Most of the time; the cover is not as great as the original….
With this song; a lot of people even do not know that this is a cover… !!!
And a lot of people consider this one better than the original….
I still didn’t decide….. one time it is the original - other time the cover….
But sure is; this song is originally from Nine Inch Nails !!
Also sure is; the clip of Johnny Cash is AMAZING…. and I it made me cry… !!
The words of Trent Reznor (singer of Nine Inch Nails);
“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.”
Little facts;
Original; Nine Inch Nails - from the album Downward Spiral (1994)
Cover; Johnny Cash - from the album American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002)
And a sad fact about this video of Cash; the house, used in the clip, has been the home of Cash for nearly 30 years got destroyed in a fire on April 10th, 2007.
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Original; Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
I am a Cash fan as well as a fan of NIN. This version of the song is an excellent interpretation but it also has a very depressing feel to it. Cash was and will always be a legend.