nine inch nails

I got that sentence as the title of a story in my Yahoo headlines. That was it. The whole headline. No idea whose song it was, whose song it became, or what the song was. How could I NOT follow that link?

It was a link to a story about Johnny Cash's cover of the Nine Inch Nails song, "Hurt." NIN's Trent Reznor was not altogether pleased when he heard about it, saying that it was one of his most personal songs -- really saying something for a guy who rewrote every rule for confessional songwriting.

He wasn't happy when he heard the results either....but he had to concede that "It instantly became his song after that."

And then he saw the video.

John is dying. He knows it. So does his wife June, as she watches over his shoulder, weeping, smiling. I can't think of anything I've ever seen even remotely like this.





Trent was amazed. I saw the video and it took my breath away. Immediately my throat had a lump in it, and at that point, it really struck home. It was heartbreaking. I had goosebumps, which I have right now even thinking about it.

It became really inspiring to me. It reminded me of the power of music....It works. And it probably works better than my version.

Here was the last question in the interview: How has all this affected your own relationship to "Hurt"?

I haven't listened to my version since then. I've been so proud of what they've done with it that I haven't thought that much about it.

Here's the rest of the article.

While John put his stamp on the song, what really changed Trent's mind was Mark Romanek's amazing video. Here are a few production notes at The Inspiration Room.

(Markromanek.com has some great stuff, including an entertaining bio, and his entire collection of videos. Unfortunately, another Flash site that's more pretty than useful, but worth poking around. Also worth buying the DVD that gathers some of his best work.










Romanek's video of Cash's "Hurt" is one of the great achievements of the form, but the song is quite remarkable too. There aren't many versions of it online, but this one is pretty slick: a duet with David Bowie. The emphasis is obviously on the song rather than the visuals, and while John's version benefits from being tighter, this performance underscores the emotion of Reznor's writing.