Sunday, April 01, 2007

Three ways to Hurt

First the Johhny Cash version, which is the best interpretation in my opinion. I didn't know that "In 2002, "Hurt" was covered by Johnny Cash to great critical acclaim; it was Cash's final hit before his death. Its accompanying video, featuring images from Cash's life up to his final months, was named the best video of the year by the Grammy Awards and Country Music Awards". It being his last, makes the song even more powerful.
Then the Kermit the Frog version :)
Finally, the original by Nine Inch Nails
In an interview with Alternative Press, Reznor admitted that when Rubin first asked if Cash could cover his song, he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." The power of Cash's cover didn't fully hit Reznor until he saw the video: “ I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore. … It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning—different, but every bit as pure. ” Reznor still occasionally refers to "Hurt" as "a song that isn't mine anymore."

1 comment:

pimp-a-lot bear said...

I agree with you cybr, the Cash version is the best. It's more powerful.