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Charles J Groom

ENG 1201

Dr. Cassel

25 July 2020

Different Types of Hurt

When someone listens to a certain genre of music, they often expect that genre to produce

a specific result. For example, someone who listens to pop music might expect a song to have a

certain sound to it such as a bass line or major chords. Someone who listens to jazz is going to

expect different music than someone who listens to Kpop. Because of this, it is possible for

different artists from different genres to cover the same song but give it two completely different

sounds and meanings. Although the Nine Inch Nails and the Johnny Cash versions of the song

“Hurt” share the same words and both have dark videos the inherent differences in audiences

allow the two artists to give different claims to a similar piece.

The Johnny Cash version of the song “Hurt” features an old Cash who appears to be

reflecting on his life. At the beginning of his music video, Cash is sitting alone in a fancy, yet

dimly lit house playing his guitar. This is when he utters the first line: “I hurt myself today/ To

see if I still feel” (Cash 1-2). Given Cash’s age and the setting of the music video so far, this line

seems to use pathos to imply that Cash, after a long life, is empty inside. This claim is supported

by the images after this line which are of his old house now closed to the public. Throughout the

video, Cash is seen constantly looking into the distance as if he is looking back on his life with
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regret. This idea is reinforced by lines such as “What have I become/ My sweetest friend?/

Everyone I know/ Goes away in the end” (Cash 9-12). This sense of regret is coupled with the

style of music, which is of course country. Acoustic country songs can often have a sad or

regretful tone to them, which is clearly displayed in this music video. Because of the audience

that the song has, country, Cash is able to use pathos in his music video and his words to convey

sadness and regret on a personal level. This point is driven home by the black and white videos

of his past that appear throughout the video. This video is about regretting the life that he has

lived. He regrets his “empire of dirt” by saying that he has not lived a life worth the worship he

has been given (Cash 14). Because of the audience and visual content of his music video, Cash is

able to use pathos to give the song a regretful tone and message.

The Nine Inch Nails uses the pathos from the video playing behind the band and the song

to say that the world is seriously messed up. This is a common theme among metal music, which

Nine Inch Nails is a part of. The music video starts off with images of what appears to be an

animal’s corpse decomposing. The video then transitions to a bloody soldier with bandages on

his face. All the while Nine Inch Nails is saying “I hurt myself today/ to see if I still feel” (Nine

Inch Nails 1-2). This gives the line a more existential point of view. It is as if Nine Inch Nails is

saying that the reason that they hurt themselves is that they have grown so used to the pain and

suffering of the world that they have to make sure they can still feel what pain is like. The rest of

the video features ominous clips of graveyards, explosions, and other forms of mass suffering.

Because of these images and the pathos of the video, the line “What have I become/ My sweetest

friend?/ Everyone I know/ Goes away in the end” is given a more communal meaning (Nine Inch

Nails 9-12). The ‘I’ in the first line could be better replaced with the word ‘we’ as Nine Inch

Nails is saying that humanity has been corrupted and because of that everyone precious to one
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person will end up dead. This depiction of the song is only possible because of the genre,

audience, and pathos supplied by the images of the video.

While the Cash and Nine Inch Nails versions of “Hurt” have many similarities they also

have many differences. Both of the songs seem to convey a message of sorrow which is not

uncommon given the genres of these two artists. Country and Metal, while very different, can

both have a very sad message to them. In Cash’s case, the sadness comes from himself and the

life that he has lived. This is pretty common for country artists. However, the Nine Inch Nails

version of the song uses its audience and pathos to give the song sadness from a social aspect.

Metal focuses on outside causes of sadness. This difference in audience helps to give the two

versions vastly different meanings. Another way that the Nine Inch Nails version uses its

audience to supply meaning is by making the song dissonant. Dissonance is more commonly

liked by metal fans than country fans. This dissonance gives the song a mysterious sound to it

while the country version focuses more on an acoustic sound. Because of the differences in

audience and pathos, Cash and Nine Inch Nails are able to give vastly different meanings to a

very similar work of art.

Because “Hurt” by Johnny Cash and Nine Inch Nails have the same lyrics and a

somewhat similar melody, one might expect them to have similar meanings. However, this is not

the case. The differences in audience and their expectations let the different artists use pathos in

completely different ways. The Nine Inch Nails version of the song focuses on external

corruption being the cause of pain while the Cash focused on internal corruption as the source of

his pain. Both of these ideas are supported the images shown in the music videos and show how

important context is to a piece of art or music.

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Work Cited

Cash, Johnny. “Hurt (Official Music Video).” Youtube, uploaded by Johnny Cash, 13 September

2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHCfZTRGiI.

Nine Inch Nails. “Nine Inch Nails: Hurt (live) (1995)” Youtube, uploaded by Nine Inch Nails, 16

March 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhh21crSohs.