Hurt
I rarely play their music these days, but in the 90s, I listened to Nine Inch Nails. One day a friend of mine blared “Down In It” through the stereo in his house, and I was an instant fan.
I picked up a copy of The Downward Spiral when it came out. I liked almost every song, including this track called “Hurt,” which was a favorite from that album.
Entering the new century, I sort of lost touch with NIN. My tastes changed and all that. I forgot about “Hurt.” For whatever reason, when I reach back to old music now, the 80s tunes are my mainstay.
Then the other day my daughter and I are watching something and we see a trailer for the movie Logan. Johnny Cash was singing “Hurt,” which sounded amazing, but I was a little confused. Did Cash write the song first, and NIN perform it as a cover? That assumption was based off of Johnny Cash’s age and his being a legend, of sorts. Not to discount Reznor’s accomplishments, but you know … it’s Johnny Cash.
I was surprised when I went to the reference section in the public library, researched it, and discovered that Cash was the one that covered a NIN’s song. Which is pretty darn cool, IMO.
Okay, I lied. I didn’t go to the library. I Googled that information. Who does research at the library? That’s so 1985.
Anyway, getting back on track … I love the Cash version of this song. It’s amazing. Usually I like the original better than the remake, but not this time.
Not this time.
And, as it turns out, Trent Reznor agrees (from Alternative Press): “I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. [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.”
Pretty cool.
