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Carmine Digiulio

Professor Hellmers

ENG 1201

September 27, 2021

Analyzing Two Different Videos of the Same Song: Hurt

The "Hurt" song was released in 1994, and it was initially composed by Nine Inch Nails,

and Johnny Cash did a cover of the same in 2002. As indicated in the first line in the song, "I

hurt myself today," the song would suggest someone who is undergoing pain or is suffering from

something. The two performances by the two different artists involve two different styles. The

original performance by Nine Inch Nail was that of industrial rock, and the rendition by Johnny

cash performed the song as country music (Nine Inch Nails). There are similarities in the two

songs by the two different artists who include the artists' mood for the song to depict pain and

indicate the personal issues they are doing through. However, there are differences in the two

songs, mainly when they express the source of their pain. The original song, Nine Inch Nail,

indicates that the pain emanates from a dark place in life due to addiction, while the cover by

Johnny Cash shows the kind of life he lived in the past when he was energetic and young which

makes him sing of redemption.

The two singers performed this song in two different and distinct backgrounds, which is

also based on the different years of release. The cover by Johnny Cash is staged in a museum-

like house, and it also served as his home for thirty years (Johnny Cash). When the song begins,

Johnny Cash is sitting on a chair with the camera mainly focusing on the things surrounding his
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museum-like house. Some of the items include a picture of his wife, framed and hanged on the

wall, trophies, and sculptures. The song also shows different videos of Johnny Cash that relate to

his past life. When he starts singing, the song's sound portrays someone who might be struggling

and slow, and he is not as strong as he was in the past. When Cash filmed this song, he was

seventy-one years old, his health deteriorated, and he realized that his end was near. As for the

video done by Nine Inch Nails on the same song, it was performed in front of a live audience

(Nine Inch Nails). As the song starts, the background contains large screens that display images

that indicate the song's meaning. Also, the video is in black and white, and Nine Inch Nails uses

his vocals to demonstrate how he felt. Nine Inch Nails alternate between high and low vocals in

the song.

In both videos, suffering, pain, and regrets forms the primary theme, and they result in

the depression of the singers. The videos indicate the wrong decisions that they made while they

had the chance to make the right ones which in the long run resulted in them having regrets as

their lives are miserly. The theme in the two songs shows that when a person is sad, they tend to

experience persistent sadness, which in some cases, they are unable to control. The songs stage

the life of the singers, especially in the cover by Johnny Cash, to try and establish an appeal with

the audience. In the video, one can understand his regrets, which result in the use of drugs and

making wrong choices that affect one's life. There are thoughts of committing suicide, the singer

is addicted to drugs, and he also tends to push away people who cared about him.

In the video by Johnny Cash, one sees his wife, June, staring at Cash as he sings in the

background. The presence of June in the video indicates that she played a significant role in the

life of Johnny Cash. There are regrets in the song, such as "if I could start again, a million miles

away, I will keep myself, I would find a way," which indicates that Cash wished he would
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change the past he had with his wife and also those who loved him (Johnny Cash). In contrast,

the video by Nine Inch Nails shows the large screen in the singer's background, and they

indicated pictures that were filmed showing a lot of emotions (Nine Inch Nails). In most of the

images, the feelings expressed show that the singer is unhappy and possibly in fear.

The two versions of "Hurt" have the same lyrics, but Johnny Cash modified the "crown of

shit" to be "crown of thorns", which was influenced by his Christianity faith. Both songs are sung

in a slow mode of meditation as they show the pain inflicted in their lives. In the Cash version,

the song cuts across ages, including a post-teenage agony to when he was old age. As the video

progresses, the song turns to the expression of a grown-up man who is not looking at life with

disgust but with mixed feelings, which exhibit pain and regrets and the joy of remembering. The

Nine Inch nail version shows the artists performing in front of a live audience with images on

display screens (Nine Inch Nails). However, the Cash version is different, with video showing

flashes of his entire life and faith shown in a crucifixion scene.

The two videos indicate the appeal of pathos. The videos show that the singers have

many regrets, sadness, and low self-esteem (Thomson). The primary emotion of the two songs is

that of unhappiness as the singers remember their past. Johnny Cash and Nine Inch Nails use

pathos appeal because it helps in appealing to the audience's emotions. While listening to the

songs and watching the videos, the audience can connect with the singers' emotions and feel

what they are feeling. Pathos helps create an emotional connection between the singers and the

audience, and in that way, the singers can easily influence their audiences.

The audiences for the two songs are mainly young people trying to make their lives

meaningful and those who are wasting their lives. Bu listening to the song by artists, they talk
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about the sadness and regrets they have in life and what caused the regrets. In Johnny Cash

version, the video shows when he was young and the journey of his life. (Johnny Cash) The

regrets that he has in life are indicated as he remembers them when he is old. These rhetorical

appeals are more effective with the younger generation because it is like listening to an older

person giving a story of their life and the regrets they carry. Also, the issue of addiction in the

Nine Inch Nails version is an indication that the advice is for the younger generation and

anybody else who might be using drugs to stop. It advises the young generation not to entertain

drug abuse because it might result in regrets in their lives. In the Johnny Cash version, he

observes his Christian faith in the lyrics, making it suitable for the Christians to sing. They are

both trying to input values of a good life to avoid regrets when one is old, and the belief that

actions are taken when young might cause a lot of pain when one is old.

The "Hurt" remains a timeless song that is suitable to all generations and has surpassed

all genres as it accommodates reinterpretation and different meanings by the artists and their

listeners. The Nine Inch Nails version has a connotation of self-loathing and a person under the

influence of drug addiction (Nine Inch Nails. As for Johnny, the cash version shows a collective

feeling of a person who is in pain and sadness, which results in the person hurting (Johnny

Cash). Johnny cash in the song tries to use a redemptive tone and, in the process, try to give life

meaning from the song message. What remains impressive of the two versions is how the two

artists have tried to have two different interpretations of the same song, yet they use almost the

same lyrics while delivering the message. It is also surprising how removing just a few phrases

managed to transform the Cash version to have a big difference from the Nine Inch Nails

version.
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The artists manage to capture the audience's emotions by the sad circumstances when the

videos are released. Despite having similar lyrics, the two versions show different meaning, with

the Nine Inch Nails version indicate that the pain he feels emanates from the dark places of

addiction. In contrast, the Johnny Cash version indicates his pain and sadness from his life when

he was young and energetic and the need for redemption. In the end, the two artists are in two

different kinds of pain.

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Works Cited

Johnny Cash. “Johnny Cash - Hurt (Official Music Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 13 Sept. 2019,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHCfZTRGiI.

Nine Inch Nails. “Nine Inch Nails - Hurt (VEVO Presents).” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Dec. 2013,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR4DjYczINM.

Thomson, Graeme. The Resurrection of Johnny Cash: Hurt, Redemption and American

Recordings. Jawbone Press, 2011.