Hurt

Brother Kevin sent me a link to a video of Johnny Cash’s cover of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt”, and I must say, Cash made the song his. Yes, I like Reznor’s version, but the song seems more poignant coming from one who at the end of his life is looking back at the empire he built and realizing that beneath it all there was an element of vanity.  It’s like a page right out of Ecclesiastes.

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Johnny Cash – Hurt from Hans Blom on Vimeo.

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This is a link to a nice performance of “Hurt” by Reznor

4 Responses to “Hurt”

  1. Roger Green  

    First time I saw this, which was before Johnny died but after June had, I found it devastasting. Then after Johnny died, I used to cry every time I saw it for about a year. Give credit also to the Benmont Tench keyboards, also used to great effect on Johnny’s take of Nick Cave’s the Mercy Seat.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGGSTiDOjKU

  2. Anthony Velez  

    The video is masterful in communicating a melancholy sense of longing and loss, the whole thing feels like an ember slowing fading, but amidst it all, what really hits me are the two scenes where June is behind Johnny, looking down upon him with sorrow, as if she is feeling his pain. Very touching.

  3. Simon Jones  

    Keep up at the back there Velez!

    http://www.beforeiforget.co.uk/2005/hurt 😉

    It is a great video to a fantastic cover. I think Cash found the song inside the original. That is to say i think he found this and pulled out the version we should have heard first.

  4. Anthony Velez  

    Simon – Talking about keeping up in the back, I just found out that an author I like, David Foster Wallace, committed suicide in 2008. I was first introduced to his works through a class I took in 2007, and just recently I read a comment on a blog where someone said something about DFW’s posthumous works, and I was like, “posthumous?” So, I did some internet searching and sure enough, I found out the story and a bunch of eulogies. The whole time I was thinking, “How did I miss this?”

    Well at least I was in on the new of Johnny’s passing, and for whatever reason, I just wanted to arbitrarily post this. I mean, I’ve seen the video before, but this time it really struck me, and I wanted to share.