Hurt (Nine Inch Nails song)

For other songs with the same name, see Hurt (song).

"Hurt"
Song

"Hurt" is a song written by Trent Reznor, first released on Nine Inch Nails's 1994 album The Downward Spiral. In 2002, "Hurt" was covered by Johnny Cash to critical acclaim; it was Cash's final hit released before his death. 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 Country Music Awards.

Single

"Hurt" was never produced as a commercial single for the public. However, a promotional disc was distributed, containing censored ("clean") and uncensored ("soiled") mixes. The disc, Interscope Records PRCD 6179, is labeled "Halo Ten" though it is not considered an official Halo.

Track listing

1. "Hurt" (Quiet version) Clean – 5:04
2. "Hurt" (Live version) Clean – 5:15
3. "Hurt" (Album version) Clean – 6:16
4. "Hurt" (Quiet version) Soiled – 5:21
5. "Hurt" (Live version) Soiled – 5:15
6. "Hurt" (Album version) Soiled – 6:15

Chart position

• Modern Rock Tracks – #8

Music video

File:Hurt music video.jpg

Trent Reznor in the "Hurt" music video.

The music video for "Hurt" is a live performance that appears on Closure and the DualDisc re-release of The Downward Spiral. The audio portion appears on the UK version of Further Down the Spiral.

A scrim had been dropped in front of the band on stage, onto which various images, such as war atrocities, survivors of the Battle of Stalingrad, a snake staring at the camera, and a time-lapse film of a decomposing wolf in reverse, were projected. A spotlight was cast on Reznor so he could 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 performance

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.

Johnny Cash's cover

"Hurt"
Song
B-side	"Personal Jesus" "Wichita Lineman"

Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" was released on his 2002 album, American IV: The Man Comes Around. Rick Rubin, producer of Cash's American series and a friend of Reznor's, suggested the song to Cash. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) The line "crown of shit" was changed to "crown of thorns", not only removing profanity from the lyrics, but also suggesting a reference to Christ. The cover was released on a single with the B-side "Personal Jesus", a cover of the Depeche Mode single.

Reznor said that when Rubin first asked if Cash could cover his song, 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.

I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore… It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning — different, but every bit as pure.

The cover was given the Country Music Award for "Single of the Year" in 2003. It ranked as CMT's top video for 2003, #1 on CMT's 100 Greatest Country Music Videos the following year, and #1 on the Top 40 Most Memorable Music Videos on MuchMoreMusic's Listed in October 2007. As of December 2007, the single occupies the number one spot on Rate Your Music's Top Singles of the 2000s.

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.

Cash's cover appeared in the Apriil 16, 2008 episode of Criminal Minds.

Track listing

1. "Hurt" – 3:39
2. "Personal Jesus" – 3:21
3. "Wichita Lineman" – 3:06

Other covers

"Hurt" has been covered by other artists in addition to Cash, including the following.

• Tori Amos frequently sang three or four lines of the song as an introduction to other songs during her Dew Drop Inn tour in 1996, most frequently "Caught a Lite Sneeze", and then again in 1998, as an improvisational bridge.
• Breaking Benjamin
• Sheryl Crow covered the Cash version on the television special Tribute to Johnny Cash.
• Fightstar
• Matthew Good, acoustic tour 2006.
• Gregorian arranged the lyrics into a medieval Gregorian chant.
• Kermit the Frog is featured in an unauthorized parody called "Sad Kermit".
• Aaron Lewis of Staind covered the song during his 2007 Have Guitar, Will Travel solo acoustic tour.
• Luna Amara
• Jeff Martin
• Montezuma's Revenge
• Placebo, at the House of Blues in California in 2003.
• Damien Rice, by inserting lyrics from the song into his live performances.
• Underoath played it acoustic live
• Sevendust did a cover as a tribute to Johnny Cash.
• Westside Connection sampled the main riff for their song "The Gangsta The Killa and The Dope Dealer".

Further reading

• "Digital Tributes Honor Virginia Tech Victims". KDKA-TV. 2007-04-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Anthony DeCurtis (2005-06-07). "In Other Words: Trent Reznor". Rolling Stone. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Hurt at Discogs
• "Hurt" at the NinWiki
• "Hurt" at Songfacts
• Lyrics of the versions on Halos 8, 10, 12, and 17
• Cover videos