This episode is the best out of a ton of great work!
I'm so grateful you covered this song! This was the song that made me realize how great Johnny Cash was. A trip to his museum in Nashville confirms everything.
Thanks for unwrapping the masterpiece again - how amazing that Cash's performance even impacted the songwriter. Johnny's last years were all about redemption. He became unyielding about restoration and forgiveness, and "Hurt" was his final scream of defiance into the abyss. No small thing.
He was REALLY old when he recorded it, and still moved the hearts of billions.
Cash looked very old and worn, but he wasn't that old when he died. 71 is a good life, but this year, my dad will celebrate his 71st birthday, so 71 doesn't seem that old. Maybe I am just getting old.
@@tiffanysandmeier4753 it’s not that old but it is old for a bestselling artist
A scream of defiance to mortality maybe🤔
But a cry of regret for hard life's choices & the consequences of it as well💔
The most poignant part is accepting mortality & at the end...a tender moment with the piano; he accepts it for what it IS🎶❤
I’m surprised there was no mention of the Johnny Cash Museum in the music video. Seeing it in disrepair and the faded photos and then Cash singing about “My Empire of Dirt” hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve seen the video dozens of times and still shed a tear each time.
The House of Cash in the video was flooded in the 1970's and closed to the public forever after the flood. The interior of it in the video was as it was around 2001 when the video guys went there, and the old video clips were found there. The older woman I am pretty sure was his mother. I think the owners tore it down a few years ago. (I remember going there when I was a kid.)
The JC museum in downtown Nashville rocks.
@@jeffhughes849
The older woman in the video is his wife, who died shortly after making this video.
A bit late to this, but I first saw the Hurt video when leaving the Museum. The museum is fantastic, seriously a great great place. Ending with this music video, seeing it there, was a moving experience. When in downtown Nashville it is a great detour.
This is definitely the most touching, most moving video I've ever seen and probably ever will see.
It encapsulated Johnny's whole life brilliantly. Seeing June standing behind him broke me down as did his closing the piano lid for presumably the final time.
As a young child my father introduced me to the big baritone voice of Johnny Cash. His American recordings, most notably this song, made me rediscover him again in college.
The song crushed me when I first heard it and still I can feel his pain come thru every time it plays.
I can't even get through a video ABOUT Hurt without crying...
Seriously, this song gave me heart palpitations a few times and caused me to turn over in bed several times leading me to wake up sweating. THAT is how powerful it was.
Without a doubt one of the greatest covers ever recorded.
My father passed in 2019. We'd always had a difficult relationship. There were some good times and some good memories but there was always a barrier, personal demons that he could never get past. I don't recall how it came about, but I stumbled across this song and it was a tremendous help in getting me through my complicated grieving process. It felt as if Johnny was speaking on my dad's behalf, telling me the things that he would have said if he could.
I have seen multiple reaction videos to this song and video. No one ever makes it through without crying, not even the "Tribal Reactions" channel. They had to read the lyrics, but honestly I think they only half read them because they were so captivated by his voice and the video. It's worth seeing.
Being born in 1960 Johnny Cash was a part of my childhood as he was my fathers favorite artist, he was part of the soundtrack of my life though I didn't quite appreciate him as much as my father did. That all changed when my father died suddenly at 47 and I was 13. From then on when I ever heard Johnny Cash I remembered my father. As an adult I would often play Johnny's music on bar jukeboxes in remembrance of my dad if I was feeling the loss of him or reflecting on the good times we had together, Johnny Cash has always been there in my heart. When I first heard his cover of Hurt I was stunned, I'd never heard of Reznor's version and this was almost painful to hear, but right. When I saw the video for the first time I was brought to tears and to this day I cannot watch it that often because it is so personally emotional to me but when I do watch it I am always blown away by it and Reznor's lyrics. It is my favorite Johnny Cash song of all. Thank you for highlighting this amazing song!
Hank Jr was my dad's favorite and I feel every word you said. Thank you.
The video always hits me, especially when Johnny Cash closes the piano at the end... so many heartfelt meanings behind just that act alone! 😭
It’s so crushing! 😢
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 I know! Every. Damn. Time.
And those wrinkled hands take 90 years to become that way.
Wow. The reverence with which you delivered this well-presented and researched video, with the addition of your own connection via your son, is/was nothing short of amazing. This may be *your* best video yet that I've seen. Thank you for your contributions to the telling of music history and the artists that give us those pieces of themselves.
I agree. This was was perhaps his best video - and that is saying a lot.
I didn't see the video for "Hurt" until after Johnny Cash died. My husband and I cried throughout the entire video. To this day I have a hard time listening to any version of "Hurt," especially the original and Johnny Cash's cover. It's such an impactful piece of music. It's so deep and so heavy. In my opinion, it's one of the most emotionally evocative songs ever written.
I have listened to this song so many times and it gets me every single time, I know no other song that gives me the same amount of feeling as this. Johnnys voice is amazing even though you hear his age and suffering and when you know the backstory and how close he really was to the end it just makes it even better. Definitely one of the best songs ever
His voice reminds me of my grandparents, which is so heartfelt and emotional for me.
The video is one of few that actually adds to the song.
There is only one other song that makes me ball, every single time, like this does. And its Wrong side of Heaven(music video) by Five Finger Death Punch. You dont have to serve to get the gut punch, but with my service, it just beats the hell out of me.
@@codysmith66 for me it's Sounds of Silence with Disturbed 😊
Johnny Cash wrestled many demons in his life but his career speaks for itself. One indelible memory of his uniqueness as an artist was his many live prison performances, culminating with a live recording of the concert at Folsom Prison in 1968. Truly groundbreaking stuff. Another is his song "A Boy Named Sue", recorded live and one of the most interesting songs ever! Thanks, Adam!
Groundbreaking is the right word. Thanks Robster. You're the best.
I’ve seen that concert so many times.
Boy named Sue written by a young Shel Silverstein I believe. Funny how Where the Sidewalk Ends, is penned by the same guy.
@@tjbennett7281 Indeed it was Shel Silverstein who wrote “A Boy Named Sue”. But he wrote so many things.
If you loved a boy named Sue , which is powerful and Funny , listen to One Piece at a Time , hilarious and my favourite
That music video…. The vocals and everything are just as heavy as can be but you add that video…. I’ll tell you right here right now I cry every single time and here I am about to go watch it again.
So strange to think it's been 20 years since Cash stopped living. And 25 years since Reznor realized he wasn't living. One passed, the other remained alive.
This is art embodied in the lives of two legends, a strange irony that Cash inherited something personal in death from a man who lives on.
I was dumbfounded when I first saw Johnny Cash's video for "Hurt". Tears were shed, and now his version of the song hits home even harder, having lost a love of mine just over a year ago, and another good friend just last month. It makes me realize how old I'm getting, and makes me wonder about the future.
So sorry for your loss. This is so sad. My grandma got COVID last week, a few days after my grandpa did. I was really worried about whether this would be the end of their life or not, but luckily they’re still here with us.
Anytime I have ever played the video for "Hurt" for people who had never seen it, they are completely speechless afterward... without exception. The most moving cover version of any song. ❤
We know johnny cash had a tough life, but his version is only 110v. There's no reason it has to sound pitchy- the musical statement is lost in cash's version and it is just poetry, lacking the connection of tone or melody.
No, that would be "All along the watchtower" jimi hendrix
Totally disagree with you on both of your comments, respectfully. Cash's interpretation of the song is indeed not perfect, but that lends to the emotional impact. Although Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" is indeed one of my best covers ever recorded, I personally don't find it particularly moving. Just my opinion.
Hendrix doing "Watchtower" just feels like a fan copying their idol. Those words would never have come from Hendrix.
Cash took over "Hurt" so completely that its author *let it go.*
@@chrisbenson6683 i disagree. Hendrix made it his own. Not a copy. Both versions stand own their own.
And good for Trent.
When I was a young kid in the early 70's, Johnny Cash was my absolute favorite performer. I was full send on The Man in Black. For me, I find I can't watch this video regularly. It takes such an emotional toll that watching it puts my mind in Cash/Reznor's narrator place and takes me down that spiral in my head. It's a masterpiece. It's a video that I have to actually... recover from afterwards.
To this day I remember the first time I heard Johnny Cash's cover. I was gobsmacked. To this day I shed a tear every time I hear it. As I get older I understand the fundamental nuance on a deeper level. 🧡💛🧡
I totally agree with you, Adam. The Cash video is the best music video of all time. I still get chills whenever I watch it. The most prophetic thing is that while the video was produced in Oct. 2002, it wasn't released until March 1, 2003. June appears in the video, and she passed away 75 days after the video was released. Less than 4 months later, Johnny was gone too. It really puts things in perspective in terms of accepting one's own mortality, as well as the inevitable mortality of our friends and family. And yes, American Music IV IS the greatest Cash album ever... even surpassing "Live at Folsom Prison".
@@pazyamor2292 Sorry... not my doing. Blame YT! 😄 How ironic, though.
Beautiful post.
This was a surprising cover that by all appearances should not have worked, but it absolutely did and he made it his own. This is such a sign to me of how perfect the original version of the song is that its beauty and darkness affected so many different kinds of people so profoundly. I will admit to still preferring the original version but Cash's version is stark and chilling in its own right. Great video and thanks for covering this song, Professor 🙏
Great comment and memorial to a man who deserves it.
One of the rare instances where the cover eclipses the original in greatness.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 perfect analysis, thanks
i like both versions, I do prefer the original but man Cash's take on it was superb all the same...
Having seen Trent perform it live from the 20th row, and seeing the trance the whole crowd was in-it will always be Trent’s song to me.
Cash definitely deserves great credit for his remaking such a classic.
A local Alt-rock radio station here in Tulsa OK gets Johnny Cash requests all the time. Doesn't matter the song, Alt-rockers love him.
I’ve never been a fan of Nine Inch Nails, but when I saw that Johnny Cash had covered the song Hurt, I knew I had to listen to it, especially since his cover of Soundgarden’s Rusty Cage was so awesome. The first time I watched the video, I found myself with tears streaming down my face. It is so powerful and I never knew somebody’s life could be summed up in that short of time so effectively. If it doesn’t move you, then you have no soul.
No question.
It’s an amazing video.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 and haunting!
@@RFXLR Very emotional.
The bitter sweet pain of livin n dyin ....
It's a powerful, moving song when Trent sings it. The original video is one of my favorites. Then Johnny Cash got hold of it and took it to a whole new level. Amazing song by two amazing artists. RIP Johnny. Thanks for the great music.
Thank him and Trent.
the thing about a lot of these covers is, you cant feel the pain or grit in their voice. the thing that kills us with cash is that you know his history, you know his pain, you can hear his pain, and you can feel his pain. when he is on that piano hitting just that one key. i cry during that video every time. this is one of my all time favorite covers.
The end of the music video really sums up the feeling. Closing the piano cover closed, and feeling the moments experienced throughout both his life, all lives, and something that held it all together.
As a 64 yo man with very little for emotions, this song touches me. Just thinking about it I can cry. You're 100% right--not only the greatest music video of all time but also the greatest song of all time. RIP Johnny.
Johnny Cash version makes you look into your own mortality.
I remember dreaming about what death looks like, what it feels like, while hearing Hurt in middle school. It was very frightening and caused me to have insomnia for over a year.
as someone who has a family history of drug addiction, and a personal history of self harm and anger issues, Trent's rendition of Hurt has always stood as the one that I can identify with, but I can't deny the gut wrenching delivery of JC's rendition is powerful. I'll stay listening to the shouty vocals of Trent while giving a solid salute to Cash.
I still listen to Johnny Cash's hurt to this day. For years I never new it was a cover. Brilliant video thank you!
I cannot hear this rendition by Johnny Cash without turning into a puddle of tears. The video is especially poignant. Thank you for covering it. Love your videos and all the information you pack into them ❤
When ever a CZcams channel discusses this song. I always say that the way you enjoy these two songs is to remember that Trent's version is sung from the perspective of a man who is young and dealing with his addictions. Working through his pain to get himself through to the other side of his sickness.
When Johnny sings it it's from the eyes of a man at the end of his life, knowing that his time on this planet is just about over, a lament of the mistakes he made and the people he loved, lost, hurt, and helped. It's amazing how the same song can tell two different stories all because of who sings it.
This song we played at my husband's funeral. It still makes me cry. James loved this song.
Yeah, I’ve never been able to listen to this version without shedding a tear. RIP Johnny.
When Cash covered this song it was about knowing he lived everything about that song . . . You can just feel it
Even if you haven’t been through anything like that, it still is so palpable.
When I hear my son sing Johnny Cash songs to his friends in Romania, Slovakia and other european countries it always brings a lot of emotions to me. I always wanted my kids to learn about Johnny Cash because he had a lot to teach in his songs. When I hear them play his songs or sing them it makes me happy they learned about him and his struggles he had. Johnny was blessed to have June as a wife, partner and duo, her voice is beautiful and mixes with his voice perfectly. I had an older cousin that listened to Johnny a lot when we worked and traveled, his favorite saying was "Fame is miserable and destroys lives, be happy you are working on this tar roof" Hope you all stay safe and healthy.
He was a fantastic storyteller.
Your cousin is a wise man!
Thank you for this wonderful homage to a true masterpiece. This song truly touches me as it reminds me of my father, his life and his death. A man that, like Cash, had lived an intense and full life, filled with 73 years of pain, love, regrets, happiness and heartache. He took it all like a real man, never complaining and always keeping a smile for me even in his deathbed.
I have enjoyed the music of Nine Inch Nails for a long time, but I never knew about Johnny Cash doing his version of Hurt. After watching this video it has opened my eyes to so much more behind the song, the two artists and so much more. Thank you Professor of Rock for this.
What I love about music is it’s ability to morph into something new. This song is perfection to me. From the original to the cover. It wouldn’t be what it became without Trent Reznor’s brilliance and vulnerability to start with. When Johnny covered it it became a song we all could relate to because we all will get to that point of reflection in our life. What a gift for us to have him lay it out for us in such a moving way. The goal of life is to be able to reflect without too much regret. Again, perfection.
I saw Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie in 95. The duet of Hurt with Reznor and Bowie at the end of NIN’s set was something that I am glad that I saw live.
This is it. The most emotional, personal, sad, musical performance ever. Nothing really comes close.
It tears up your heart because it was so true for Johnny Cash. He meant and felt every word, every note. I'll see you in heaven Mr. Cash
I love BOTH versions of this song.
NIN Version is recounting the struggle to overcome addiction and the people he hurt along the way.
Cash's version is recounting his entire life and career, and at the end, looking back and asking "Was it worth it?"
The whole album is haunting. A man singing about the end of his life. You can hear the emotion Johnny put into every song on that album. I actually like When the Man Comes Around better but it is an album that you listen to as a whole. And if there isn't a tear in your eye by the time you get to We'll Meet Again you're probably not human.
Johnny's Hurt is one of my top ten favorite songs. Probably top 3. It's grand, yet humble. It's sad, yet nostalgic. It's powerful, yet understated. It is the embodiment of human emotion when contemplating our mistakes. Listening to it now, I find myself experiencing a range of emotions... From regret, to inspiration. It makes me think about everything that went wrong, and the ways I can make up for it in the future. I imagine the meaning and experience will shift as I age, and that's what makes it truly timeless. RIP Johnny, you were one of the greatest of your time and the world was better with you in it.