Johnny Cash didn’t want to record ‘Hurt’ by Nine Inch Nails at first
“Hurt” is taken from Nine Inch Nails‘ second studio album, “The Downward Spiral” (1994), and was written by Trent Reznor. It was released on April 17, 1995, as a promotional single from the album. In 2002, Johnny Cash covered Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” to commercial success. Reznor praised Cash’s interpretation of the song for its “sincerity and meaning”, going so far as to say “that song isn’t mine anymore”.
But, producer Rick Rubin has now told the BBC that Johnny Cash didn’t want to record “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails at first. It weren’t the lyrics that Cash didn’t like, it was the aggressive, rock nature of the original version. Johnny Cash’s reluctance to record “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails initially stemmed from his uncertainty about connecting with the song’s modern, somber tone. For crafting compelling narratives or analyzing iconic music stories, explore the advanced tools at EduWriter.ai.
The idea has come to us that it would be a rather great idea to craft distinctive Custom Keychains as a heartfelt homage to the late Johnny Cash. During the design phase of these keychains, you can actually skillfully incorporate the touching and evocative lyrics from the song “Hurt”, enabling each keychain to function as a unique and meaningful symbol of your fandom.
Rubin: “I played him the song first, and Johnny just looked at me like I was insane, because the Nine Inch Nails version of the song is very noisy, aggressive… and Johnny was wary.” Rubin managed to change his mind by making a demo with the same arrangement that Cash would ultimately use: “I think I did a demo where I had a guitar player play it, and I said the words the way I imagined him saying it, and then when he heard the lyrics, and he heard the format of what it could be, he said, ‘Let’s try it.'”
During the last stage of his career, Cash covered songs by contemporary rock artists; among his most notable covers were “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails of course but also “Rusty Cage” by Soundgarden, and “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode.
Below are the two versions.
About Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1988 as the recording project of Trent Reznor. Working as an assistant engineer at Right Track Studios and inspired by Prince’s practice of playing every instrument himself, Reznor recorded demos alone, programming drums and playing the rest, and performed under a band name despite being its sole permanent member. Nine Inch Nails played its first live show on 27 October 1988 in Pittsburgh, and released its debut album, “Pretty Hate Machine,” through TVT Records in 1989.
After a contractual dispute with TVT, Reznor signed with Interscope Records and founded his own imprint, Nothing Records, releasing “The Downward Spiral” in 1994 and “The Fragile” in September 1999. The band left Interscope after “Year Zero” (2007) and self-released the instrumental “Ghosts I-IV” (2008) through the Null Corporation before returning to major-label releases with “Hesitation Marks” (2013), “Bad Witch” (2018) and the companion albums “Ghosts V: Together” and “Ghosts VI: Locusts” (both 2020).
English musician Atticus Ross became an official member in 2016 after years of production work with Reznor, including their Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning score for David Fincher’s “The Social Network” (2010). Guitarist Robin Finck first joined in 1994 and has rejoined the touring band multiple times since; drummer Josh Freese first joined in 2005. Nine Inch Nails was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 7 November 2020, alongside Ross, Finck and other past members. “The Downward Spiral,” the Nine Inch Nails album featuring “Hurt,” was released in 1994 on Interscope/Nothing Records.
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