The current rendition of this Nine Inch Nail’s song by Johnny Cash is haunting. I was a fan of “The Man in Black” many years ago, and this song alone has suddenly made me a fan again.
This I have got to hear.
Is it more haunting than the original?
johnny did it well. it’s got a whole different feel to it.
old man singing it with wisdom … rather than trent with his fear and angst sound.
good video too.
I love it. I keep playing it over and over. I love the video clip too - online here. His voice is just so moving.
I’m not a country fan.
I’ve heard very little of Johnny Cash.
But this song has sunk it’s hooks into me pretty deeply. It’s almost as if he’s singing a song of regret for the depredations of his past… but more.
I don’t know. It’s haunting.
Also, after having watched the video about a dozen times (told you I was hooked) I am wondering if Johnny Cash has a stroke or somesuch at some time.
You really need to see the video for full impact.
Amazing job.
First Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage,” then Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” and now “Hurt.” Quite an impressive list of cover choices.
Hearing Hurt sung by someone at the end of his life gives the song a whole new perspective. I have the CD in my shopping cart over at Amazon, but I haven’t bought it yet. Johnny Cash’s cover has been getting quite a lot of airplay on KROQ – it’s one of their most-requested songs. As I listened to it again this morning, it struck me: I’m getting burned out on it. It’s a great song, and I like Cash’s version. NIN sounds like everything else they play on this “alternative” station. Cash was refreshing at first. But as I said, it’s being over-played. I may still buy the CD so that I can hear the songs they’re not playing.
Let me preface this by saying I really… REALLY hate country & western music. It makes my skin crawl, and in some cases has actually made me gag. This is no joke.
That being said… Cash is a God among musicians. You really can’t put it any other way. I can’t think of anyone else who is still activly performing and coming up with either new material or covering other’s stuff in his own idiom who is as respected and, well, revered as this man. Big name artists in most genre of music have all payed homage to him. It’s almost sickening. 
I have yet to hear it on radio, but CMT is doing their level best to overplay the song.
Luckily (I’d prefer not to get sick of it), I’ve only heard it twice… very beautiful. Maybe I should pick up the CD.
Yes, he had a stroke a few years ago that made one side of his face fall.
He is a God, and you can’t just classify his music as country, because it’s so much more.
Since some of you seem to be knowledgeable about Cash, answer me one question that I have after seeing the video, please.
Is there really a Johnny Cash museum that’s been shuttered? Seems with the way people revere him, it would actually get business. How sad.
(just got cannot find server error - going to try again, because I’m not sure it was far along enough to post)
Most. Affecting. Video. Ever.
Does anybody know the story behind this song? I hope he really doesn’t feel that bad about his life, looking back…
Archergal, the song is written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.
I think it seems to apply to Johnny Cash, from what little I know of him, but he didn’t actually write the song.
I haven’t heard “Rusty Cage” yet. I thought “Personal Jesus” was okay. But “Hurt” is awesome. Very nice cover. Another in the file of unexpected but effective cover songs by country music legends along with Dolly Parton doing Collective Soul’s “Shine” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.”
In the video, the man who gave us the line, “shot a man in Reno just to watch him die” in “Folsom Prison Blues” looks a little worse for wear, but it definately fits with the song nicely. My favorite moment in the video is when he sings “my sweetest friend” and they cut to June Carter Cash in the background. Very nice touch.
I just realized that Johnny cleaned up the song a bit. Where JC sings “crown of thorns,” Trent sang “crown of sh**.” I can’t imagine the Man in Black swearing in a song. I also couldn’t imagine Betty White swearing in a movie, but she talks up a blue streak in that movie about the killer alligator.
Oh yeah Ataraxy, hearing BW asking someone to suck her dick just about killed me! But she’s that way in real life, actually.
Back to Johnny- he could have written that song himself, Archergal. His life has been a wild ride, with alcohol, drugs, women, fights, you name it.
We found this video by accident (on VH1, no less!) and just freaked. It is wonderful and stunning and terrifying and sad.
It is a breath of fresh air among all the vapid, all-skin-and-no-substance crap I usually see as I flip PAST the music video stations.
“The Man Comes Around” is an awsome song. The whole disc is good with “Hurt” being just average in this bunch. I would advise purchase post-haste!
I, too, dislike “country”, but love Johnny. He is so beyond labels and catagorization that he stands alone.
Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.
But we will meet again
Some sunny day
And so ends the CD. I liked it. I agree that The Man Comes Around is good. Didn’t Peter, Paul & Mary cover that one?
I try to listen to C&W occasionally, since I claim to like all forms of music. But I just can’t listen to Country for very long. Johnny Cash is an exception. His music always struck me as being more Folk than anything else, with a bit of rock’n’roll in some of it. Not really Country per se. And then there’s his Voice. Unmistakeable. Not to mention that he’s just a majorly cool guy.
Hey, how come nobody welcomed me here like I see some of the other “newbies” being welcomed? Just wondering. I saw that video for the first time Saturday evening, then cringed through “Saving Private Ryan” for the very first time. No wonder I couldn’t sleep that night.
I do enjoy these forums.