"It instantly became his song after that."

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.

First off, I'm a huge fan of cover tunes, unless they are horribly, horribly bad. They have to be really bad for me to dislike them. One amazing artist who combines the cheesiness of the cover tune and the cheesiness of Hollywood-glamorized, Rat Pack era lounge music is Richard Cheese. Enough plugs for now.

Back to the matter at hand: Gaining a lump in the back of one's throat when hearing Johnny Cash's version of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt."

How often does a legend of any genre remake a work from somebody that has been inspired by said legend? To me, Trent Reznor in the mid 90s was equivalent in attitude and style to the renegade Cash of the early 60s. And, in my humble opinion, Cash was acknowledging Trent's work as being great and not getting the attention it deserves. Depending on the historian and point of view, Reznor and Cash's early careers could be seen as mirroring each other in some respect.

When I first heard Johnny's version, I was shocked, delighted, and saddened at the same time. You can really hear him putting his best into the song and give the song the respect it deserves. Unlike Reznor's version, and it could be because Johnny's doing it his way, there seems to be remorse in his voice from years of abuse to himself and others.

I have only seen the video twice (once just now). It's a very moving retrospective on the non-glorious parts of Cash's life. Most videos of "remember this person when they were great" will only show the extremely happy moments of their career. This one, on the other hand, reinforces the fact that Johnny was a human being. The way he sings "Hurt" lays the foundation for it. Every time I hear the end of the song where the music gets louder and he says if he could do it again, he would do it right, I imagine how hard that must have been for him to actually sing and I get the lump in the back of my throat, fighting back the desire to cry in a beer. (If I ever did get that bad off, I would cry in a cheap beer and quietly sip the good one next to it.)

When I get the chance, I'll actually read the article, but after watching the video a few more times. Thanks for hooking us up, Tim.