Johnny Cash "Hurt" REACTION & ANALYSIS by Vocal Coach/Opera Singer
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มิ.ย. 2024
- Nine Inch Nails's Trent Reznor originally wrote this song about a younger man whose life was spiraling out of control. However, Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" shines a new light, and new honesty on the song - and it will reduce most of you to tears.
Join professional opera singer Elizabeth Zharoff, as she listens to Johnny Cash performing "Hurt" for the first time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performed by Johnny Cash - Words and Music by Trent Reznor - Video Produced by Rick Rubin
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I definitely recommend watching the original video without interruptions, here's the link: • Johnny Cash - Hurt
Show Johnny Cash some love: / @johnnycashofficial
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WE HAVE MERCH! Check-out the full line-up here: thecharismaticmerch.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🎧 Elizabeth’s favorite headphones 🎧 : imp.i114863.net/zayoEM
Music Gear Questions? 🎤 See my list of recommendations: imp.i114863.net/yRyGoV
WANT MY CHAIR? I don’t blame you…and here’s a link to make it even sweeter:
secretlab.co/?rfsn=4692958.b2...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🎙️Podcast: thecharismaticvoice.com/podcast/
🌐Website: thecharismaticvoice.com
📸Instagram: / thecharismaticvoice
🧑🤝🧑Patreon: / thecharismaticvoice
📺Twitch: / thecharismaticvoice
📰Our FREE Newsletter: eepurl.com/gz7Z_z
-------------------------------------COURSES------------------------------------------
🎵MUSIC APPRECIATION COURSE🎵
Want to understand how to listen to and appreciate music more? My Music Appreciation course is now live. Take a look at thecharismaticvoice.com
🎶DEMYSTIFYING SINGING🎶
My intensive 7-week course on vocal foundations includes weekly group sessions and private lessons. Learn more at thecharismaticvoice.com.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Zharoff is an international opera singer and voice coach, with 3 degrees in voice, opera, and music production. She's performed in 18 languages throughout major venues in Europe, America, and Asia. Currently based somewhere between Los Angeles and Tucson, Arizona, Elizabeth spends her days researching voice, singing, teaching, writing music, and recording TONS. She also plays Diablo and Dungeons & Dragons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have a sister channel: THE SINGING HOLE. Join us there to examine how ordinary creatures create extraordinary sounds. / @thesinginghole
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#JohnnyCash #Reaction #ElizabethZharoff
We just released merchandise! Check out the full line-up here: thecharismaticmerch.com
Cool just checked out the link and saw creators welcome merchandising at the bottom I'm at starting something cool right now for you romaine lettuce as well and trained but still trying to learnmy potential giftedvoice from my creator-mom,1stake on johnny cash to hear from hear where'sing tipshared can take it ?
The last one lost with out you i did the 4/5 octive note mom climed. Whent 2 times higher when i sang think im lost (away3/4th time but like 10000 angles all in harmony best voice ive ever herd .ill herd
P lrsr share
My last song lost without you please refer to away and I know she went two times higher I'm going to have to find this on and send it to you it'll blow your mind still today the best place I've ever heard like Ten Thousand Angels and Harmony but she went two times higher than than the note away lyric free third time away I know but she went to where three times higher than that which I don't even think it's humanly possible please share and I'll send you the Johnny Cash Hurt I'm just going to make sure I have it and send it that was first time I saying it Alpha just preparing a couple things you said about him and then you got me sucked in trying to sing like Chris Cornell oh my God it's almost too much I had to stop LOL it's on shower anyways you're very inspiring I love to hear you and see you the way you do what you do British singers in August lol again meant to say singers in all of us doing voice-to-text how to get back to work but here's hurt and let's see what we can do with your coaching thank you
Okay here it is I found it first try First Take Nine Inch Nails Hurt Johnny Cash now I'm going to listen again to your singing advice you did on him and see how I can do it better the second try from what I can learn from you God bless you thank you so much I just want to see how and what I can do singing for me and my mom Percy was the best opera and Jazz Singer I've ever heard still to this day and I miss her so thanks for helping me
When Cash showed this to his daughter she said it "sounds like your saying goodbye" and Cash replied "I am".
It is a blessing to have that opportunity -
and to do it so well❤
That is just heartbreaking
😢
Hopefully she knew the difference between “you’re”, and “your”.
@@MaadSteve😂
There may never be a more legendary "final song" performed by an artist before their passing. This is legendary.
It truly is.
Add "These Are The Days of Our Lives" to the final song list. Freddie gave us his last breaths to sing that.
I’ve said the same thing. The true life behind it makes it even MORE haunting than his version already WAS. And we didn’t have long to enjoy it for how haunting it is on its own, before it went to that next level.
I think he did it KNOWING this is exactly what was going to happen. The Man in Black planned it out this way. It was into his own will.
But, in all seriousness…it’s an entirely amazing story itself
couldn't agree more!
@Ruben M Lazarus blew my mind when I first heard it. Still hard for me to listen to without crying. Also, My Only True Friend by Gregg Allman. Give it a listen if you haven’t already.
I absolutely love the way they left the voice as is. Didn't try to over-produce or autotune away the way he sang. His voice is showing age, a bit weak, off pitch, trembling....but it's the most beautiful thing ever.
Those things added to the power of this performance imho.
Major daps to Rick Rubin for recognising this, for bringing back on old friend, hero of the outcast, the broken, poor and disenfranchised.
To put things to perspective, autotune was invented in 1998 and this was put out in 2002, so not a lot of people implemented it their work anyway. Mainly older generation of producers sure wasn’t working with “fix it in the PC” method at the time. Now they made new Rolling Stones album and vocals sound wierd with all that processing and autotune. Like we know Jagger is not perfect singer, let him be what he was for past 60 years!
That is Rick Rubin’s superpower. He only adds enough musical production to bring a the essence of the song out, and capture a performance in its pure sense. This is an absolute masterpiece by an American icon.
i also love how they left in the peaking vocal recording during the second verse/outro. Keeping it raw and I love it.
He releases this song, and "everyone I know goes away in the end" his wife passes and he follows 4 months after. This song will never fail to draw teary eyes.
The piano closing in the end was the closing of Johnny's coffin lid . I have wondered what it would be like to attend one's own funeral.
@@showshowthecloneclown8428Wow, you are right. Guess I'll just go cry some more now.
After June died, I knew it wasn't long for Johnny.
He made it his swan song; some people (like me) can feel every bit of it.
I believe that video was in post when June passed away, so there's an added emphasis of his very, very recent loss in the edit.
His daughter Rosanne Cash said, "It sounds like you are saying Good bye." Johnny replied, "I am."
I remember him saying that :-( ...But He Knew and He was Ready.............................
That’s heavy stuff right there. It’s hard to hear this song without tearing up.
He also said that his wife died and later on she visited him and invited him home
I saw Roseanne a couple of years ago. Never had the opportunity to see The Man in Black.
@@cwilli26 saw him and June live in the mid-late 90s drove several hundred miles for it. Worth every mile.
“when I heard Johnny sing my sing, I realized that it wasn’t my song anymore.” -Trent Reznor
A true artist. Good bless
Trent is just being nice. In reality, the melody was so neutered into pop song, lacking its original dissonance, it's not the same song anymore.
@@Mike-zf4xg your right, its not the same song anymore! Its a more powerful, meaningful song now thanks to Johnny!!
@@randywissler9923 I am sorry your sound palate is as complicated as kfc
@@Mike-zf4xg you have your opinion, I have mine. See, thats the great thing about this country, we can have different opinions, and the world won't come to an end.
Love the truth in this song. Am in my 60's with health issues, and I cried alone in my truck the first time I heard it. All men have regret, I have my own, we're all flawed as I am myself. When it comes on now I'm more equipped to handle it and maybe that's Johnny's legacy to us old men that tried our hardest to navigate the daily crush of being a man and are now faced with our mortality. It's difficult to see friends leave and know that we're not far behind them, but it's the yoke we must bear, so bear it, we will
One of the very best comments I have every read ❤
I feel everything you said, deep in my bones ❤
I can tell by your words that you did well. Don't judge yourself too harshly.
Well said, my brother.
If you can't be with the ones you love, love the ones you're with. We all must go someday, and that day too will be an adventure. Love truthfully, laugh loudly but genuinely and stay humble but ready.
Me too. Me too, John
I am 78. I first heard this about a year ago and the tears flowed. I vowed to avoid hearing it again as it was so powerful and upsetting. Then I saw the TH-cam video before this which explained it's origins and decided to see your reaction. I started crying after the third line and 20 minutes later I have not stopped! Thank you for your reaction. I am glad I watched. I think perhaps I NEEDED to "hurt myself today to see if I still feel". The emotional "hurt" of the song makes me appreciate what I have more. Thank you Johnny and Tent.
Too powerful for words
Trent
Completely amazing..
i fear death and most importantly the decay of our bodys...
im still young but got a heavy chronic illness wich changed everything..and i ask myself why? why at this young age, what did i do wrong?
nobody can tell me
i hope that i can reach that high age of yours, without any further disappointments of life, but that is impossible, i know that
still i pull my hat before you and hope you have a decent life andrew
@@Seca90Thank you for your kind words. I am very sorry to hear of your condition and hope that scientific developments come to your aid soon. I hope you are best able to make your life as full as possible. My life has been blessed to some extent and it is really not fair that you and others face lesser opportunities. I wish you well.
It doesn’t matter how many times I hear this song. It guts me every time.
Every time.
Every. Time.
Yes every time, maybe because I am older and it seems more relevant then if I was a younger man.
I've never been gutted
Hits me hard every damn time....
Trent Reznor's reaction to this cover says it all. After hearing it, Trent said something along the lines of "this isn't my song anymore, it belongs to Cash. It turns out that I wrote it for him and didn't ever know it"
artists are conduits for the gods!
Reznor wrote this song for Cash. And Cash gave us all a new prayer.
May we all live to be worthy of these gifts.
I can’t choose which version I love more, they’re just both so amazing in their own way. Trent’s version breaks my heart of a young person who feels their life is pointless and my teenage self felt that so strongly. This version makes me sad in s nostalgic way.
What an amazing gift they both are.
It's a life of wanting to please others and never feeling the achievement of that, and in the goal of that, you lose yourself. What a paradox ... of life.
He said it after watching the music video with it. Initially he was against it, said it was like someone was "kissing his girlfriend."
Music video is an underrated art form. The closing of the piano lid in silence at the end is heart breaking.
I thought the same. Very symbolic.
That when it shows his wife who is clearly also in pain and when you see breifly johnny crying with his fists in his face... those all get me
Yes. The montage of this entire video makes oneself evaluate their own life choices. When I watch this I feel like material items and all the BS in our life are meaningless. The broken frame with the record, and the empty case shelves in his museum make means so much. Its sad that videos are not produced like this that much anymore.
He never reopened that piano and played it again.
Hearing the age in his voice adds such a richness to the sound and the emotions, it's absolutely stunning.
He conveys a lot of emotions, a long gap of his ride through life in very few words, yet they encapsulate this whirlwind of feelings and experiences so well that I would bet that this is one of the reasons why it manages to draw the cork out of our bottled up emotions.
"Once Johnny Cash covers your song, it's not your song anymore."
I totally consider them to be two different songs
This is the best version!
@@gotthatthangonme6644 but lets be real if the original doesn't exist we will never heard this
@@faker7091 100%
When Johnny Cash covers your song, it is your greatest accomplishment.
Trent Reznor has actually stated "This is 100% Johnny Cash's song now". His daughter called it "her Dad's goodbye".
Yeah at first Trent was kind of upset someone would cover a song so personal. Then he heard it was "F, this is now a Cash song". Funny story he this isn't the first song he covered where the person thought he hit it out of the park more than they did.
@@Giganfan2k1 i think it takes a good artist to recognise when someone can adapt your own song and instead of feeling jealous or something, you can't help but respect it.
@@maddocks97 Dylan had the same reaction to Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “All Along the Watchtower.” He commented that it was always Jimi’s song.
I don't care what he says... This song is Trent's song. Period. I love Johnny Cash... but this is Trent's song.
@@pattonsplace41477 The way Trent does it is his song the way Cash did it was his. Trent let it go in the direction that Cash did it and Trent does the way he does it. Both important messages.
after 47 albums- hurt by nine inch nails was the last song he ever did-the man in black knew his time was up- rip LEGEND
Not the last song... the last video. After recording this he recorded two last albums (at the same time) - American V: A Hundred Highways and American VI: Ain't No Grave - both released after his death.
Cash at his end.
I still don't think I've seen Elizabeth respond more emotionally to a song on this channel.
I heard that when Trent Reznor was asked about this cover, he said, "it is kind of like seeing your ex with their new partner, and realizing their new partner is perfect for them."
I know that feeling. Last I heard they had child together.
I couldn't be happier. I hope to see them again.
@@spddracer Same, I have an ex who recently got married
Yeah, Trent hated it when he first heard it since it was such a personal song, but after giving it another go, he realized that Johnny made it his own and there was nothing to hate.
@@rabbit2686 - First time he just listened to it, he came around when he actually viewed the video.
Trent also said "This is 100% Johnny Cash's song now." And how can anybody argue against that? One of the most honest, raw, and powerful vocal performances a person will ever hear!
When you see his wife June in the video behind him, knowing she passed away just a couple of months later, the line "Everyone I know goes away in the end," really hits you.
Then he followed her within a handful of weeks
@@nationalsocialism3504 Men are 30% more likely to die within a short period of time after their wives do.
@@OriginalPuro that's pair bonding... Men just do it harder than women, hence why they outlive us for years. A woman's brain is not really designed to love a man like a man's brain is designed to love a woman... Men are a tertiary part to a woman after kids & herself, while men are tertiary to themselves after kids & her.
@@nationalsocialism3504*months, but still...
Then to add she was checking on him to make sure he wasn't overdoing it, just adds another layer to it all imo
I don't think I'll ever be able to hear this song without ugly crying. Even if I manage to keep it together through the song, that moment of Cash closing the piano lid and running his shaking hands over it, I just can't handle it.
I don't recall any song ever bringing more emotional reaction out of everybody than this one.
He turned a twisted song into his final confession before death. This will forever be a Johnny Cash song in my mind!
Also apparently in Trent Reznor's mind...
@@ChrisJones-cs2zd lol, he's realistic, you can't listen to that and think wow, trent's really got something there
On a local radio station they played the NIN version and a listener text in to say he couldn’t believe they’d ruined a Johnny Cash song, the DJ pointed out that they wrote it so it was theirs to ruin 😂
The old house he looked at was where he grew up. Down the road from me in shitsville Arkansas Johnny is probably one of the all time best selling artist in the world and that was for one reason
He lived it and he believed what he sang.
And he made us believe it.
Would he have made such an impact without the drinking an the drugs? Hell no.
It is indeed a Johnny Cash song.
I met him once. I was about 14 and didn't understand the concept of not approaching famous people going about their day, sorry. But he was in the grocery store, and I recognized him and was so excited that I asked him for an autograph on the back of my grocery receipt. He was so very kind, and asked me how I was doing. He was buying strawberry yogurt and red grapes. I'll never forget that moment, and I have his signature framed on my wall.
It’s how you approach someone 🙌 you must of did the right thing
That is so fu#%ing cool to have that
More treasured than gold ♥️🕊
Cash is from that generation that realized where their fame came from.
Waited on him at the hardware store during my college summer job.…. He was larger than life in a way…. He was tall and spoke with such a low voice…. I simply said, “Let me know if you need any help”. lol
Thank you so much for pointing out that Cash singing under the pitch is part of that slight dissonance in his voice that conveys a real vulnerability that tugs at the heartstrings. In the hands of Cash this track has become a thing of immense beauty, regret, humility, and grief. And yes - it does reduce me to tears - like I'm sure it does for so many others...😥
Well ! From my stand point of view.......Cash played and sang this song with such affinity that it was pure magic in communication of his last stand here on earth and he knew it !!!!! Bam !!! Straight from the heart and soul , absolutely emotionally pow !! powerful and if you are any kind of human being it does bring you to tears for sure !!! It's so simple and devastating all at the same time....Thank You....😢.
This is the greatest cover of a song. With the same lyrics it has a totally different meaning. With the closing of the piano, his story ended. He did it all and had it all but at the end everything he has doesn’t mean anything just like everyone else.
I don't know if this is the greatest cover of a song, but he made this song his own and it's the definitive version of the song.
When asked about Johnny's cover of his song, Trent replied, "It's not my song anymore, it's Johnny Cash's."
Not many people would even know about the song if Jonny didn't cover it, so I'm sure he was ecstatic that he did.
@@greysonG10 everyone knows its trent reznors song... NIN was insanely popular my dude
@@GrandeMastaSexi NIN was popular but not this particular song most people i know thought NIN stole this from Cash.
John Evan's in Seattle? Great song my old friend.
@@GrandeMastaSexi You have a fair point, but I'm a rock fan from the 90's, and still was way more familiar with Cash's version. It wasn't a well known Reznor song. I hope both knew each other, and had a chat.
I just read that Johnny's piano was never re opened after he closed it during the making of this Video.
Idk why that hits me so hard, but damn. That just sliced me in half
Wow….😢
@@pa-r6169 Hell yeah. "Wow" is an understatement. Not opening that piano is such a huge sign of respect. No shit, I'm short of breath at hearing that.
thats heavy
I'd feel terrible for even touching the top let alone the keys.
As someone who’s going through life’s ending, I’m able to say your “analysis” is spot on. I beg you to apply what you’ve said about this video to your own life now. Thank you for this gift.
Johnny Cash being real and saying goodbye.
I'm not crying, you're crying. Ok we're all crying.
Damn onions!
We are indeed. The song is a masterpiece but the video then tears open my heart and stomps on it.
Salty rivers of respect and gratitude. R.I.P.
Cutting onions jutsu
Yep. Bawling... for the 1500th time listening to this version..
Him closing the piano at the end is really emotional to watch. It’s was almost like him closing the final chapter of his life and career. He was one of a kind.
He was metaphorically closing the lid on his own life/coffin 😞
@@lenkapankhurst9625 That's how I've always seen it as well. Whatever it's original intent, to me it's closing the casket on his life.
The video was shot around the time that Cash and Rick Rubin had to stop recording music due to his declining health. It may have literally been the last time he played an instrument.
Actually he told everyone after the end of this production that he would never play again and he never opened his piano ever again. His wife died a half a year later. He followed her three months later.
Yes making music on earth was closing for him -
he did what he could....
the Invitation for remembering and living and doing... passes on to those who remain a while longer
I'm a grown man, really don't cry much at all. This song always takes me to that level. Just unreal
The vocals are exactly as they are supposed to be.. and you can bet Johnny Cash knew it. Clear yet frail and Powerful.
I'll take an expressive voice over a pitch perfect voice any day.
Singing's purpose should be to translate emotion from the singer to the listener. And Johnny did that perfectly here.
Absolutely! It’s one thing to enjoy listening to someone with perfect pitch. It’s entirely another, and even more amazing, when someone with a somewhat less than perfect voice just grabs your heart and soul and squeezes it while you listen to them.
100%
True, but I'd say Johnny was also quite pitch-perfect when he was in good health. When he recorded Hurt he was both aging and seriously ill.
Want to see something bizarre? How about a seven year old Norwegian girl singing Billie Holiday... Acapella. In front of judges.. it's not her best performance but it's so extraordinary soul I promise if you listen you'll seek her other songs.... TH-cam Angelina Jordan I'm a fool Norway.
"Everyone I know goes away in the end" *picture of June*
I cry every. Time.
I don’t know this for sure, but I think that’s a picture of Johnny’s mother.
@@l.e.reslow8583 it is. June is appears in the video in the flesh
God, yes
Yes that is his mother’s picture
@@allisonholmesmusic97 Yes, it is his mother. June was still alive when it was filmed (she's with him in the video, I think) but passed before he did, though they were not separated by long.
I'm a 73 yr old widow after 48 yrs of having the love of my life and Cash's version of this is the one that resonates inside me. I know Trent agreed to let Johnny do this but it was such a personal song that he regretted it after hearing the audio. When he saw the video is when he said, "It's Johnny's song now." When his daughter heard it, she said, "It sounds like you're saying goodbye." He said, "I am." Both he and June died shortly thereafter, June in 3 or 4 months and Johnny in 7. Trent's version of this is of a life I've never known but Johnny speaks not only of his life but mine as well - every one I know goes away in the end. I don't hear this one without tears. The picture is of his mother-in-law, June is on the stairs behind him looking beautiful and troubled. The last scene where he closed the piano was the last time he played it.
I am a pretty stoic man and don't cry easily at all, but I cry when I hear this song. Every. Single. Time.
You know you're dealing with a legend when The Charismatic Voice actually forgets to analyze and just gets swept up in the emotion of the song.
This is t a song you can get all technical with. It’s based in pure emotion. Very little technical nuances in this … just tons and tons of honesty and emotions … everything from sorrow to regret to finality to love.
The music had to be equally compelling...and it was...an jhonnys touch was all over it as well
The Nine Inch Nails version is the pain of living and the Jonny Cash version is the pain of it all going away. Both are amazing!
Perhaps the most relevant song pair of what it is to be mortal and human.
Trent Resnor stated that once he seen the video he believed that became Johnny's song.
Nailed it!
A perfect analysis...
Well said.
You can just hear in the song his pain his regrets and that he knows he’s fading he knows his time is coming to an end.
The whole song is him saying sorry to June and all his friends and family along the way that he hurt at any time. It’s also him devaluing his legacy and saying he doesn’t care about it anymore he just wants his family and friends back. June had passed not long before this song was recorded which is why she’s seen in the way she is so much.
Johnny may have been the greatest storyteller in the history of anything.
The lyrics of this song alone, are devastating. With Trent, you could hear the horrible self loathing. When Johnny covered it you could hear the massive regret. Both versions ripped your heart out.
there it is...what I was trying to put into words...
Johnny's is so much more devastating cause it could literally apply to every single one of us... you're a year away from dying, how many of us could say we've done all that we've hoped to do and have little to no regrets? Not many... this song by Johnny is the complete opposite to the other legendary "ending song" which is My Way by Frank Sinatra... a song about the end of a man with almost no regrets... a man who lived his live to the fullest and looked at everyone with a smile and said in all honestly "This was a wonderful life... I had a blast and I wouldn't change a damn thing about it... goodbye"... both are so emotionally perfect for different reasons...
Personally I hate listening to Johnny's "hurt" cause it literally makes me feel miserable every time I listen to it but it's a gem of a song and some rare times I do listen to it just cause it's sung so wonderfully emotionally by johnny...
Johnny and Frank... a man with a thousand regrets, another one with none... two legends in their own way...
As an older person, I completely agree with you, yes regret and also just knowing life is almost over. So some of the flash backs are just realizing all that time has given you and what meaning your life has as a legacy, the memories. What has happened in your life because one day it will all end.
For sure Drew, I reacted in similar ways to both versions, and I think Johnny Cash for sure had no idea the effect this would have on his legacy, because it would have been impossible for him to know, but what a great piece of work for any musical artist to have contributed to the world. Also, I imagine Johnny Cash was a guy that learned a great deal in the trials he put himself through in life, and I imagine he was more charitable to himself about his flaws than these lyrics, but he was interpreting a great piece of art by another writer and just did it in the most powerful way possible.
Couldn't have said it better, ripped my heart out for sure.
Trent Reznor created a masterpiece with this work. Johnny Cash aged it to perfection and bottled it.
Great way to describe the magic that both of them displayed.
I've done a bunch of ...stuff to Trnt's music, but I remember hearing Johnny's version of this. I stopped cold in my tracks and listened to the end. I'm not going to try and say which is better. You can't create beauty without a solid base.
I like how you put it, well said
Sevendust did a cover also that I think is pretty solid
captured it perfectly here, nice words.
The piano closing at the end felt like the closing of a casket to me. A punch to the gut.
This is not just a cover, it is recounting and summary, a part of him. A truly special piece. Of course it transcends music. How could it not? Our souls all do, and this one is that of Cash.
Cash at his very finest...sad
Yea, I cried. The world got a little darker when he passed. God bless him.
He changed the world, he touched people, what else could a man of God ask for in life.
I get misty EVERY time I hear it. Especially when watching the video along with it.
Reminds me of Hunter S. Thompson's quotes, "He was one of God's unique prototypes..."
the man in black was no more. something had to get darker.
Respect ❤
"You can have it all, my empire of dirt".
That one line kills me every single time.
I have no idea why.
It's a powerful thing, the idea of spending your whole life building something only to come to the end of it and realise that it's all just things, and what really matters are the people around you and the relationships you've formed and nurtured. We're all just people, we all die, and we can't take anything with us.
The same thought is expressed by Solomon in Ecclesiastes when he says that everything is vanity, meaning worthless. Just as that is a hard book to read, this version of this song is hard to listen to.
me too bro
to have so much to some. i can go home. some dont have a home
when you consider his medical conditions when he sung this song. it makes even more sense. He knows he's dieing soon
The way Johnny Cash sings this song, is exactly how he wanted us to feel it. If that makes sense to anyone but me 😂. Truly heart-felt and emotional
Damn it! I hate crying, but I’m crying now. Also, I think the age, and the rawness and imperfection in his voice is what makes people connect - makes people feel.
I'm a 60 years old combat vet and can't keep a dry eye every time I hear this song. (Version)
thank you for your service!
Salute!
i know the feeling... I am a 68 years old who has been in Iraq, plus the southern sudan and Liberian civil wars... and this song brings on the tears... sad but makes me feel not jaded and human again.
@@levalpat thank you for your service. I hope you have a great day
I can't understand how anyone who loved Johnny's work could possibly not be emotionally gut-shot by this song. And thanks for being tough enough to admit that you cried. Why we're brought up with that "big boys don't cry" BS I'll never know. Thanks for your service Mark.
When Johnny played this recording for his daughter, she said “it sounds like you are saying goodbye”. He responded with “I am”. He knew his time was near, and this was his way to really put a bow on an incredible life and career. No matter how many times I watch this video, the part that always gets me is where he closes and caresses the piano at the end. It wasn’t just him ending the song, Johnny was wrapping up his career and even his life right there.
I don't even have to hear the song anymore to start tearing up 🙃
That gives me chills. I thought he was singing his requiem/his funeral song. Then seeing June looking down on him from the staircase like an angel, foreshadowing her passing before him. It grips me so hard still.
what an honor for trent , wow. i meant tren once and he was such a good guy ...pretty much told these girls thy were being rude becuase he a talking to me and my friend....much respect! that was at the silo in Reading PA!
The look that June gives him at 7:38 is always a gut-punch for me, no matter how many times I see this clip.
I’d even go so far as to say that the piano almost looks like a coffin in some shots with the cover on it. The imagery throughout this video is just, wow.
The added overlay of the piano feels like the clock is ticking and time is running out. RIP Johnny. Hope you’re in a better place with June ❤
His wife, June Carter Cash whom he loved dearly, and was behind him in this video, died shortly after this was produced. And he died shortly after her.
The way he closes the lid of the piano, the same way you close the lid of a coffin, saying goodbye one last time.
From what I hear, he never opened that piano ever again.
That's truly powerful and makes me misty inside.
Also the shot of him as a younger man on stage with the stage lights darkening. Beautiful
@@hobbitpeddler4267
There were all kinds of shots as him younger throughout the video.
@@jbdragon3295 the one at the end when the stage lights are going down.
When his daughter heard his version of the song she told him that it sounded like he was saying goodbye... His reply was "I am." Gives me chills.
...Oof.
Her emotion had me teetering on the edge, this just finished me off. This song never fails to hit where it hurts
Famous producer Rick Rubin went to Johnny's house and they recorded 70 songs. This one was the best. He died a short time later.
I've loved this song since it came out in 2002, and 21 years later, it still makes me cry.
Holy cow it's been 21 years!!! since that song came out. Glad you said that bc it'll be 20 years since his passing
"you don't need to have perfect vocal technique to be a fantastic singer" .. BINGO!
I love aged voices. Louis Armstrong's voice (near the end) was raspy like a box of rocks but it was just so rich. I can appreciate a beautifully vibrant voice but also a seriously aged, distilled voice just the same.
Thom yorke
The thing is, he was old and frail and close to death when he sang this (which certainly aided the emotional impact), but damn, ole' Johnny had a voice like hardly another when he was in his prime.
It’s like how having imperfections in cgi is what makes it more real.
@@IsaacShnow I see your Thom Yorke and raise you a Tom Waits! Ha ha.
One does not react to "Hurt"; one experiences it.
Yes, and she did.
Well Said my friend...You speak the truth here.
I remember when it aired and it was on the radio constantly...don't think I ever once saw someone change the station. It's one of those songs you let take over for a bit and sing it to yourself while your mind drifts throughout the day.
Your unbridled empathy shines through in all of the content you produce.
It is a breath of fresh air in a world that feels to be in a narcissistic race to the bottom.
So thanks 😊
This is easily the most incredible vocal performance I've ever heard in my life. Not for the technique. Not for the melody. Not even for the lyrics. But for the REALNESS. He put his whole self into it once more and for the final time ever, and he knew it while doing it. It was his final goodbye and all he had left was that one song. Only the greatest ever can express themself that way and Johnny was truly one of the greatest ever.
This is his last performance, his wife died soon after and he followed with in a few months, his daughter was at the recording and said it sounds like you are saying good bye, Johnny Cash said "I am"
@UCHrmeDJpRG0chiqr2-CeQIg His wife was June Carter the women behind him in the stair she died soon after the filming of this video after a hearth sugery and Mr Cash followed her after a few month
If you look around TH-cam, you'll find he was performing live almost until the end, well after this was done, and laid down the bones of American V, so it's far from his 'last' performance.
Also hes wife was not meant to be part of the video, she was sleeping up stair and came down during recording. They keeped it in the video for release. Plus the house burned down during renovation after hes death aswell. It really was the end of it all :(
Not true about being his last performance
@@UltraSuperDuperFreak oh my...
Still one of the saddest videos ever. Johnny was a one of a kind.
I absolutely LOVE her facial expressions while she watches this. Pretty much my experience also.
EDIT: I remember I also had to pause a few times the very first time I saw this - perhaps the BEST tear-jerker music video ever made. I was never a NIN fan, but I have started to investigate Trent's band a bit more after this.
Gets me every time.
It is sad, but it is also absolutely beautiful.. when I listen to this, the feeling I feel is old grief. The kind that has had the time to change from overwhelming pain to bittersweetness when the good memories make you smile again..
❤️
@@a_diamond It’s the second chorus of Comfortably Numb x1000.
The man in black had one more in him to send him off to the beyond.
After this came out Trent Reznor said that it was his song now.
I've probably watched half a dozen reaction videos of this song. Everyone is blown away by it.
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails called it an “unbelievably powerful piece of work.”
“I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow,” Reznor said. “[I felt like] 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.”
Gives new meaning!!!
Trent was originally dubious and even a little unhappy, but after he gave it a listen he was definitely impressed.
@@TheDragonsRose The video really helped, too...the video sells the song, and the song sells the video. You really need to experience both to get this cover.
@@jordanwolfson8378 That has nothing to do with what I said. X)
@@TheDragonsRose Uh...yes it does? I'm saying the video helped sway his opinion as well. But ok. Lmao.
The double entendre of a young man struggling with addiction and depression and an old man facing death are incredible. The “old familiar sting” of a needle can mean drug addiction for a young man, medical extension of life for an old man. “Everyone I know goes away” can mean the feeling of driving people away for a young troubled man, or friends dying off as an old man. Just incredible emotions for every generation. I’m not an emotional person but this song makes me tear up.
And the fact that John struggled with addiction himself in his younger years also fits
It helps that Johnny Cash had his fair share of problems with drugs and the like as a younger man.
Johnny also struggled with addiction his whole life. I think he understood the original meaning but added on his past addiction to everything else
@@BigCool95 detimimwthrrv be GP get Ee get
I think if this song does NOT tear you up, you MUST already be dead!
I grew up listening to Johnny Cash with my dad. I have listened to this song hundreds of times over the course of 20 years. But it still gets me every damn time and it only hits harder as I’ve grown older.
Exactly the same here, my dad even sounded so similar to JC when he sung! Every time I hear this I can see dad and feel him and I just cry quietly to myself.
So Liz, no vibratos, no technicalities, just let the music take hold of you, and shared some tears from those beautiful eyes of yours with the rest of us, pure gold, best reaction ever, thank you.
“And you can have it all, my empire of dirt” as the camera shows footage of all the awards he received during his life, as if to say that these, in the end, actually mean nothing. Maybe today’s self absorbed celebrities should take a moment to ponder that very simple statement and image.
Earthly wealth won't matter when we get to Heaven
Not just celebrities but all of us. What really matters?
100% correct
Very true words indeed very thoughtfull.
@@karlkgraff
A celeb that comes to mind that embodies that Cash contemplation is Amy Grant.
A couple more wise souls: Paul Newman, Sandra Bullock, Jay Leno…
The man in black had to hit us hard one last time before he left this world and frankly it caps off an amazing career and life.
Yeah, he decided to cover a Nine Inch Nails song.
@@foolsauce420 - He OWNED a Nine Inch Nails song....
I remember when he died, 99x(alternative rock at the time) in atl was playing hurt.
The man was always a great story teller.
Amen. A true Grand Master of his art.
As I get older, this becomes my anthem more and more...
same brother !!!!
Not a lot of artists get to say goodbye: Chester, Amy Winehouse, MJ. This however felt like the perfect "goodbye" song, it's beautiful.
Trent Reznor, NIN's singer, said about this cover, “I wasn’t prepared for what I saw, and it really then, wasn’t my song anymore.”
You can cover a happy song and nobody will really notice it's not exactly YOUR song. It's different if the song requires a certain emotional charge to it. If you haven't got the lived experience or something relatable, then you'll fail. Empathy alone is not enough on this one.
*as someone else said...Trent was fated to write the song...Johnny Cash was fated to sing it*
Damn i love Reznor. And for him to day something like that is a super big deal !
@@scottmantooth8785 kind of like Nothing compares 2 you...Prince wrote it, Sinead O'Connor sung it......Chris Cornell made it his and IMO is the best version i have ever heqrd opf that song
@@dirtysmity YASS! Also... another good recommendation for this channel.
When he closes the piano and runs his hands over it one final time, knowing what it meant, so powerful and deeply sad.
that power only grows when you hear that the same piano hasn't been opened since.
@@mx.horrorwood5003 Pfff really?! wauw. that is powerful indeed.
several musicians have done the same thing and it is understood as a universal sign of farewell, and, "I'm done". his producers tried to get him to do further performances, and he said no.
Is the power of it is betrayed in the symbolism of the piano. It is supposed to not only be a piano but resemble a coffin or a casket
It hits even harder when youve followed his life and that this was his goodbye
This was Johnny Cash saying goodbye to the world....
Anyone who can listen to Johnny's version of this song without holding back tears has no soul.
i totally agree... trent composes it (without knowing) this for johnny...
:(
This song is my go to "bad day" song
Brings me to tears nearly every time I hear it.
Hoping you haven't heard the way some of NIN's more toxic cult-like fans react in regards to Johnnys version even EXISTING, let alone if it has any quality or the emotions it evokes....they are more protective/obsessive of Trent's work than Trent himself...
He even said something to the effect of "once I heard it I was like wow, I just lost my song..it is now a Johnny Cash song with how he made it his own". You would think with that stamp of approval from the original artist himself, they could at least try and appreciate what was done, and guess what, you are allowed to enjoy both for what they are....but no, I heard some of them literally say stuff like, "that Trent qoute was saying the song aint his anymore cuz he destroyed it and he doesn't want to be associated with it now"......."soulless" you say?
Any way, immature edgelords aside, Johnny took a already great song, and without changing the lyrics(other than a meaningless word change or two) gave the same song a whole new meaning, and the emotional gut punch is the stuff of legends. Both songs are very sad and dark, but for different reasons.
And this is all coming from someone who's closer in age to Trent and able to relate with him being in the dark space of addiction/self destructive impulses, ..plus I'm more of a hard rock/metal fan, more so than a country fan.. but, obviously there will never be another Johnny Cash in the MUSIC industry let alone country artists.. He transcends genres and is timeless. Plus the man he was and the stuff he stood for, with unpopular stances/decisions that could've ended his career, forget just hurt sales... I put him in a very small club of my musical heroes that inspire me with thier music as well as the lives they lead..Bob Marley is another.
I'm only 54, but I know EXACTLY what Johnny is trying to get across by covering this song. It's an existential scream, no matter how quietly sung.
Cash was on Bio one night and his daughter was very upset watching it and said to her dad that it looked like was saying goodbye. To which he replied “I am”.
Don’t go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
53 here - same. But then my family were older than those of my peers' so I watched them get to this point, and got a chance to think about it all, relatively early in my life.
I am right there with ya Tony. Been listening to Cash for a long minute and watched the bio on him and his love for June Carter-Cash. Most of the greats are gone now. That was a great exit song.
He's singing quietly, but that piano, even though it's just one note, is the relentless passing of time that starts quietly but slowly builds until it cannot be ignored.
I love this version. They say to whisper if you want someone to really pay attention. Same kind of thing here. His soft, slow delivery, his age and the public knowledge of his life’s hardships illuminate the lyrics in a way another younger person could not do.
Almost 20 years later, this still hits the feels hard, every. single. time.
Yes it does
Wow.....I thought it released like......5 years ago (when I just reacted to it without thinking at all) . My god my sense of time is terrible =p
It hit me just like it did the first time
Indeed, so many too many artists of generation have followed him. RIP Johnny.
You said it, brother.
Nine Inch Nails’ version expresses the pain and suffering of a young man. Johnny Cash’s expresses the pain and suffering of an old man. Absolutely marvelous.
Agreed ❤
Full circle of life....that's the world we live in, hurt and be hurt, but we all go away in the end.
One of the more amazing aspects of it too is all the choices in the music reflect that too, cash version is a very full song with multiple instruments working in concert to create his version where you can hear the whole chord much more clearly than the NIN version, but the NIN version definitely puts you in the shoes of a hurt confused young man, the way it sounds like reznor is holding everything back the entire performance and just beneath the surface is a cacophony of chaos just waiting to break out, which it does at the end and slowly fades into more chaotic noise, it's absolutely crazy that you can do two drastically different emotions with the exact same song just by re-aranging things and making slightly different choices
I think both encapsulate pain and suffering by way of regret, the rub though is Trent’s version of regret almost seems hopeful because youth can get past it but Johnny, in the winter of his life, carries regret but you know he won’t shake it. Brutal.
Bookends
I listened to this so much when my dad died from cancer. He was 70 when he died so we listened to Johnny a lot when I was growing up.
This song is GORGEOUS! All his pain, is on this song, and HIS voice conveys that!
He did not sing it he lived it. His performance came straight from his soul.
This is no longer a Nine Inch Nails song. Trent made that official and I agree. This is now a Johnny Cash song. Thanks Trent for writing it.
Oh totally. Phenomenal writing. But when I listen to the NIN one now it just doesn’t sound right.
Just incredible.
@@mattjns Both are so powerful in there own right. They are two completely different songs for me just from the intent behind each of them.
@@mattjns no doubt. And I loved the NIN version. Edit: still do love the NIN version, but it's almost like trent wrote this for himself and Johnny. Theres an interesting duality between Trent's and Johnny's interpretation of the song.
It even seems sort of parental as Johnny changes some of the lyrics. Reminds me of when my grandpa would tell me "you don't always have to swear, to get your point across." But growing up on NIN and then appreciating Johnny Cash later in life, seems they channeled the same darkness for inspiration. Definitely Johnnys song now.
The original is good and I love NIN but this one is actually better. Not sure if I'd feel that way without the backdrop of the music video however.
This video played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on a contiuous loop for a while a few years ago, I remember standing in the exhibit with tears streaming down my face more than once. Thank you Mr. Cash for your interpretation of this song, it was nothing short of moving. ❤
I'm 62... Johnny much older and I didn't appreciate him as a younger man. I've heard this a dozen times. I cry every time.
Trent Reznor said in 2005:"this is not my song anymore". Never did anyone leave a final farewell in such a brutally honest way than Cash did with this out of this world cover.
Would you expect anything less from him. He was always 1 of the most brutally honest song writers and performers in the business.
In my opinion, Trent sounds like someone who doesn't want to die jet and Jonny's version feels like he accepts and even welcomes death. Both versions are freaking amazing.
Very well said David. Never thought of it like that before. Awesome observation.
When his daughter heard this song and saw the video she said it's as if you're saying goodbye. He replied "I am."
Trent said it was odd hearing Cash covering his song.
That is a difference of age though. Hard to convince someone in their 20s that they are actually mortal in a lot of cases. It gets a lot different once you cross over into 30s and stuff. I am 40 and feel like a totally different person than just 15 years ago. Cannot imagine what I would feel like if I was 60 instead, or 75
all the stopping then restarting gave me tiny moments of reprieve to clear the tears that had welled up just before a whole new set would come to replace them. the emotional impact of this song and performance, like was mentioned, right from the very beginning, god it's heavy. and i love how I'm equally touched by each artist's performance AND perspective. this song is such a piece of art.
I dare anyone to watch this version and not cry. It makes you feel what he feels.
One of the most emotional songs in the world.
With one of my favorite heroes Mr Johnny Cash!😁👍👍👍
This song got me through some dark times. Hurt always made me feel at peace, all my feeling were spent.
And in my view the best music video ever.
@@bryceyeah9589 Definatly one of the best, atleast....
This and Bowie's Lazarus, man
One year before his death, but only days after learning June was getting worse, so they rushed the recording to be able to have one last trip together. One love.
She was not supposed to be in the video. She was upstairs resting but got worried about Johnny so she came downstairs to check. They caught the moment on film and you can the love, caring and warmth in her face.
@@kmarklandes8630 Yep, those are tears. There are tears here now.
I was working at Tower Records the day Johnny passed and I don't think we played anything except his concert dvds, American IV, and his Best Of cd for 3 months after that. American IV absolutely flew off the shelves and I managed to snag a copy for myself. I remember popping it into my laptop and being absolutely floored by this cover. Rest in peace, Man in Black. o7
I tear up to this song ever time I hear it. I also listen to it about three times back to back. I makes me think of family and friends that have gone and my mistakes I have made in life. Cherish every moment of of your lives , thank you.
Charismatic Voice: "Today I will be reacting to Johnny Cash doing Hurt"
Me: Prepare to have your heart broken"
His Autobiography, Cash, is amazing. He wasn't a perfect man, and he never claimed to be, but he was a good man
@@missron80 Yes, it is actually brilliant.
Every damn time
This is a masterpiece
he recorded this song while in excruciating pain and while knowing his wife June was terminally ill. the day of this video shoot his jaw pain was really bad and June who usually didn't go on set for his videos came downstairs because she was so worried about him and not planning to be in the video. so her expression is real. she passed a few months after this video shoot and Johnny died a few months later.
Yes! That moment in the video (07:37 here, 02:34 in the original video) when June looks down and and watches him is for me perhaps the saddest moment in the video.
Johnny Cash's wife actually died 3 months after this, then he died 4 months after that, medically speaking it was believed it was caused from diabetes, but lots of others think it was heartbreak. Makes this song hit 11 times harder knowing that.
Trent Reznor got served by Johnny Cash. Well done sir, well done.