Johnny Cash – Hurt

I cry whenever I hear Nine Inch Nail’s track Hurt. Heartbreaking lyrics and a simple guitar/piano backing make for a monumental track, especially when heard live. They closed this year’s Soundwave with it and I had to choke back tears for fear of embarrasing myself in front of my girlfriend at the time.

After a random night of youtubing I stumbled across the Johnny Cash cover of the song. Originally released on his 2002 album American IV: The Man Comes Around, it was probably Cash’s last great single before his 2003 death. On the cover, Trent Reznor has said this:

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.

The reason I’m posting this up is because, quite simply put, this is the single greatest track I’ve heard this year. I don’t think I have the words in me to fully describe how much I love this song, so I will simply link to the video and let you make your mind up for yourselves. For my Facebook pals – apologies for the continued ranting about this. For everybody else – I really hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

~ by mecka on September 16, 2009.