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Jacob Sowers

Prof. Hellmers

ENG. 1201

Wed. April 1st

Hurt

“Everyone I know goes away in the end,” a very powerful quote from both Nine Inch

Nails and the cover from Johnny Cash in their songs Hurt. Both songs give a very powerful

message but Johnny Cash’s cover and music video give a very powerful message of life and it’s

bright sides even though life is dark and twisted as we see in the original from Nine Inch Nails.

Both songs were released in different times of their lives, Nine Inch Nails song was released in

1994 in what looks like the Prime of their life and Cash’s cover was released in 2002 shortly

before Cash’s death in 2003. Both Cash’s cover and the original by Nine Inch Nails share a

similar dark theme, the cover by Cash gives the song a look at life and it’s glory and brightness

regardless of deep and dark lyrics.

The beginning of Cash’s video opens up with colorful visuals and we see in Nine Inch

Nails visual that it is black and white and we see visuals appear behind the singer Nine Inch

Nails that are dark and moody, things like a fox decaying and visuals of people in pain and

suffering. Both Cash and Nine Inch Nails open their songs with the quote “I hurt myself today,”

this is a very dark and deep way to start song but the visuals for both play it into a different way.

For example at the beginning of Cash’s video it opens up with a colorful scene with what looks

like a bowl of nice fruit and a golden table with what looks like it would belong to a king. In the

video of Nine Inch Nails we see see the singer standing by himself with a video of a fox or

coyote behind him decaying into the ground. The reason that these opening visuals and their
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color are so significant to the song is because it sets the mood and the motive behind the lyrics,

the lyrics are the same but how you play them out can change the whole song.

Almost all the lyrics from both versions of the songs are exactly the same, but the one

that stands out the most is “Everyone I know goes away in the end.” This is so significant

because we see cash in his video dressed all in black as if someone passed away. Cash is aging

but when he says this lyric the video shows a picture of what is possibly Cash’s mother. This

makes this lyric hit even harder because if you’ve ever lost someone you know this type of pain.

Cash is connecting to people through this lyric as well as this scene from the video. For example

in Nine Inch Nails video when the lyric “Everyone I know goes away in the end” we see a zoom

in on the singers face and then flashes of images, this doesn’t give the connection like Cash’s

video and the meaning of the lyrics don’t relate as much. This is so significant because Cash

gives you a touch on his personal life, Nine Inch Nails doesn’t do that. We see flash backs of

Cash’s life through his good times and even his bad. Typically when someone makes a song

personal like Cash, it attracts more people that can relate to that and the person singing the song.

Nine Inch Nails gives flashes of society through all the pain and past wars. This could be seen as

a cultural shock more than anything. Nine Inch Nails is trying to give you that shock of society

while Cash is giving you a shock of everyday life and how eventually it will all end.

The biggest difference and possibly even the most important factor of the two songs

would definitely be the tempo of the songs. From the very beginning we can tell the difference of

Johnny Cash and Nine Inch Nails. Nine Inch Nails gives a very mellow and stagnant play of the

song, there is no real pick up of the beat and this could show how life can stay stagnant. Cash on

the other hand gives a deep piano and guitar melody and the beat really picks up throughout the

song and it continues to build all the way up to the end of the song where we see Cash close the
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piano for what could be the last time. We also see Cash playing the piano as well as playing his

guitar but we never see the singer of Nine Inch Nails play any instruments. The reason that the

tempo is so important for a song is because a tempo is what makes a song a song. If a song is

upbeat and fast it’s gonna make someone feel happy and motivated but if a song is slow and has

a low melody it’s gonna make someone sad and make them think harder.

What both songs do is appear to the use of Pathos. Both songs bring out the emotions of

the audience regardless of which song you are listening to. An example of this is definitely the

lyrics, one such as “I will let you down, I will make you hurt,” or even the one “I hurt myself

today, to see if I still feel. I focus on the pain.” These are reasons that the song brings up pathos,

theses lyrics and even the whole song brings out some type of emotion inside you. Wether it’s

happy, sad, mad, irritable. The reason this is so significant is because when lyrics make you feel

this type of way or a song makes you have a feeling that means the song is doing what it was

intended to do, and that’s make you feel something. One other way that the videos appear to

pathos is in Cash’s video he shows a picture of either his mother or wife who has passed away

while he is saying “Everyone I know goes away in the end,” and Nine Inch Nails shows a picture

of a fox decaying in the background with the same lyric “Everyone I know goes away in the

end.”

The attended audience for both songs would be anyone who is feeling like they have

could’ve done better in their life or someone just reflecting on life in any type of aspect. We see

in Nine Inch Nails video that he is singing to a crowd of people at a concert and it looks like a

group of young people but I believe the song is for anyone who is listening. Cash’s video does

the same, in a way the Nine Inch Nails version could attract a more rock and roll crowd with the
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rock and roll vibes the video gives off while Cash’s video is more country which would attract

an audience of more country listeners.

Regardless of which song you listen to we know both hold a special place and both give a

certain message. Both give their deep and dark message but only one shows the bright side of life

through color and other messages. Cash shows a more personal life while Nine Inch Nails gives

a shock to society. Both are deep but in their own ways and we see that through “Hurt.”

Works Cited

Cash, Johnny. “Hurt.” YouTube, Sep. 23, 2019, https://youtu.be/8AHCfZTRGiI

Accessed 1 April. 2020.

Nine Inch Nails. “Hurt.” YouTube, Mar. 16, 2009, https://youtu.be/dhh21crSohs

Accessed 1 April. 2020