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Olivia Mace

Dean Leonard

English 1201-511

22 March 2020

Analyzing Visual Texts: “Hurt”

The realistic yet unappealing theme of the song "Hurt" defied modern music

compositions of fantasy, wealth, popularity, sex, charisma, and money. Only a few additional

artists have introduced the unique theme of reality. The original artist of "Hurt," Nine Inch Nails,

did not create an official music video. However, they had a live concert recording from 1995 that

has a music video feel due to the images they broadcasted on stage. Nine Inch Nails' version

expresses self-loathing, self-harm, and drug addiction. In 2002, Johnny Cash decided to cover

the song. Cash takes a different approach to the song and concentrates on the feeling of pain as

well as sadness that forms hurt. The music video of "Hurt" by Johnny Cash examines Cash's time

with flashbacks and current pictures at the time of production. It was recorded shortly before

Cash's untimely death, which makes it even more evocative and striking when he reflects on his

life. Both artists have a different perspective on the song. As a result, through the lyrics and

sound of the song, two messages are conveyed. The only lyrical modifications Cash made were

the profanity removal to exhibit further on Cash's Christian devotion. Nine Inch Nails had an

electric industrial metal feel with much faster performance, whereas Cash is a more oppressive

country sound and has a much slower rhythm. "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, and Johnny Cash share

similar life experiences; however, Nine Inch Nails expresses melancholy but more from solitude
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in the world, whereas Cash uses symbolic and iconic imagery that conveys heartfelt sentiments

and reflections over his life.

Nine Inch Nails' lead singer Trent Reznor wrote "Hurt" to express how self-harm and

heroin addiction was a part of a dark time in Reznor's life. Reznor described this song as "a track

I wrote in my bedroom at a black moment." As Reznor struggled with the pain of addiction and

self-harm, he felt isolated from the rest of the world. The song was made into a promotional

single; however, it was not released to the general public until its appearance on ​The Downward

Spiral a​ lbum in 1994. With lines like "I hurt myself today/to see if I still feel/I focus on the

pain/the only thing that's real," Reznor's song suits the album title perfectly, whether intentional

or not. Two years later, "Hurt" was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Rock Song," but lost to

Alanis Morissette's "You Oughter Know." This song is Reznor's favorite song since it is the most

intimate song he has ever written. When performed at concerts, the song winds up the crowd

while representations of grief, damage, and decay are shown.

After Cash started performing in the media during high school, his motives changed. He

was entirely focused on his career, which is the reasoning behind leaving his first wife and

family. This leave gave him the name of "The Man in Black." Although his career was thriving,

including multiple Grammy Awards and selling over ninety million records worldwide, his fame

did little to alleviate the regret he held near death. This career also led him to drug and alcohol

abuse, getting him arrested and charged with smuggling drugs. These decisions included more

consequences that he mourned near the end of his life as well. During his cover of "Hurt," Cash

mentions these decisions within his play on the lyrics at the beginning of the song, only to
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transition to the message of while it is adequate to have sentiments, you must be willing to

forgive yourself and move on eventually.

Although the two artists have different appeals to the overall meaning of the song, their

similar life experiences are expressed through their interpretations of sadness and drugs. Cash

expressed his sadness from redemption and regret, which includes the effects that drugs had on

his life. Grief is more present in Cash's version because of the song's pace. He slowed down the

song and made it more of him using his guitar and piano to tell the story of his life. The pace

replicated the melody of regret found in Cash's voice. The music video reinforces Cash's claim of

giving up everything to go back in time and change his life—but he is trapped in his "empire of

dirt." This sadness is exemplified by the chorus, "What have I become/My sweetest

friend?/Everyone I know/Goes away in the end/And you could have it all/My empire of dirt/I

will let you down/I will make you hurt." Cash is ashamed of what has become of him and his

career; he had hurt many people and screwed things up when he was battling drug addiction. The

song describes his despair about the past and the people he has driven away with his excessive

drug use, infidelity, and neglecting his relationships with others to focus on his career. Nine Inch

Nails' version is similar in expressing drugs correlating to despair by singing about a desperate

man. This man is lost in the realm of narcotics – held relieving his aches with an addiction.

Reznor's voice has much emotion and intensity in it since the song reflects on his experiences.

This personal hurt is expressed most significantly at the beginning of the song when he softly

sings, "I hurt myself today/To see if I still feel/I focus on the pain/The only thing that's real/The

needle tears a hole/The old familiar sting/Try to kill it all away/But I remember everything."

Reznor talks about hurting himself to make sure he is still alive or can feel the reality of pain
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around him. "The needle tears a hole," represents him injecting heroin into himself, which is the

habit he is trying to stop, but "[He] remembers everything," which describes his addiction that he

cannot get over. Although their life experiences are different, how drugs are feeding their pain is

apparent in both versions. The significance of this pain from drugs appeals to the pathos or

emotions of the audience. It also sets a connection between the artists and the audience with

similar experiences.

The live performance portrays the song with the lead singer Trent Reznor on stage only,

which demonstrates the melancholy from isolation. As mentioned before, images were used to

create a music video feel as well as to get the message across more significantly. The pictures

were located before Reznor, although the audience could still see him until the clip of the bird

snatching a fish out of the water. Images like the reverse decaying of a fox demonstrate that

Reznor is giving profound thought about his personal life and consequences that will come forth

from some of his decisions, including using drugs. Nine Inch Nails used no props besides the

pictures. Reznor stays in one spot, not distracting or taking away from the video. The setting

changed throughout the performance as Reznor's voice progressively amplified.

The concept of being unheard is relayed from the song's low whisper start, leading into

the coping of pain from cutting and drugs. Expressing these feelings causes anger and sadness,

which comes along with a louder and faster portraying of the song. The sense of keeping these

emotions to yourself makes Reznor need to express himself to an audience; these bottled

sentiments make the song persuasive. The audience of this song is the viewers of this

performance, whether in person or not, people trying to cope with drug addiction is in closer

connection to the song than those who are just struggling with everyday life pain. However,
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hearing the audience in the recording, especially the cheering when Nine Inch Nails was playing

"Hurt," gave the feeling that the audience had connections to that song. The audience quickly

silenced and went almost unheard, so they had a common understanding of the emotion being

described, and some were able to connect that to a personal experience. The significance of this

version is to let people know who are struggling with the same problems that they are not alone,

which is part of the satisfaction and reason why Reznor wrote this song. He no longer wanted to

feel isolated and left alone with his problems. This song's logic or logos comes from its similarity

to a support group in the case that it is reassuring that pain and drug addiction is simply one of

life's challenges, and an individual can surpass it. In that regard, the audience brings credibility

or ethos to the song by the people who can relate to it.

The music video of "Hurt" by Johnny Cash has symbolic and iconic imagery that conveys

heartfelt sentiments, which sets it apart from Nine Inch Nails' version. The video's organization

juxtaposes past and current footages of Cash's life, as well as repeats the symbolism of his faith.

Cash's present film gave him a fragile and aged feel. With no makeup or added features like

lights to help with making Cash seem younger, he openly portrays his well-being with scenes

like his shaky and elder hands on the piano. This open representation gives credibility and logic

to his piece. Props include symbolism to wealth like grapes, fancy glassware, wine, etc., Cash

playing the guitar and piano, as well as the rustic House of Cash Museum. The main character is

Cash since he is reflecting on his life; however, his wife was solemnly in the background for one

of the scenes. His overall message to the audience is to make life beautiful, and not to have

regrets. Unlike Nine Inch Nails, Cash made the music video about the "hurt" his choices inflicted

on those around him. This hurt is exemplified by him visiting his abandoned childhood house
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and other scenes that reflect himself or those he loved being affected by his decisions. This

analysis has been realized long before now, but remains to leave him genuinely lost in sadness,

making "pain is the only thing that's real." The audience of this song is anyone who still has time

to reevaluate bad decisions they have or are making as well as to reamend with people whom

you have conflicts.

Cash and Nine Inch Nails' interpretation of "Hurt" is vastly different. Still, the similarities

in the incorporation of drugs and the differences in the overall message and mood within the

music videos make this song truly unique. Between Cash's symbolic reflection of life and Nine

Inch Nails' melancholic loneliness of overcoming life's challenges, the two have made their

feeling clear and have masterfully told an authentic story.

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Works Cited

Cash, Johnny. ​Johnny Cash - Hurt. Youtube, ​13 Sept. 2019,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHCfZTRGiI. Accessed 7 Feb. 2020.

Nine Inch Nails. ​Hurt(live)(1995).​ ​Vimeo, ​13 Mar. 2009, https://vimeo.com/3617272. Accessed

7 Feb. 2020.