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Alexis Davis

Professor Johnson

ENG 1201.517

27 September 2020

“Hurt”

Although “Hurt” by Johnny Cash and “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails both imply a claim

involving depression, they are regarding two different reasons for depression. Johnny

Cash appeals to the audience more effectively as he uses visual images and clips of

himself determining his sadness. Cash’s version was about him going into depression

as he watches himself age, while Nine Inch Nails cast showed as they went through a

heroin addiction and were causing self harm to themselves. Although both versions

imply the same overall tone, they still have two different stories behind them.

The original version of “Hurt” was sung by Nine Inch Nails. It was a song that had

many references of self harm and a heroin addiction. Some people took this song as a

final suicide note that was written because of depression. This version captures visual

reasons of the causes of his depression and expresses his inner emotions, such as war

atrocities, war flashbacks, and a snake staring at the camera to visualize symbolism as

it relates to the lyrics. .

Johnny Cash was a 71 year old man, who was going through serious health

issues. He wrote another version of the song, as it captures devastating pictures and

pictures/videos of his past life. It contained pictures of how frail he was becoming

because of old age, it showed his happy life of when he was younger as it compares to

how he looks now. This was one of the last of his greatest hits before the time of his
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death. This song received many rewards and showed in many documentaries and TV

shows.

Both of these songs dealt with the acts and thoughts of somebody going through

depression. Although they both claim about depression, they both convey different

messages. One goes through depression causing self harm and addiction, while the

second version has depression caused by old age and unwillingness to live anymore.

Between the two versions of the song, I believe Johnny Cash’s version came across

more effectively to me. It showed more clips of him, providing a strong pathos appeal,

as we could tell the frailness of his body. He showed examples of what he looked like

then versus now, so the listeners could physically see the difference.

Cash provided strong visuals that made the music video emotional. He provided

clips of his happy life as compared to now, then proceeded with clips of his piano lid

closing or the wine falling from his frail hand. The closing of the piano lid represented

the end of his music career, and the wine falling from his hands showed him losing his

strength. They also showed Cash’s cracked records. This version had more of an

emotional impact on the listeners. Another difference from the original, is that Cash

eliminated all the curse words making a more direct reference to Christ. For example,

he changes the lines from “crown of shit” to “crown of thorns”. He did this to take out

profanity and to show his relationship with the Lord.

I think both videos could appeal to any audiences as they both deal with types of

depression. Depending on if you have an addiction, it could attract you more to listen to

the original version. Although, if you want a more appealing approach I would watch

Cash’s version. People seem to get more tied up in their own shell and make
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themselves think they’re the only ones dealing with depression. Such as in Cash’s

version, he becomes older and is overwhelmed with thoughts and pain and wants to

give up.

While both of these songs hold the same value, they both perceive a different

story. Anyone can go through depression and it can hit harder for some rather than

others. Everyones’ emotional feelings are different, so these songs can relate to each

person differently. Whether you’ve had an experience with the content in the song,

know somebody that has, or simply relate to the emotional appeal that it creates. Of

course the original version displays a message that the audience can relate to, it isn’t as

powerful as Johnny Cash made his version to be. Cash gave us explicit reasons as to

why he felt the way he did, and explained his devout Christianity.
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Works Cited

“Hurt (Nine Inch Nails Song).” Culture Wikia,

culture.fandom.com/wiki/Hurt_(Nine_Inch_Nails_song).

“The Story behind Johnny Cash's 'Hurt', Still the Saddest Music Video of All Time.” The

Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 5 Nov. 2017,

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/story-behind-johnny-

cash-s-hurt-still-saddest-music-video-all-time-a6683371.html.