This song was done by a band called 'Nine Inch Nails' in the mid 90s. After hearing Cash's version the lead singer of Nine Inch Nails said "This isn't my song anymore".
Sevendust did an acoustic version too that is more the same as Cash's version. All of the versions touch the feels in some way. The way Johnny's voice cracks towards the end is straight up soul tearing coz you know he is dying.
His wife looking at him still so in love with him but at the same time knowing how he was having been there for all the crazy their life had been. They were a very very strong couple.
Trent did not cry and in fact was unfazed when he heard it. It wasn't until he saw the video that he appreciated the cover. You can find Trent all over the interwebby thing saying this. 🎸
Trent said the first time he heard it, he didn’t think to much about it. Claiming he may have been distracted by his current projects. But, later learned to really appreciate it. The fact the music can be so beautiful interpreted in a different way.
@@Peanut31788 It was released 6 days before his death in 2003. He was too focused on June dying and then her funeral to put the finishing touches on the video and record.
If this song doesn't just completely rip your heart out and expose your raw nerves, you have neither. It touches us all because we all have regret and shame as we grow older. God knows I certainly do.
THERE IT IS , this was the only "man in black" record I ever bought' definitely well worth the money . WELL DONE , for having the guts to try this on.You go where I go..
Cash was an addict and very vocal about it. I’m proud of all these people for being able to kick any habit. It took me a while with my own demon, but everyone has one.
This song made you cry. If you want to watch a JC song that will make you laugh react to "A Boy Named Sue" or "The One on the Left is On The Right" or "One Piece at a Time". I would love to see you react to any (or all) of those.
The Original Amber Rose truth! My grandparents died exactly 1 month apart from each other - I honestly believe that the following spouses passed from a broken heart and missing their life partner
bacmrl - I hear you, my grandparents passed away 16 days apart from each other. After 64 years of marriage they were not having life without each other.
when I was a child, living in Cottontown Tennessee, Johnny Cash would drive by our house in a long black car, I think it was a Lincoln, and wave at my Brother and I as we played in the yard. It was the coolest thing in the world.
His wife June passed away 3 months after this song was released, he passed away 7 months after she passed, June is the one on the stairs, she was coming down to check on him during the recording and the director kept it in
Oops, my bad....I thought she had already passed and they added her in. Possibly she passed before they released it, but I remembered noting how soon he followed.
The video was recorded in February of 2003. His daughter, on seeing a preview of the video, said to him it sounded like he was saying goodbye, he replied that he was. June Carter Cash, his 2nd wife, is the woman sat on the stairs in the video; also a singer in her own right who toured with him and sang with him on several songs. She had come down to check on her husband that day as his health was declining. June Carter Cash passed away a few months after the video recording in May of 2003 and a bereaved Johnny Cash followed her a few months later in the September.
The song is by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and is about his battle with addiction and depression. Cash also an addict and alcoholic for much of his early life, spending time in Jail on half a dozen occasions for possession. The song encompasses the way both musicians life threads are woven together and entangled across the decades between them, so much so that Trent when he saw the video said it was like loosing his Girlfriend, as the song had become Johnny's. Johnny was a campaigner for prison reform and the rights of Native Americans and much of his material reflected his own passions and darker past. It was June that Cash attributed to rescuing him from his drug and Alcohol addiction a theme of the song. Carter is the person played by Reese Witherspoon alongside Joaquin Phoenix, in the biopic of them: Walk the line. Johnny Cash's star had declined in the 80s and the Museum to his life with the smashed Gold Disk on the Floor, used as one of the backdrops to the video, ended up being shuttered. In the 1990s Rick Rubin and American Recordings more of a Rap, Punk and Metal label sought Cash to record for their label, and offered Cash complete artistic freedom. With them his career revived and he brought out his most critically acclaimed albums, the America series, bringing Cash to a new younger audience; starring on The Simpsons and Headlining at Glastonbury in 1994. The 4th and penultimate album of the America series from which this is one of several Hit Singles: American IV: The Man Comes Around, You may recognise the Title Track too, was released in November of 2002, and he was still working on his final Album right up to the end and that was released posthumously.
What a great summary, Ian. I knew much, if not most, of it, but I am sure others did not. I remember watching a documentary on this version of the song with interviews with Reznor and others. I also saw Walk the Line, which I thought was great. I agree with so many comments here. The song was powerful in the hands of NIN and Reznor, and reached a new level of intimacy when sung by, and superimposed over, Cash and his storied life. That June and he passed shortly after this recording and release only adds to the gravitas and urban legend of this song and this entertainer.
This was Johnny's goodbye letter to us, so to speak. As the video ended, I was touched by the finality of him closing the lid on the keyboard. The man certainly made his mark, and he was a man of parts. It really touched me too, June in the video, watching him in sadness, knowing he was near the end. RIP Johnny. I'm sure Heaven's choir found a great spot for you, Sir. For the record, he had a few far happier songs, notably "Boy Named Sue." :) LXB
As a father, my oldest is near your age, I’m so proud of you for opening your mind and expanding your knowledge. We need more of this in the world. Well done.
For the longest time I couldn't listen to this and watch his video without bawling like a baby, and I'm a 36year old construction worker. He may not have written this song bit he certainly understood it deeply.
This song hits SO damn hard. Its puts a knot in my throat everytime. The realization that life is limited and no matter what you have you can sell it for more time. So powerful
“You live life forward and understand it backwards.” A broken man singing about a life full of regret. When he closes the piano at the end, it’s like he knew that would be his last time touching one.
Others probably already commented, but some things about this video. The first older woman in the photograph is Johnny's mother. They were sharecroppers living in that little white house in the video and he sang gospel songs with his mother as they picked cotton. That's how he learned to sing. The second woman you see (who is also behind him on the stairs) is his wife, June. She dies shortly thereafter. Johnny probably knew she was dying which adds to the pain of him saying everyone he knows goes away in the end. He died shortly after she did. She definitely was his soulmate. The flood waters they show alludes to a flood that hit their home and his father saved them by putting them on the door to float away. There are no pictures in the video but one of his great tragedies that stayed with him was the death of his older brother whom his dad favored and Johnny was close to himself. His brother was working in a sawmill as a child and Johnny took off to go fishing. The saw came loose and cut his brother in the chest. His father tracked him down and Johnny saw his brother die of the wound. His father told him he wished it had been him who died. The guilt of taking off to fish while his brother was injured never left him. He suffered from addiction and destroyed his first marriage with that and infidelities. This song is originally about addiction so Johnny knows about that and the pain it causes. He also knows about hurting himself just to see if he can feel. I think a bit part of the regret you hear in his voice isn't just for his own life, but the fact that he wished he could have left the world a better place than he found it. A lot of his music is about protest and social awareness of issues. One of his first songs is Folsom Prison Blues and it talks about the loneliness and hopelessness of prisoners. He would go on to perform in prisons. He was a big advocate for Native American causes. He once fought the KKK because the media went after his first wife and children calling them mongrels. Johnny went after them. He fought for veterans and against the Vietnam war. He dressed in black just to call attention to all the poor and the beaten down. There is so much to Johnny that people should know. He was woke before woke was used. He used his platform before that was a thing especially in country music. And he never, ever backed down. When his producers didn't want him to perform in prisons because they thought it would offend his Christian listeners, he said, "Well they ain't Christians then." He carried the pain of the world on him and this video shows it. You should listen to God's Gonna Cut You Down. That's his last video. That is Johnny telling the world they better wake up one last time. It's powerful.
Adrian Fuentes Yes song about heroine for 9 inch nails , Cash had a way of taking songs he related to and making them his and making people feel what he was feeling .
@@TOOSUSHI Hey Sushi. 😁 That house was his childhood home. They were living there when his elder brother (his father's favourite) passed in a horrific accident, as a teen. That marked him always. His mood is dark, tormented, yet also it's about his 'salvation'. That's what a lot of the imagery is about. Offering it all up.
When i heard it the 1st time it felt like someone trying to get to grips with mortality. Now I hear a song of a person whos pushing people away and hoping for death. The physical pain is a reminder hes still around. He hates what hes become, bitter at the world thats left him behind. His wife in the video died not long after they filmed the video. Johnny Cash died within a year after.
@@jonathanbouthillette753 credit to the writers as its interpretation for me changed with the voice of Carson. His death was impending just as an addicts death would be. From what ive read elsewhere it doesnt sound right being sung by anyone else
The feeling that everyone gets is that they realize this is a Dirge. A dirge is a lament for the dead, especially one forming part of a funeral rite. Johnny was saying goodbye.
You know, Cash got big, right when, movies, and, really recording lives was becoming a thing. He lived much of his life in that lime light. Of course it’s sad that he’s passed, but, near the end, he was able to part with not just a “bye”, it was a peek into his entire life. You get to see him. His accomplishments. His regrets. His love. Everything. I think he may be, the first genuine, larger than life artist who had that. He grew up in front of the camera and went out that same way. Such a huge, genuine respect for Cash. Guy is the epitome of legendary.
Interesting story during the filming of this, June came down because she was worried about him, the director told her to stay and watch when she was going to leave. Her reactions are genuine, she could see the pain he was in from everything he was going through. This video is such a heartbreaking tribute to an icon.
What you're feeling is profound sorrow. This is an old man and the end of his life, reflecting on that life and saying goodbye. The older you get, the more heartbreaking it becomes.
Reznor wrote the song from a very dark place, it feels bitter and brittle. Cash re-imagined it, writing it as a old man reflecting back on a lifetime of joy, sorrow and regret. It becomes reflective and more bittersweet.
@@fuisharu I dunno Id Go that far. but I will tell you, as an old dude that pretty well blew it, live well now. There are no do overs. We all know that, but boy it sure comes home when your looking @ way less years ahead than behind.
@@brokencage9723 I know, but when you look at Jhonny's eyes, it seems like "why I'm still alive, while everything that what I want to apologize for is gone, why I did that thing in the past, and now I regret it while I still alive" wait, I'm the one who is in the wrong path here
June helped him fight his drug addiction, if it wasn't for her he would have died long ago. This song is his pain from his past and his wife June passing...
Taryn H Actually it was June's mother May Belle Carter that made him kick the drugs. He made him stay with her until he was better. They read the Bible a lot.
@@scottpace4335 I read the original comment and doesn't aay anything about him writing it. It says something about his interpretation of the song and what it was for Johnny..that is it..maybd you should read the comment??
Some of the backstory told in an interview before his death. That song was written by the group... 9 inch nails. Johnny Cash made it his goodbye song to his family/fans. June Carter Cash his wife was in the video. The picture on the mantel was his Mom. Many of those scenes were highlights of a well lived life. The pain in the song referred to his struggles with pain killers due to physical ailments. He was addressing his issues with addiction and how it affected his relationships. Johnny Cash was a religious man, and was concerned about his judgement day... scenes of Christ on the Cross. His voice, his songs made him a legend. Although beyond all the fame he was well aware of his human frailties. I think you would also like Matt Cardle singing... The first time I ever saw your face by Roberta Flack performed on the X factor. Very different energy than this song but a performance to remember.
If I ever became an actor, and needed to make myself cry for a scene, I'd just think of this song. Haunting. Sushi's facial reactions, especially early on, are exactly mine. Fighting the emotions.
Seven years ago, I was driving to my hometown to say goodbye to my grandmother on her deathbed. As I hit the city limites, this song came on the radio. I had to pull over and have a good cry before heading on to the hospital.
Johnny Cash had the ability to touch the heart in a way that few singers could. He sang with pain, soul, mercy, and empathy. He overcame much in life and had one true love after God, his wife. He was a Christian and dedicated much time to prison ministry.
The fact that this was johnny’s way to say, “I lived a good one even though it was hell and now it’s time to say goodbye” just sinks your heart to know he knew he wasn’t going to make it longer and wanted to part on his terms with us
"I'll fly a star-ship across the Universe divide, And when I reach the other side. I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can. Perhaps I may become a highwayman again. Or I may simply be a single drop of rain. But I will remain. And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again...." - Johnny Cash - The Highwaymen."
@@vtrmcs She did. She wasn't supposed to be in the video, but she came downstairs to see what was taking so long. They asked if they could film her as well and she agreed.
The feeling you had come over you is the result of a true artist connecting with the song he's singing and the power that comes from that! It truly is magical what these artists do!
The song speaks to all the atrocities we as a human being are capable of inflicting on our loved ones and ourselves. He was hopelessly devoted to the woman he did so wrong for so many years. He made this song not long before he passed away.
Backstory: Johnny Cash did drugs when he was younger, he even overdosed and would have died if not for the woman at the end of the video. June Carter. After he ODed, he turned his life around and married June until they both died. June Carter died a month or two after Hurt came out. Johnny followed not half a year later. Hurt was about when he was young and how it nearly cost him everything, his life with June most importantly. At least, I believe so. It is also a cover from NIN but even they said he did it better.
To really appreciate this video, it helps if you know his struggles with addiction and going to prison, his suffering amid his fame, his deep love for his wife, and his rare and unconventional willingness to work with a wide artists from a wide range of genres.
This entire album is a masterpiece, a dying mans life in song. Johnny borrowed this from Trent Reznor and after hearing it.. Trent said it was Johny Cash's song now
It was originally written as a song about drug addiction. Johnny Cash had had his own problems with addiction in the 1960s, so he understood exactly where it was coming from. But in his hands the song also became about an old man confronting his own mortality, and looking back over the things he regretted in his life...Just look a the video, contrasting the present-day old man Johnny with the shots of him when he was young and strong and in his prime. Every time I see this, that last shot of him closing the cover on the piano makes me think of someone closing the lid on a coffin.
I'm new to the whole reaction video thing, but gotta say I love how you show true real emotion watching these videos. This particular song always hits me in the feels because even though Trent Reznor wrote it for Nine Inch Nails once Johnny covered it, it was like it was written for him. His story is so crazy with drugs and alcohol and all kinds of tragedy that it just felt like his anthem. Truly one of the greatest musicians who ever lived, and his rendition of this song was just further confirmation that his reason for being was to make music. He gave a voice to anyone that ever felt like a misfit and a screwup and let us know we weren't alone. The epitome of a legend, and he is dearly missed.
The old expression: "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all" is particularly apropos here. I watched this video and I feel pain for him and for my own life experiences. Life is wonderfully painful, joyful, full of incredibly good experiences and heartbreaking ones as well. I love, I hate, I am loved and hated. I've had my heart broken, I've broken a few. Life if dirty, uncoordinated and without order...but the most amazing gift.
And then I felt sad because I realized that once people are broken in certain ways, they can't ever be fixed, and this is something nobody ever tells you when you are young and it never fails to surprise you as you grow older as you see the people in your life break one by one. You wonder when your turn is going to be, or if it's already happened. ~ Douglas Coupland
When the alpha wolf knows it's time is coming. It leaves the pack and finds a place to die with grace and dignity. It was just his time and he did it the best way he could. Rip Johnny Cash.
The song “ HURT “ is originally from the band call - NINE INCH NAILS - they wrote the song they was known for their 1990 Rock Punk band and their take of this song is much HARDER, filled with ANGER, VILANT PAIN... Now the iconic Mr. Johnny Cash did a slower emanational hunting Western rendition of the song which Mr. CASH could relate too the song for his life was coming to its full circle. You see Mr. Cash was is known for the hard man in Black and didn’t give a Fuck Westin performer with the DARK SONGS as well. When I first seen this video of Mr. Cash doing his rendition of the song “ HURT “ I knew this may be the last time we will see this great iconic Westin song writer singer and actor again. You see being an EMPATH I could sense Mr. Cash was Dyeing... He could relate so much to the lyrics of that song for he lived a rough life with no apologies behind his actions. In his own way Mr. Cash was fighting against the system that time which kept a good man down or that would keep a poor cold miners son longing to not follow in his fathers lead in an Honest Man’s dirty job and lifeless wages. I knew shortly after this video MR. JOHNY CASH would be dead... This was Mr. Cash respectively his last Swan song. They don’t make most musicians and songwriters like this anymore God bless him and love him, may the lord keep his soul closest to the HEAVENS....
This video was filmed in February of 2003 June died in May of 2003, she is literally in the music video standing behind her husband gazing at him. Johnny died in September of 2003 7 months after the video and 4 months after his wife
That feeling is called... Gravitas! He's talking about dodging emotions, drowning emotional responsibility (alcohol & pills) and pretending that fame makes anyone exempt from reality (hiding behind an image)... that's why, in the end, he says, "I would keep myself. I would find a way."
When he had his hands on the piano, the piano looked like a coughin. He knew he was enterting a knew experience, wanting to say goodbye. Rest in further existence my friend!
Its his eulogy. June died soon after this and she was his heart and soul, and he did 4 months later. You see his epic life and loss in the video. From a big strapping star to frail old man. His family deaths, losing his childhood home, when they flooded the valley to put everyone on the electrical grid, even that museum... it burnt down right after he died.
You remember how he, no matter how big a star he became, always introduced himself by saying, "hello, I'm Johnny Cash"? I've always felt like this song & video was his way of saying, "I'm Johnny Cash. Goodbye." Like he knew the end was coming soon. In closing, fraternal greetings to you from the Master, Wardens & members of Mt. Hermon Lodge #118, AF&AM in Asheville, NC. Sincerely, John Collins, P.M. Chaplain of the Lodge
This song was done by a band called 'Nine Inch Nails' in the mid 90s. After hearing Cash's version the lead singer of Nine Inch Nails said "This isn't my song anymore".
I remember Trent saying that... But i like both versions
Sevendust did an acoustic version too that is more the same as Cash's version. All of the versions touch the feels in some way. The way Johnny's voice cracks towards the end is straight up soul tearing coz you know he is dying.
There is no doubt that even though Trent reznor wrote this song, it is a complete embodiment of Johnny Cash's life
@@JeffreyHead1 I didn't know that but that's the next thing I'm looking up! Thank you
And...like...like...like she has ..like no idea..like
His daughters watched it, with him, and started to cry. They said “Dad it’s like your saying goodbye.” He said...”I am.”
Wow
really?
😭😭😭
Why must you make me cry? I didn’t feel like doing that right now.
deep down when we all heard this, he was saying "good bye"
Trent Reznor is quoted as saying “I was born to write it. But Johnny was born to sing it”.
first time I heard Johnny sing it I balled like a baby.
Trent said it was like seeing an ex that you love with someone that you know was better for them than you.
Beautiful song! Terrific song writing by Trent! You can feel Johnny's emotions! So amazing!
I cry every time I hear this one trents version and Johnny's im not sure which one is more powerful
@@Renaldo135 I did too man, that shit hurt my feelings
That feeling was a dying man singing his last song.
Oof, so true tho. This is the fist song I've heard that made me "feel" music... it blew my childhood brain
Spot on! heart broken and alone in an ugly world
I was going to say compassion. An instant connection with someone you don't know about something that we all have to go through. Powerful.
It was a dying man who had already lost everyone else.
Its too bad he's a legend and if only he didnt pass away cause i wish he could make more music
When he closed the Piano case, the way he did it he knew that the end was near.
His hands caressing the lid, like hands on a coffin - saying goodbye. :(
It's clearly a farewell to a dear friend. That broke me.
His wife looking at him still so in love with him but at the same time knowing how he was having been there for all the crazy their life had been. They were a very very strong couple.
Michael Nicholson yes, saying a final goodbye, damn.
Nails could never play it again after hearing Cash do it and after he passed. I think he knew his time was near.
Trent cried hearing Johnny do his tune. Note to musicians, if Johnny does your song.. it’s his song now.
This comment made me smile. So true.
Unless you’re the Beatles
Kinda like Kurt Cobain.. once he covers ur song, it’s his too
Trent did not cry and in fact was unfazed when he heard it. It wasn't until he saw the video that he appreciated the cover. You can find Trent all over the interwebby thing saying this. 🎸
Trent said the first time he heard it, he didn’t think to much about it. Claiming he may have been distracted by his current projects. But, later learned to really appreciate it. The fact the music can be so beautiful interpreted in a different way.
When he closes the piano at the end, it’s like he knew that would be his last time touching one.
Almost like closing a casket.
Ya I always thought him closing the piano lid at the end was extremely symbolic
damnit man im to drunk for this
That's how I see too.
It gets to me every time I see it..
What he did to you emotionally with this song is why he is a legend.
If your asking this question, you're in the wrong place.😤
@@jaysonkrueger8425 There was no question asked.....???
@@jaysonkrueger8425 you read the comment wrong bud
@@jaysonkrueger8425 ah what are you talking about?
Truth
I’m 65 years old and this makes me tear up every time. I love the reaction, you get it.
Hope you're doing good. Lots of love. 🙏
Same age. This reminds me of my dad who was a big old country music fan (think Grand Ole Opry) and gave me my first introduction to Johnny Cash.
Not the same age, but same reaction.
This is Johnny Cash's last music video. His wife June Carter Cash died and he joined her in death a few months later.
he literally died of heartbreak
She was his reason... 💔
He said it a few times, he was going to meet June
i'm pretty sure we all know this
This is a cover from lead singer from Nine Inch Nails.
June was dying, even with his millions Johnny could not save her. He died soon after.
He died 6 days after the release of that video
Your Statement in this context whether you realize it or not explains love in its best way... No amount of money could save her and he knew it.
@@Peanut31788 It was recorded in 2002, the video and single was released in March of 2003, 6 months before he died.
@@Peanut31788 It was released 6 days before his death in 2003. He was too focused on June dying and then her funeral to put the finishing touches on the video and record.
June had already passed when he did this.
When Trent Reznor heard Johnny Cash's rendition, he proclaimed that the song was no longer his. It belonged to Johnny Cash.
His daughter said to Johnny that she felt like he was saying goodbye with this song. He replied that he was.
Because he was saging goodbye
Johnny Cash is not like a legend. The man IS a legend.
Greetingz Exactly
nah. The legend IS JC
He's not A legend...he is THE LEGEND.
If this song doesn't just completely rip your heart out and expose your raw nerves, you have neither.
It touches us all because we all have regret and shame as we grow older.
God knows I certainly do.
We all do brother.....not all are will to admit it or own it
yep, we all do..
Written by Trent Reznor about his heroin addiction; Cash made it a life's reflection. Both songs are awesome and haunting in their own ways
Nine inch nails
Trent is NiN
THERE IT IS , this was the only "man in black" record I ever bought' definitely well worth the money . WELL DONE , for having the guts to try this on.You go where I go..
Perfect explanation...johnny was a fucking dude.
And trent is a genius for the lyrics..
She did the original literally a week before this one and she didn't even recognise the melody or the lyrics.
It’s a Nine Inch Nails song about being a heroin addicted and hurting people around you. When Johnny redid it it took on a whole new meaning.
Trent Reznor has admitted that it isn't his song anymore.
@Dave Taskjust not heroin in Johnny's case.
Cash was an addict and very vocal about it. I’m proud of all these people for being able to kick any habit. It took me a while with my own demon, but everyone has one.
This became HIS swan song, his exit!
Johnny Cash knew about addition alright.
Johnny is a legend because he was a master storyteller. He had the unique ability to make you feel every single note.
If this doesn’t touch your heart, you are already dead.
kevw mobile Exactly.
So well said and spoken...
kevw mobile yes could not have put those words better myself
This song made you cry. If you want to watch a JC song that will make you laugh react to "A Boy Named Sue" or "The One on the Left is On The Right" or "One Piece at a Time". I would love to see you react to any (or all) of those.
Or very young and or very very lucky.
Everyone knew.. when June passed.. Johnny was going soon.. this was his goodbye .
The Original Amber Rose truth! My grandparents died exactly 1 month apart from each other - I honestly believe that the following spouses passed from a broken heart and missing their life partner
bacmrl - I hear you, my grandparents passed away 16 days apart from each other. After 64 years of marriage they were not having life without each other.
Broken heart syndrome
this is a Nine Inch Nails song. Johnny is covering it
@@aedryk
When he heard this version, he said it was Johnny's song now.
when I was a child, living in Cottontown Tennessee, Johnny Cash would drive by our house in a long black car, I think it was a Lincoln, and wave at my Brother and I as we played in the yard. It was the coolest thing in the world.
His wife June passed away 3 months after this song was released, he passed away 7 months after she passed, June is the one on the stairs, she was coming down to check on him during the recording and the director kept it in
Like a true man he followed her. Couldn't stay without his heart.
She was his everything, his literal saving grace, I'm sure that woman meant more than the world to him
4 months👍
Oops, my bad....I thought she had already passed and they added her in. Possibly she passed before they released it, but I remembered noting how soon he followed.
June died May 15, 2003. Johnny died September 12, 2003
The video was recorded in February of 2003. His daughter, on seeing a preview of the video, said to him it sounded like he was saying goodbye, he replied that he was. June Carter Cash, his 2nd wife, is the woman sat on the stairs in the video; also a singer in her own right who toured with him and sang with him on several songs. She had come down to check on her husband that day as his health was declining. June Carter Cash passed away a few months after the video recording in May of 2003 and a bereaved Johnny Cash followed her a few months later in the September.
The song is by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and is about his battle with addiction and depression. Cash also an addict and alcoholic for much of his early life, spending time in Jail on half a dozen occasions for possession. The song encompasses the way both musicians life threads are woven together and entangled across the decades between them, so much so that Trent when he saw the video said it was like loosing his Girlfriend, as the song had become Johnny's. Johnny was a campaigner for prison reform and the rights of Native Americans and much of his material reflected his own passions and darker past.
It was June that Cash attributed to rescuing him from his drug and Alcohol addiction a theme of the song. Carter is the person played by Reese Witherspoon alongside Joaquin Phoenix, in the biopic of them: Walk the line.
Johnny Cash's star had declined in the 80s and the Museum to his life with the smashed Gold Disk on the Floor, used as one of the backdrops to the video, ended up being shuttered.
In the 1990s Rick Rubin and American Recordings more of a Rap, Punk and Metal label sought Cash to record for their label, and offered Cash complete artistic freedom. With them his career revived and he brought out his most critically acclaimed albums, the America series, bringing Cash to a new younger audience; starring on The Simpsons and Headlining at Glastonbury in 1994. The 4th and penultimate album of the America series from which this is one of several Hit Singles: American IV: The Man Comes Around, You may recognise the Title Track too, was released in November of 2002, and he was still working on his final Album right up to the end and that was released posthumously.
Oh.. they sang together all the time ... they toured together.. she was the love of his life..
What a great summary, Ian. I knew much, if not most, of it, but I am sure others did not. I remember watching a documentary on this version of the song with interviews with Reznor and others. I also saw Walk the Line, which I thought was great. I agree with so many comments here. The song was powerful in the hands of NIN and Reznor, and reached a new level of intimacy when sung by, and superimposed over, Cash and his storied life. That June and he passed shortly after this recording and release only adds to the gravitas and urban legend of this song and this entertainer.
@@connieb4372 She was way more famous than he when they met. I'm not a country music person, and even I remember the Carter family.
She came from the "Carter Family" legends in the southern music. Bluegrass, Country all of it.
Thanks for the scoop, it made me very sad.
The proper reaction to this song is to ugly cry.
Damn right man
I'll post reply when done crying
“You live life forward and understand it backwards.”
Gladdic Saddic I’m not sure, but I have a close friend and mentor who says it all the time. It’s such a true statement.
As we get older you understand exactly what that quote means.
So true
Wow! ...just wow! Love this quote.
“Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards”-Kierkegaard
This was Johnny's goodbye letter to us, so to speak. As the video ended, I was touched by the finality of him closing the lid on the keyboard. The man certainly made his mark, and he was a man of parts. It really touched me too, June in the video, watching him in sadness, knowing he was near the end. RIP Johnny. I'm sure Heaven's choir found a great spot for you, Sir. For the record, he had a few far happier songs, notably "Boy Named Sue." :)
LXB
It was the rare occurrence of a legend being in the position to write their own eulogy.
As a father, my oldest is near your age, I’m so proud of you for opening your mind and expanding your knowledge. We need more of this in the world. Well done.
Johnny didn't die he went home I'll see him again one day.
Home as in to heaven? He sure had the voice of an angel.
Why no matter what the video is someone has to bring politics into it
For the longest time I couldn't listen to this and watch his video without bawling like a baby, and I'm a 36year old construction worker. He may not have written this song bit he certainly understood it deeply.
I still can't listen to it without crying.
ill never be able to listen to this without crying. his emotional gesture in this song is so deep, its like saying goodbye. its so deep
Why did you say 36 like we old!
About to turn 37 in a couple weeks. I watch this to cry. I do drywall.
This song hits SO damn hard. Its puts a knot in my throat everytime. The realization that life is limited and no matter what you have you can sell it for more time. So powerful
He had so much pain, he had to put it somewhere before he left. So he put in this song. Now he can rest.
“You live life forward and understand it backwards.”
A broken man singing about a life full of regret.
When he closes the piano at the end, it’s like he knew that would be his last time touching one.
Others probably already commented, but some things about this video. The first older woman in the photograph is Johnny's mother. They were sharecroppers living in that little white house in the video and he sang gospel songs with his mother as they picked cotton. That's how he learned to sing. The second woman you see (who is also behind him on the stairs) is his wife, June. She dies shortly thereafter. Johnny probably knew she was dying which adds to the pain of him saying everyone he knows goes away in the end. He died shortly after she did. She definitely was his soulmate.
The flood waters they show alludes to a flood that hit their home and his father saved them by putting them on the door to float away.
There are no pictures in the video but one of his great tragedies that stayed with him was the death of his older brother whom his dad favored and Johnny was close to himself. His brother was working in a sawmill as a child and Johnny took off to go fishing. The saw came loose and cut his brother in the chest. His father tracked him down and Johnny saw his brother die of the wound. His father told him he wished it had been him who died. The guilt of taking off to fish while his brother was injured never left him.
He suffered from addiction and destroyed his first marriage with that and infidelities. This song is originally about addiction so Johnny knows about that and the pain it causes. He also knows about hurting himself just to see if he can feel.
I think a bit part of the regret you hear in his voice isn't just for his own life, but the fact that he wished he could have left the world a better place than he found it. A lot of his music is about protest and social awareness of issues. One of his first songs is Folsom Prison Blues and it talks about the loneliness and hopelessness of prisoners. He would go on to perform in prisons. He was a big advocate for Native American causes. He once fought the KKK because the media went after his first wife and children calling them mongrels. Johnny went after them. He fought for veterans and against the Vietnam war. He dressed in black just to call attention to all the poor and the beaten down.
There is so much to Johnny that people should know. He was woke before woke was used. He used his platform before that was a thing especially in country music. And he never, ever backed down. When his producers didn't want him to perform in prisons because they thought it would offend his Christian listeners, he said, "Well they ain't Christians then."
He carried the pain of the world on him and this video shows it. You should listen to God's Gonna Cut You Down. That's his last video. That is Johnny telling the world they better wake up one last time. It's powerful.
don't use the word woke in relation to johnny cash those woke fucker are straight savages.
4:10 He is not talking about cuting himself. "The needle tears a hole
, The old familiar sting" - he is talking about drugs, addiction.
1:26 its litteraly the very first words in this song but yes what you quoted is about his addiction
He is talking about why he is addicted
Adrian Fuentes Yes song about heroine for 9 inch nails , Cash had a way of taking songs he related to and making them his and making people feel what he was feeling .
Good to see you are opening up to all kinds of music.
Thanks Neb
@@TOOSUSHI
Hey Sushi. 😁
That house was his childhood home. They were living there when his elder brother (his father's favourite) passed in a horrific accident, as a teen. That marked him always.
His mood is dark, tormented, yet also it's about his 'salvation'. That's what a lot of the imagery is about. Offering it all up.
This song is so powerful I'm not going to lie almost every time I hear brings a tear to my eye
The woman is his wife, June. She died three months of heart disease after this video. That broke Johnny to pieces, and he died soon after.
June died on the operating table during surgery..
When i heard it the 1st time it felt like someone trying to get to grips with mortality. Now I hear a song of a person whos pushing people away and hoping for death. The physical pain is a reminder hes still around. He hates what hes become, bitter at the world thats left him behind.
His wife in the video died not long after they filmed the video. Johnny Cash died within a year after.
neemo23571 wow thanks for explaining this
And the Nine Inch Nails version Trent Reznor wrote it about his heroin addiction
Don't forget he also did struggle with his own addiction
Johnny died 4 months after June
June Died May 15th 2003, Johnny died September 12th 2003, both died 7 months after this video was made
@@jonathanbouthillette753 credit to the writers as its interpretation for me changed with the voice of Carson. His death was impending just as an addicts death would be. From what ive read elsewhere it doesnt sound right being sung by anyone else
The feeling that everyone gets is that they realize this is a Dirge. A dirge is a lament for the dead, especially one forming part of a funeral rite. Johnny was saying goodbye.
You know, Cash got big, right when, movies, and, really recording lives was becoming a thing. He lived much of his life in that lime light. Of course it’s sad that he’s passed, but, near the end, he was able to part with not just a “bye”, it was a peek into his entire life. You get to see him. His accomplishments. His regrets. His love. Everything. I think he may be, the first genuine, larger than life artist who had that.
He grew up in front of the camera and went out that same way.
Such a huge, genuine respect for Cash.
Guy is the epitome of legendary.
To me, the closing of the piano was ending it all.
To me its reminiscent of someone closing a casket.
symbolically yes
Your reaction is so genuine. You had me in tears. So well explained. You rock man!
Interesting story during the filming of this, June came down because she was worried about him, the director told her to stay and watch when she was going to leave. Her reactions are genuine, she could see the pain he was in from everything he was going through. This video is such a heartbreaking tribute to an icon.
Breaks my heart
And it's the "edited" version. The original cut was even more heartbreaking, so they cut out some things.
You need to watch the movie about him. “Walk the line.” You will understand where that feeling comes from more. The man is a legend.
A true legend
That movie was awful. His own daughter, Rosanne Cash, can't stand it .
@@kennyo6582 I agree it sucked . Even his son said it was made up crap to make his dad look bad .
I love how you allow yourself to feel. Truly. And share that with us. You are brave in your vulnerability. And it is beautiful.
Sweetheart - your honest admiration and respect as a young girl for a song like this matches the quality of this man and his songs.
This was Johnny's bow out of this earth. Thanks Trent for making a song for Johnny without realizing you were.
What you're feeling is profound sorrow. This is an old man and the end of his life, reflecting on that life and saying goodbye. The older you get, the more heartbreaking it becomes.
John was old school, he walked the walk and talked the talk. The man was a genious. Miss him....
This song says to me, "we spend our youth busy acquiring wealth, then we spend our later years trying to claw back our youth.
Great comment! With all of the money in the world, you cannot buy back youth.
This is Johnny Cash saying good by. Is this showing us all how somber things are in the end. "Rejoice oh young man in the youth"
Reznor wrote the song from a very dark place, it feels bitter and brittle. Cash re-imagined it, writing it as a old man reflecting back on a lifetime of joy, sorrow and regret. It becomes reflective and more bittersweet.
End of life regrets are hard yo.
They sho are
yea, it seems if dead is a better wish than still alive with a lot of regret
@@fuisharu I dunno Id Go that far. but I will tell you, as an old dude that pretty well blew it, live well now. There are no do overs. We all know that, but boy it sure comes home when your looking @ way less years ahead than behind.
@@brokencage9723 I know, but when you look at Jhonny's eyes, it seems like "why I'm still alive, while everything that what I want to apologize for is gone, why I did that thing in the past, and now I regret it while I still alive" wait, I'm the one who is in the wrong path here
You might want to listen to "Time" by Pink Floyd.
johnny's cover is so soul tearing because he knows he was dying...this is his goodbye message to humanity.
June helped him fight his drug addiction, if it wasn't for her he would have died long ago. This song is his pain from his past and his wife June passing...
Taryn H Actually it was June's mother May Belle Carter that made him kick the drugs. He made him stay with her until he was better. They read the Bible a lot.
Wrong. He didn't write this song. It's a nine inch nails song from their Downward spiral album plus June Cash is in the video stand right behind him.
scott pace no one said he wrote it...
@@ASwish01 Read the original comment
@@scottpace4335 I read the original comment and doesn't aay anything about him writing it. It says something about his interpretation of the song and what it was for Johnny..that is it..maybd you should read the comment??
Johnny Cash was one of Americas greatest singers. He's in the Country, Gospel, and Rock n' Roll halls of fame.
Like a legend, iconic for the very first time, like a leeeeegend, with a talent that's hard to find.
She was immediately zoned into the song.
Yeah, it'll do that to you.
The woman on the stairs was June Carter. She passed away 3 months after the filming of this video.
June passed first, and four months later he passed away
Some of the backstory told in an interview before his death. That song was written by the group... 9 inch nails. Johnny Cash made it his goodbye song to his family/fans. June Carter Cash his wife was in the video. The picture on the mantel was his Mom. Many of those scenes were highlights of a well lived life. The pain in the song referred to his struggles with pain killers due to physical ailments. He was addressing his issues with addiction and how it affected his relationships. Johnny Cash was a religious man, and was concerned about his judgement day... scenes of Christ on the Cross. His voice, his songs made him a legend. Although beyond all the fame he was well aware of his human frailties.
I think you would also like Matt Cardle singing... The first time I ever saw your face by Roberta Flack performed on the X factor. Very different energy than this song but a performance to remember.
Johnny Cash has always used songs to tell stories. Most of the stories are hard and raw and he was a master at it.
If I ever became an actor, and needed to make myself cry for a scene, I'd just think of this song. Haunting. Sushi's facial reactions, especially early on, are exactly mine. Fighting the emotions.
Johnny Cash is THE Greatest Country Artist of all time......He is in the Country....Rock&Roll, and Song Writers Hall of Fame.
Seven years ago, I was driving to my hometown to say goodbye to my grandmother on her deathbed. As I hit the city limites, this song came on the radio. I had to pull over and have a good cry before heading on to the hospital.
This is one of the many reasons why he is a legend.
Johnny Cash had the ability to touch the heart in a way that few singers could. He sang with pain, soul, mercy, and empathy. He overcame much in life and had one true love after God, his wife. He was a Christian and dedicated much time to prison ministry.
Johnny Cash songs
A boy named sue
Folsom prison blues
I hung my head
Man In black
Gods gonna cut you down
When the man.... comes around! :D
Jayll1984 true true. Theres too many great songs to choose from, the mans the GOAT
Sunday Morning Coming Down
One piece at a time.
If you want a good one with his wife june, Jackson is a great song
The fact that this was johnny’s way to say, “I lived a good one even though it was hell and now it’s time to say goodbye” just sinks your heart to know he knew he wasn’t going to make it longer and wanted to part on his terms with us
You are one of the few who didn't laugh when he said " You stay the hell away from me, you hear ", no one ever realizes the impact of the clip.
"I'll fly a star-ship across the Universe divide, And when I reach the other side. I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can. Perhaps I may become a highwayman again. Or I may simply be a single drop of rain. But I will remain. And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again...." - Johnny Cash - The Highwaymen."
Amen
This is Truth, This is Pain.....This is Life................A True Masterpiece.
Cash was a Total legend. Love ur reaction. 💕 His songs remind me 2 check myself and be better than those in power.
The look that June gives Johnny totally railroaded me, man.
It was a real look. He was in pain, she knew it, but I dont think she knew she was being filmed.
That is the part of the video that always breaks me
And sadly she died shortly after the video was done.
@@vtrmcs She did. She wasn't supposed to be in the video, but she came downstairs to see what was taking so long. They asked if they could film her as well and she agreed.
Every time..... yup
The feeling you had come over you is the result of a true artist connecting with the song he's singing and the power that comes from that! It truly is magical what these artists do!
The song speaks to all the atrocities we as a human being are capable of inflicting on our loved ones and ourselves. He was hopelessly devoted to the woman he did so wrong for so many years. He made this song not long before he passed away.
This was his goodbye video. He died shortly after.
And that, young lady, is why Cash was a genius.
No it's not, because Johnny Cash didn't write this song.
@@jessenoreligionno5731 Next thing you'll say is, "Cash didn't sing this song."
Nine Inch Nails/Trent Rezner wrote the song, Cash just covered it
@@jondaley2894 Rezner wrote it, yeah; but Cash owned it.
@@davidcullen6797 Rezner said the same thing when he first heard it. Said he no longer owned this song.
Johnny Was the man..I tear up every-time I hear this song..Trent Reznor...AWESOME lyrics!
That feeling is when a legend says goodbye.
Backstory: Johnny Cash did drugs when he was younger, he even overdosed and would have died if not for the woman at the end of the video. June Carter. After he ODed, he turned his life around and married June until they both died. June Carter died a month or two after Hurt came out. Johnny followed not half a year later. Hurt was about when he was young and how it nearly cost him everything, his life with June most importantly. At least, I believe so. It is also a cover from NIN but even they said he did it better.
To really appreciate this video, it helps if you know his struggles with addiction and going to prison, his suffering amid his fame, his deep love for his wife, and his rare and unconventional willingness to work with a wide artists from a wide range of genres.
If you don't get Johnny Cash you got a hole in your soul.
This entire album is a masterpiece, a dying mans life in song. Johnny borrowed this from Trent Reznor and after hearing it.. Trent said it was Johny Cash's song now
It was originally written as a song about drug addiction. Johnny Cash had had his own problems with addiction in the 1960s, so he understood exactly where it was coming from. But in his hands the song also became about an old man confronting his own mortality, and looking back over the things he regretted in his life...Just look a the video, contrasting the present-day old man Johnny with the shots of him when he was young and strong and in his prime. Every time I see this, that last shot of him closing the cover on the piano makes me think of someone closing the lid on a coffin.
I'm new to the whole reaction video thing, but gotta say I love how you show true real emotion watching these videos. This particular song always hits me in the feels because even though Trent Reznor wrote it for Nine Inch Nails once Johnny covered it, it was like it was written for him. His story is so crazy with drugs and alcohol and all kinds of tragedy that it just felt like his anthem. Truly one of the greatest musicians who ever lived, and his rendition of this song was just further confirmation that his reason for being was to make music. He gave a voice to anyone that ever felt like a misfit and a screwup and let us know we weren't alone. The epitome of a legend, and he is dearly missed.
The old expression: "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all" is particularly apropos here. I watched this video and I feel pain for him and for my own life experiences. Life is wonderfully painful, joyful, full of incredibly good experiences and heartbreaking ones as well. I love, I hate, I am loved and hated. I've had my heart broken, I've broken a few. Life if dirty, uncoordinated and without order...but the most amazing gift.
And then I felt sad because I realized that once people are broken in certain ways, they can't ever be fixed, and this is something nobody ever tells you when you are young and it never fails to surprise you as you grow older as you see the people in your life break one by one. You wonder when your turn is going to be, or if it's already happened. ~ Douglas Coupland
Trent Reznor wrote a biographical song about Johnny Cash and didn't know it.
When the alpha wolf knows it's time is coming. It leaves the pack and finds a place to die with grace and dignity. It was just his time and he did it the best way he could. Rip Johnny Cash.
The song “ HURT “ is originally from the band call - NINE INCH NAILS - they wrote the song they was known for their 1990 Rock Punk band and their take of this song is much HARDER, filled with ANGER, VILANT PAIN... Now the iconic Mr. Johnny Cash did a slower emanational hunting Western rendition of the song which Mr. CASH could relate too the song for his life was coming to its full circle. You see Mr. Cash was is known for the hard man in Black and didn’t give a Fuck Westin performer with the DARK SONGS as well. When I first seen this video of Mr. Cash doing his rendition of the song “ HURT “ I knew this may be the last time we will see this great iconic Westin song writer singer and actor again. You see being an EMPATH I could sense Mr. Cash was Dyeing... He could relate so much to the lyrics of that song for he lived a rough life with no apologies behind his actions. In his own way Mr. Cash was fighting against the system that time which kept a good man down or that would keep a poor cold miners son longing to not follow in his fathers lead in an Honest Man’s dirty job and lifeless wages. I knew shortly after this video MR. JOHNY CASH would be dead... This was Mr. Cash respectively his last Swan song. They don’t make most musicians and songwriters like this anymore God bless him and love him, may the lord keep his soul closest to the HEAVENS....
John died after this, 120 days after his wife, June. Fame, money, looks. But in the end........."You can have it all. My empire of dirt." Wow.
He had just lost his wife and best friend June and he passed not long after this. He meant none of it mattered when you have no one to share it with.
This video was filmed in February of 2003 June died in May of 2003, she is literally in the music video standing behind her husband gazing at him. Johnny died in September of 2003 7 months after the video and 4 months after his wife
Seeing June looking on gets me. EVERY. DAMN. TIME.
Easily the best cover of all time. The material fit Cash’s lifestyle both past, and present at the time. The ultimate reflection of one’s life.
That feeling is called... Gravitas! He's talking about dodging emotions, drowning emotional responsibility (alcohol & pills) and pretending that fame makes anyone exempt from reality (hiding behind an image)... that's why, in the end, he says, "I would keep myself. I would find a way."
Your empathy is beautiful. Thank you for sharing your reaction.
When he had his hands on the piano, the piano looked like a coughin. He knew he was enterting a knew experience, wanting to say goodbye. Rest in further existence my friend!
Johnny was real and raw, no one could tell a story like him. He's with Jesus now
Its his eulogy. June died soon after this and she was his heart and soul, and he did 4 months later. You see his epic life and loss in the video. From a big strapping star to frail old man. His family deaths, losing his childhood home, when they flooded the valley to put everyone on the electrical grid, even that museum... it burnt down right after he died.
"Everyone I know, goes away, in the end." Song writing at it's finest.
You remember how he, no matter how big a star he became, always introduced himself by saying, "hello, I'm Johnny Cash"? I've always felt like this song & video was his way of saying, "I'm Johnny Cash. Goodbye." Like he knew the end was coming soon.
In closing, fraternal greetings to you from the Master, Wardens & members of Mt. Hermon Lodge #118, AF&AM in Asheville, NC.
Sincerely,
John Collins, P.M.
Chaplain of the Lodge