Are you touched more by Johnny Cash's version, or Nine Inch Nails?
I'm a fan of both Cash and NIN, but I find a lot more feeling and meaning when Cash sings the song. What about you? Why?
2007-09-26 03:35:13 · 20 answers · asked by Eraserhead 6 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music ➔ Rock and Pop
Very tough question,
I'm a Johnny Cash and NIN fan.
Both are painful, but I think Johnny's really hurts the most.
I think that Cash covering it help shed new light on Trent's version though. Cash has been public about his problems and the trials he has faced and to hear him sing it it's almost like he is apologizing to someone...maybe June?
Futhermore, if Johnny can sing that song that way late in his life and it fits so perfectly....you have to sit down and wonder who hurt Trent so much that he was compled to write those lyrics....
The video that accompanies Johnny's version truly will ripe your heart right out, especially when he is sitting at the table and the camera pans to show June Carter on the steps looking over at him. It's almost like she is telling him "It's OK I know"....
now I have to go and watch that video
2007-09-26 04:08:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hmm good question. It is one of the VERY few times when a cover is just as good if not better than the original. Most covers are terrible embarrassments but Cash's version of Hurt was simply brilliant. I am a long time NIN fan, I have been listening since "Pretty Hate Machine" came out and I am in awe of Trent Reznor. The man is a true genius. Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt was perfect for him in the twilight of his life and along with the amazing video (directed by the same guy who directed the "Closer" video for Reznor) reflected on a tumultuous life in a very poignant way. I think it really affected people in a profound way. Even people who were not fans of Cash found themselves captivated by the song and the video clip...I should know because I am one of them!
I think you have to take each version in context. At the time of it's writing, Reznor was on a precipice. He was deep in a drug haze and almost suicidal. The tour that followed the release of "The Downward Spiral" was the public unraveling of a man at the brink of his sanity.
Cash's version was much more introspective and personal at a time when it was clear he was looking for some sort of absolution.
I think they both are effective on their own as monumental works of melancholy however I did read somewhere that as soon as Reznor heard Cash's version he knew it wasn't his song anymore!
2007-09-26 08:06:53 · answer #2 · answered by Next evolutionary step... 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They are both good, but if it's close, you have to give the nod to the original performer. Cash might have been more famous for a far longer period of time than Trent, but there is no denying the NIN version. Your feelings may have more to do with that you simply like Cash better and somehow relate to the man's life story.
2007-09-26 03:54:41 · answer #3 · answered by Rckets 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
NIN is one of my favorite groups ever, so obviously I'm gonna say I like their version better, especially since I've been listening to it for 12 years. Johnny Cash did a nice cover though, but he brings an entirely different mood to the song. With NIN's version, I hear one of the saddest and most desperate songs ever written, enough to make you tear up. Cash's version is still touching, but it seems to have a bit more optimism in it. In short, I guess you could say NIN's version is what you would listen to before killing yourself, and Cash's version is what you would listen to just before dying of natural causes.
2007-09-26 03:49:04 · answer #4 · answered by GK Dub 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I liked the original video version for NIN, which I think is also the version on the downward spiral too. There was something about the pain that was being conveyed in that version that always captured me, especially since I'm not much of a NIN fan in the first place.
2007-09-26 09:01:34 · answer #5 · answered by sdmf4u2000 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Great question! I have to go with NIN on this just because Trents voice makes it feel darker, but watching the Cash video really brings feeling to the song. You can really feel that he is hurting and coming to an end.
2007-09-26 06:00:35 · answer #6 · answered by Gen_xer. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I prefer the NIN version because they're Trent's lyrics and that's truly how he felt when writing them... that alone makes the NIN version more effective to me.
I'm sure Johnny Cash could relate to the lyrics, which is why he chose that song to cover, but they're not his words.
2007-09-26 03:57:25 · answer #7 · answered by MC BC 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you include the video, the Cash version is the best - because it fits the video like a bookend to his life.
Based on musicality alone, I prefer the NIN version because it's darker and better produced.
2007-09-26 03:42:37 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They're both very powerful.......
NIN - you sit there and wonder how someone so young could be so cynical and jaded. The vocals carry over desperation, injury and a need for warmth.
Cash - Definitely a reflection of the trials and tribulations of his own life. Its especially hit hard due to the fact that June passed away not long after the video was made.
2007-09-26 03:49:28 · answer #9 · answered by Dani G 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Lonestar - I'm already there Rascal Flatts - Sarabeth, Skin (not about a dad but its so sad) Frankie J. - Daddy's Little Girl Watch the music video of Concrete Angle by Martina Mcbride that song makes me cry everytime there are so many good ones out there i just can't think of them at the moment I hope the ones I gave you help a bit.
2016-05-19 00:19:26 · answer #10 · answered by chantell 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋