Johnny Cash 'Hurt' Music Video Analysis (Nine Inch Nails cover)

The song ‘Hurt’ was written, performed and released in 1994 by Nine Inch Nails (NIN) - Trent Reznor.  It managed to re-catch the attention of the public when Rick Rubin (producer) persuaded Johnny Cash to cover this song.  Cash described this song as being ‘the best anti-drug song I ever heard’.

I discovered through web research that Johnny Cash was a heavy drinker, as well as being addicted to drugs like amphetamines and barbiturates.  After reviewing the lyrics, I noticed that it refers a lot to pain and self-harm.  Cash was also a very devoted and troubled Christian; linking to the line ‘I wear this crown of thorns, upon my liar’s chair’, this could make reference to the story of Jesus and the Station’s of the Cross where he had to wear a crown of thorns on his way to his crucifixion.

As previously mentioned, I believe this Music Video backs up my idea of Cash referring to his past.  The cover of ‘Hurt’ by Johnny Cash begins with a highly saturated short, medium long shot film clip of Johnny Cash and his guitar playing in a setting that resembles a home (perhaps his home), whilst singing ‘I hurt myself today’. This is then followed by a medium close-up of his upper body; this enables the viewer to identify Cash’s actions and emotions; through his facial expressions.  Moreover, as he sings the line ‘the old familiar sting’; several film clips of his past life are shown in succession afterwards that may refer to his younger years.  These include his home in Dyess, Arkansas, the American flag blowing in the wind, his ‘closed to the public’ ‘House of Cash’ Museum.  Before going back to the initial setting in his home.  Moreover, Cash is wearing a black jacket, which could be associated with the darkness of the lyrics of the song.  Further on in the song, Johnny Cash sings the line ‘every one I know, goes away in the end’, this line could refer the (recent at the time) death of his wife, June Carter.  A medium long shot of a framed picture of his wife is shown sequentially.  Furthermore, a couple of seconds later, he sings ‘And you can have it all, my Empire of Dirt’, whilst at the same time, showing a short medium long shot clip of him on-stage at one of his concerts, jump-cutting to short long shot and close-up clips of a room full of his achievements.  Including one close-up of a vinyl record in a broken-glassed frame that appears to be sitting on the floor; this could represent Cash’s dying career in the Music Industry. 

This Music Video has been separated into two parts, after one of these films clips include a high-angled shot of Johnny Cash starring at the viewer, saying these words: ’will you stay the hell away from me, you hear?’, this could have been an indication of a turning point in his life, when he began drinking and taking drugs. Another signifier could have been the medium high-angled close-up of Cash being put being bars by an policeman. The next few scenes compile many more short film clips of him in his younger years.  I have decided to skip the sequential clips as it is part of the chorus, therefore the same lyrics are used, and so these scenes might have a direct reference to the scenes from the last time he sung the chorus.

 

In the end of the Music Video, there are many more short film-clips associated with Cash’s devotion and troubling Christian ways, as mentioned in my second paragraph.  These clips include a close-up of a struggling Jesus walking with the Cross, a white Cross on an Archway; all edited together with a repetition of nails getting hit by a hammer in between.  And finally, as the pace of the song steadily increases towards the end, we see the train from the beginning speed up.  This line could also represent his life if he was ‘a million miles away’, if we were to say that the train was travelling that far.

I believe that the public knew that his career and life was coming to an end.  This song could have been the epitaph (short text honouring a deceased person) of Johnny Cash’s life.  In this video, I felt like he was regretful for certain actions he had committed; as he states ‘if I could start again’, demonstrating that he would have done things differently.  Sadly, Johnny Cash died at the age of 71, four months after this Music Video was released.

To view the Cover of the Nine Inch Nails (NIN) song 'Hurt' by Johnny Cash,
Click the link Below:
Music Video for Johnny Cash's - 'Hurt'

If you would like to view the Original Song by the Nine Inch Nails:
Click on the link Below:
Music Video for Nine Inch Nail's - 'Hurt'