Hurt, by Nine Inch Nails, sung by Johnny Cash: How a Classic was Made and a Legend was Reborn

After taking the week off to catch-up on the drama surrounding the Grammy nominations, read my Spotify Wrapped 2020 list and figure out my best of the year list, (which will be coming out very soon), I wanted to take the chance to reflect on one of my favourite covers after watching the David Fincher's masterpiece 'Mank,' which is scored by the duo that wrote this song.

It's not often that a cover is arguably better than the original. Sure, their are some famous exceptions, especially in the world of rock and alt music, but not as many as their could be. 

But then you hear Hurt by Nine Inch Nails sung by Johnny Cash. 

Over the years Cash and his legacy have taken an almost legendary status among the history of American music . 'The Man in Black' has become something of a symbol in Americana and Roots Rock music as much as Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen and an influence on many singer-songwriters both during his lifetime and after his death in 2003. 

Nine Inch Nails have arguably garnered a similar status in rock mythology. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been a defining force in shaping the sound of modern rock with their industrial albums, influencing countless others to take up the mantel and ultimately bring a genre that could have been forgotten to mainstream audiences. 

'Hurt' though is different. 

The song was originally a promotional single from Nine Inch Nails' second concept album, titled 'The Downward Spiral.' It's Nine Inch Nails at their most unflinching and grim, a song written by Reznor about heroin addiction, self harm, and nihilism in a period of immense depression, it feels so utterly hopeless and yet utterly honest. The song went on to be nominated for the Grammy for best rock song in 1994 rock performance and then was promptly forgotten.  

Forgotten that is, until out of the blue Reznor was asked if one Johnny Cash could cover his song. Reznor said he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky.'' 

But Cash had a secret ingredient, his producer Rick Rubin. Rubin made his name producing for the Pioneers of Hip-hop on the Def Jam label, producing for acts such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, but Rubin was also a fan of rock,  hence his split from Def Jam with the label that became American Records, a label that would focus on his particular interest with the genre. The first project on American was what would be the first of the Six 'American' Albums for Johnny Cash.

Rick Rubin became interested in Cash because he wanted to work with 'a legendary artist who might not be in the best place in his career'. Manager Lou Robin set up a meeting between the two in 1993, and though Cash initially dismissed Rubin as a run-in-the-mill record company guy Rubin won him over with a simple idea: "Well, I don't know that we will sell records. I would like you to sit in my living room with a guitar and two microphones and just sing to your heart's content, everything you ever wanted to record." Understandably, this worked just fine with Cash. Gradually, over the course of the six albums, Cash was able to find a new voice and a style similar to Nick Cave and Tom Petty (artists he would later collaborate with), using his now gravely baritone to intone some of the finest songs of Americana, Country and Roots to a new generation with the help of Rubin.

Rubin is a master of taking a song, finding its defining traits and stripping away everything else. This was a defining trait of the 'American' albums  and especially Hurt. By stripping out the electronics of the original and replacing them with piano and acoustic guitar, leaving in the thudding, unstoppable drum beat in the chorus Rubin is revealing the raw centre of the song. 

Graeme Thomson, in The Resurrection of Johnny Cash: Hurt, Redemption, and American Recordings, has discussed concern about Cash's health during the recording. Cash was suffering from multiple health problems and had lost most of his vision, with recording sessions interrupted by multiple hospital stays. In addition the death of his Second Wife, June Carter, was a terrible blow to him. So in the chorus, when Cash questions the listener, 'What have I become, my sweetest friend?' you feel he delivers it as though he is asking you, the listener.

This is where the power of this cover lies, Cash realized that this is was last album, therefore he was not just telling this story as his own, he was using these lyrics to reach out and make you question your own decisions and ask you to understand his pain and to learn from his mistakes. He goes beyond the song and seeks the meaning he finds in the lyrics.

When Reznor heard the final track he praised it for its 'sincerity and meaning'. The song is further exemplified in similar fashion to many Nine Inch Nails Tracks by its video. Directed by the underrated but incredibly talented Mark Romanek the video is now praised by many as a classic. It was filmed at the House of Cash Museum, Johnny Cash's old home for over 50 years and includes some incredible archive footage of Cash over the course of his career filmed both on and off-stage, interspersed with images of food and flowers in various states of decay to echo the songs emphasis on the fragility of human existence.  It went on to win multiple awards including the 2002 MTV award for best Cinematography and a Grammy Award for its unique style.

Hurt is a defining testament to two incredible forces in music and a reminder to that sometimes the most unlikely covers create the best music.