Drew Wolf

Professor Kretzer

English 1201

3 April 2020

Both songs have the same underlying tone and emotion but have very different

meanings behind them. Johnny Cash is at the end reflecting on his past while Trent

Reznor struggles with the pain of addiction.

Both videos use pathos as a way of drawing people in. They lean in heavy into

the emotions through their singing delivery and the words themselves. The rhetorical

appeal of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails is that of sadness and depression. The song is about

a man in a downward spiral as a result of drug abuse. The music video is dark and erie

with no real narrative behind it. It only serves to offer disturbing images of dying animals

and victims of war. These images elicit an emotional reaction as they are pictures we

are not used to seeing. But they encompass the emotion behind the lyrics of the song.

The artist wants the audience to feel his dread and emptiness through images that will

give this affect. In the vocals you can hear the pain behind his voice, which helps to set

the dark tone. The Johnny Cash cover offers the same tones of grim and despair but

the meaning and reasons are much different. To truly understand the emotion behind

the video you must know where Johnny Cash was in his life while making the cover.

Johnny was at not only the end of his career but the end of his life. And he knew he did

not have much time left. Because of this he used the song as a way of reflecting on his

past. Johnny was reflecting on his choices as well as how he watched his career fizzle

as the times changed and interest shifted. The video displays images of him and his
wife when they were younger and in their prime. It then comes back to them in the

present as he gazes on playing the guitar. All while his wife stares off into the distance.

You can hear the sorrow and pain in his voice. The rasp in his voice and tone of his

singing bring a different kind of pain to the song and listeners. While Trent Reznor is

speaking of addiction and how it has ruined and destroyed his life, Johnny Cash sings

of the life he has lived and what it has come to. Now that his fame and money mean

nothing because he is out of time. His wife passed away three months after the filming

of the music video and Johnny Cash would pass away four months later. Both artists

convey sadness and a feeling of emptiness for very different reasons.

The audience for these two versions are much more similar than they are

different. Both songs feature a sad tone which in turn will draw in a comparable crowd.

Given the heavy emotion behind the song and lyrics this will attract people that are in an

emotional state. People like to listen to music that they can relate to, especially in the

moment. Trent Reznor’s version would probably appeal more to a younger audience as

his music is much more recent. Johnny Cash has a much older audience because he

has been making music since the 50’s. Both artists reach a broad audience but come

from different genres and generations. Johnny Cash is more of an old-school rock and

roll while Nine Inch Nails is industrial rock.

While both songs deliver a meaningful and emotional feeling they have different

intentions. Johnny Cash is singing about the pain of the end, while Trent Reznor sings

about the pain of living.

Work Cited

Cash, Johnny, director. Johnny Cash "Hurt". Youtube, 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?

v=8AHCfZTRGiI
 Reznor, Trent, director. Nine Inch Nails "Hurt". Youtube, 2009,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbHz9p7Z4OU.