Hurt (Nine Inch Nails song)

"Hurt" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their second studio album, "The Downward Spiral" (1994), written by Trent Reznor. It was released on April 17, 1995 as a promotional single from the album. The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Song in 1996.
In 2002, Johnny Cash covered "Hurt" to commercial and critical acclaim. The related music video is considered one of the greatest of all time by publications such as "NME". Reznor praised Cash's interpretation of the song for its "sincerity and meaning", going so far as to say "that song isn't mine anymore."
Meaning.
The song includes references to self-harm and heroin addiction, although the overall meaning of the song is disputed. Some listeners contend that the song acts as a suicide note written by the song's protagonist, as a result of his depression, while others claim that it describes the difficult process of finding a reason to live in spite of depression and pain and does not have much to do with the storyline of "The Downward Spiral".
Music video.
The music video for Nine Inch Nails' original version of "Hurt" is a live performance that was recorded before the show in Omaha, Nebraska, on February 13, 1995, and can be found on "Closure" and the DualDisc re-release of "The Downward Spiral". The audio portion appears on the UK version of "Further Down the Spiral".
The version released on "Closure" differs slightly from the video originally aired on MTV. In addition to using an uncensored audio track, the "Closure" edit shows alternate views of the audience and performance at several points during the video.
To film the video, a scrim was dropped in front of the band on stage, projected onto which were various images to add visual symbolism to fit the song's subject matter, such as war atrocities, a nuclear bomb test, survivors of the Battle of Stalingrad, a snake staring at the camera, and a time-lapse film of a fox decomposing in reverse. A spotlight was cast on Reznor so that he can be seen through the images. Compared to the live renditions performed on future tours, this version most resembles the studio recording with its use of the song's original samples.
There are also official live recordings on the later releases "And All that Could Have Been" and "Beside You in Time". Each version features distinct instrumentation by the varying members of the band in the respective eras.
Live performances.
During the "Dissonance" tour in 1995, when Nine Inch Nails opened for David Bowie, Bowie sang "Hurt" in a duet with Reznor, backed by an original melody and beat. This served as the conclusion to the dual act that began each Bowie set.
During the "Fragility" tours, the progression was performed by Robin Finck on acoustic guitar rather than on piano.
Since the 2005–06 "Live: With Teeth" tour, Nine Inch Nails has been playing "Hurt" in a more toned-down style, featuring only Reznor on keyboard and vocals until the final chorus, when the rest of the band joins in.
The song was brought back to its original form during the "Lights In The Sky" tour in 2008, before returning to the toned down style on the 2009 "Wave Goodbye" tour.
Johnny Cash version.
In 2002, Johnny Cash covered the song for his album, "". Its accompanying video, featuring images from Cash's life and directed by Mark Romanek, was named the best video of the year by the Grammy Awards and CMA Awards, and the best video of all time by "NME" in July 2011. The single contains a cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" as a B-side.
Cash's cover of the song had sold 2,148,000 downloads in the United States as of March 2017.
Background.
When Reznor was asked if Cash could cover his song, Reznor said he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." He became a fan of Cash's version, however, once he saw the music video.
Music video.
The music video was directed by former Nine Inch Nails collaborator Mark Romanek, who sought to capture the essence of Cash, both in his youth and in his older years. In a montage of shots of Cash's early years, twisted imagery of fruit and flowers in various states of decay, seem to capture both his legendary past and the stark and seemingly cruel reality of the present. Much of the video is in a style deliberately reminiscent of "vanitas" paintings, thus emphasising the lyrics' mood of the futility and passing nature of human achievements. According to literature professor Leigh H. Edwards, the music video portrays "Cash's own paradoxical themes".
Romanek had this to say about his decision to focus on the House of Cash museum in Nashville:
When the video was filmed in February 2003, Cash was 71 years old and had serious health problems. His frailty is clearly evident in the video. He died seven months later, on September 12; his wife, June Carter Cash, who is shown gazing at her husband in two sequences of the video, had died on May 15 of the same year.
In July 2011, the music video was named one of "The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos" by "Time". It was ranked the greatest music video of all time by "NME".
The house where Cash's music video for "Hurt" was shot, which was Cash's home for nearly 30 years, was destroyed in a fire on April 10, 2007.
Certifications.
! scope="row"| United States (RIAA)
! scope="row"| United States (RIAA)
! scope="row"| United States (RIAA)
Other versions.
The song has been used in the 140-second advertisement "This is Why" created for the SickKids Foundation by Cossette in 2019 as part of the "SickKids Vs." campaign to support fundraising for The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Cover versions of the song include: