HURT (SONG)

"'Hurt'" is a song written by Trent Reznor, first released as a promotional single on Nine Inch Nails 1994 album ''The Downward Spiral''. In 2002, "Hurt" was covered by Johnny Cash to 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. Cash's video was directed by Mark Romanek.

Contents

Song description

Single

Track listing

Video

Live performance

Johnny Cash's cover

Track Listing

Reznor's reaction

Other versions of the song

In popular culture

References

External links

Song description

"Hurt" is a lament that marks the conclusion to the concept album ''The Downward Spiral''. Tragically it is only after the narrator's suicide in the previous song (The Downward Spiral) that he realizes if he were given another chance he would be able to save himself from all that has transpired, but by then, it is too late. One distorted guitar chord sounds, stretching out for what seems like an eternity, and, like that, the soul of the narrator is gone, and with him the story of The Downward Spiral. Next to "A Warm Place", it is the quietest song on the record. The lyrics are sung over a simple guitar arpeggiation, synthesizer and subdued industrial background noise, accompanied by piano and drums during the chorus. After the louder second chorus, the song ends in a blast of electronic noise. On the remix album, ''Further Down the Spiral'', "Hurt" appears in the "quiet" form with less harsh ambience in the background, a shortened ambient introduction, and a shortened ending.

Single

Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" was never produced as a commercial single for the public. However, a promotional disc was distributed, containing censored ("clean") and uncensored ("soiled") mixes. The disc, Interscope Records PRCD 6179, is labeled "Halo Ten" though it is not considered an official Halo.

Track listing

# "Hurt" (Quiet Version - Clean) [5:04]
# "Hurt" (Live Version - Clean) [5:15]
# "Hurt" (Album Version - Clean) [6:16]
# "Hurt" (Quiet Version - Soiled) [5:21]
# "Hurt" (Live Version - Soiled) [5:15]
# "Hurt" (Album Version - Soiled) [6:15]

Video

The video is a live performance that appears on ''Closure'' and the DualDisc re-release of ''The Downward Spiral''. The audio portion appears on the UK version of ''Further Down the Spiral''.
A scrim had been dropped in front of the band on stage, onto which various images, such as war atrocities, survivors of the Battle of Stalingrad, a snake staring at the camera, and a time-lapse film of a decomposing wolf in reverse, were projected. A spotlight was cast on Reznor so he could be seen through the images. Compared to the live renditions performed on future tours, this version most resembles the studio recording with its use of the song's original samples.
There are also official live recordings on ''And All that Could Have Been'' and ''Beside You in Time''.

Live performance

During the ''Dissonance'' tour in 1995, David Bowie sang "Hurt" duet with Reznor, backed by an original melody and beat. This served as the conclusion to the dual act that began each Bowie set. Since the 2005-06 ''Live: With_Teeth'' tour, NIN has been playing "Hurt" in a more toned-down style, featuring only Reznor on keyboard and vocals until the final chorus, when the rest of the band joins in.

Johnny Cash's cover

Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" was released on his 2002 album, ''. Rick Rubin, producer of Cash's ''American'' series and friend of Trent Reznor, suggested the song to Cash. The line "crown of shit" was changed to "crown of thorns", not only removing profanity from the lyrics, but also suggesting a reference to Christ. The cover was with the B-side "Personal Jesus", a cover of the Depeche Mode single.
The cover was given the Country Music Award for "Single of the Year" in 2003. It also ranked as CMT's top video for 2003 and was ranked #1 in ''CMT's 100 Greatest Country Music Videos'' the following year. The cover also currently occupies the number one spot on Rate Your Music's Top Singles of the 2000s.
The house where Cash's music video for "Hurt" was shot, Cash's home for more than 20 years, was destroyed in a fire on April 10 2007. ^[1]

Track Listing

#"Hurt" – 3:39
#"Personal Jesus" – 3:21
#"Wichita Linemen" – 3:06

Reznor's reaction

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:
Reznor still occasionally refers to "Hurt" as "a song that isn't mine anymore."
(''Rock Sound''- article transcribed on the NIN Hotline)
- Also read the Stagepass News article

Other versions of the song

★ "Hurt" has been covered by other artists in addition to Cash, including a live version by Placebo at the (House of Blues, California in 2003), Breaking Benjamin, Fightstar, Anaheim, Matthew Good (acoustic tour 2006), the Razor Skyline, Mike Connolly, Luna Amara and Montezuma's Revenge. Damien Rice is also known to have inserted lyrics from the song into his live performances.

★ Tori Amos frequently sang three or four lines of the song as an introduction to other songs during her Dew Drop Inn tour in 1996.

★ Frank Peterson's musical experiment, "Gregorian", arranged the lyrics into a medieval Gregorian chant.

★ Howard Stern had his own version for his show, called "Private Hurt". He played the song while mixing in sound clips from his movie Private Parts.

★ Rap group Westside Connection sampled the main riff for their song The Gangsta The Killa and The Dope Dealer.

★ Sevendust covered this song in their September 12, 2003 gig at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA. This was a tribute to Johnny Cash, and thus a cover of a cover, that appears on ''.

★ A performance of "Hurt" by Christy Moore (accompanied by Declan Sinnott) appears on the DVD "Christy Moore live in Dublin 2006".

★ There is a version of the song featuring the puppet character Kermit the Frog called ''Sad Kermit''.

★ Sheryl Crow covered the Cash version on the TV special "Tribute to Johnny Cash".

★ Underoath covered this song acoustic in Winnipeg when only two members of the band showed up. They also played "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters.

In popular culture

★ The chorus of "Hurt" is quoted in the opening pages of Stephen King's 2004 novel ''The Dark Tower''. King said, "I've always been a TrentRez fan—and Nails. "Hurt" says all you need to know about what life takes away. What it ''always'' takes away in the end. A song like that is a treasure because it vocalizes what we all feel but somehow can't say. Of course the Cash video blew me away, but that song [has] been in my head for a couple of years now."^[2]

★ The song plays at the beginning of the episode "Last Call" in season 4 of ''Third Watch''. Officer John "Sully" Sullivan is sitting in front of the TV with a gun, presumably about to commit suicide.

★ In the episode "A Model Citizen" of '', the song is played as Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin) comes home and discovers his wife has left him and taken his children and belongings.

★ The Johnny Cash version has been used as an advertisement highlighting abused children in Australia.

★ Best-selling young adult author Amelia Atwater-Rhodes contributed a short story to the horror anthology "666: The Number of the Beast" (itself an Iron Maiden reference) titled "Empire of Dirt" in reference to the Johnny Cash cover of the song.

★ The Johnny Cash version plays at the end of the episode "Shattered" in Season 3 of ''Smallville''. Lex Luthor is in a padded cell at the Belle Reve sanitarium as his father, Lionel Luthor, looks in on him through one-way glass.

★ The Johnny Cash version was used in a tribute to the late Eddie Guerrero.

References

1. Fire destroys Johnny Cash home
2. TNH briefly steps into the shadows with Stephen King

External links

★ Hurt at the NinWiki

★ Nine Inch Nails Hurt Cover Videos

★ Lyrics of the versions on Halos 8, 10, 12, and 17

★ Excerpt from Anthony DeCurtis's interview with Trent Reznor

★ discogs.com: ''Hurt''

★ Songfacts Entry

★ Hurt video reenactment

★ CBS Shows Youtube Tribute featuring 'Hurt'