Hurt was originally written by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. Johnny Cash was quoted as saying that Hurt is the best anti-drug (Heroin) song he'd ever heard and wanted to cover it. He ended up making the song his own. Even Trent Reznor said that Johnny owns that song now, not him. Also, that song was the last video Johnny Cash ever did. He died not long after this video was recorded.

The way he close the piano at the end like saying " goodbye that's all".... This song is so painfully beautiful, tears everytime I hear it

When the producer brought the final video for Johnny and his family to watch, his daughter said its like you're saying goodbye, to which Johnny replied "I am". RIP Johnny, thank you.

girl....your always lookin away in your videos...missed him caressing his piano at the end. As if this is his swan song and he is telling us all goodbye in a soft, poignant ending. his wife, (on the stairs), passed shortly after the completion of this, his last music video. heartbroken, old, and in ill health, John left this world soon after June did. those of us that grew up listening to Cash and watching him on tv and in the films were in awe of the living legend. the man in black. the world is a little less bright without Johnny Cash in it. i am just thankful we still have his vast body of work to enjoy and remember him bye. thanks, Inna, for this little reminder of one of my yesterdays. bless you. much peace and lots of love. go with God. be seeing ya on the next. later, darling.

When Johnny's daughter heard the song she said "It sounds like you're saying goodbye" He said I am. Both him and his wife June pasted away a few months later

A few fun facts about this song: 1) It's a cover of a song originally by Nine Inch Nails. 2)Trent Reznor was initially against it, but once he heard it he said, "It's Johnny's song now". 3)This was the last song Johnny released before he passed away in 2003. 4)Closing the piano at the end of the video was his way of signing off and saying goodbye to his fans. 5)The woman in the video is his wife, June Carter-Cash. 6)The difference between this and the original is that the original is reflecting on a single mistake, while this version is a reflection on and entire life's worth of mistakes and regrets.

His last video. His wife who we see died shortly before him and he followed a few months later. It's very sad

This video brings a tear every time. Johnny Cash is a lyrical genius, but this happens to be a cover of a song by Trent Reznor of Nine-Inch Nails. For a less bleak sample of his own writing, check out I Walk The Line or Folsom Prison Blues. Nice reaction, Inna!

He was near the end of his life when he did this cover. He never played the piano again after this. When his daughter was watching this video, she said "It feels like you're saying goodbye." Johnny Cash then said, "I am." His wife died a few months later, and he followed her just a couple of months later. I listened to the Nine Inch Nails original of a young man dealing with drugs and such. Then I heard this. It was about the regrets, of not having chosen wisely over a lifetime, the desire to do it differently, and his sweetest friend. It is such a powerful song and brings me to tears every time. I'm 72 and it rings so true.

Everytime I hear this song it makes me cry..you can't take anything with you when you die it's just dust.. I lost my husband in a car accident.. you never know..

Once I looked at a book on love. For me the best contribution came from Johnny Cash who when asked to describe paradise answered " This morning, drinking coffee with her "

My all time favourite male country singer.

After he closed the cover on the piano, he never opened it again...he died a few months later.

This wise old man did not write the lyrics or the song. It's a very unlikely cover version. It was written by Trent Reznor (probably when he was in his twenties or thirties) of the indsutrial metal band Nine Inch Nails. If you want to check them out, I recommend the songs Closer or Head Like A Hole.

God bless Jonny Cash he gotten in trouble with drugs and drink a lot. Possibly the only singer that sang his was out of prison. He is a legend that is greatly missed

I imagine that if I heard this song first when I was young, I would have appreciated its honesty, and seen it as a warning against drug use. But now, at 74, after having lived a life of mostly soaring highs and victories, what holds my thoughts now is the failures and missed opportunities. Specifically, I realized only 3 years ago that I have Asperger's syndrome, fairly mild, but that's like being mildly pregnant. Now I understand my failures, mostly interpersonal, and wonder "What if?" Regret is what I feel most. Regret. That's what the song is expressing. It's too late for me, and for Johnny, but not for those on the other end of the pipeline. Young people REALLY need to believe us old folks -- I've been here for 74 years, but I was 32 when I went to bed last night. I'm serious. Time perception is truly deceiving. We compare the time ahead to what's already passed. At age 9, eternity is nine years, so 65 more is an infinity of infinities. At 60, sixty is eternity, and 10 more is nothing. Time really does accelerate as we get older. That's not a trite cliché. So DON'T WASTE A MOMENT! Specifically, don't throw time away by lying wasted on someone's floor all night, or by smoking -- that chops off the last 12 years allotted to you, and fouls the 12 preceding that. Don't take the easy path of immediate gain. It doesn't stick. Build something useful, good and worthwhile. Don't waste time fighting with your life partner. She's your partner, not your enemy. If it's bad, shut it down, try another path. And NEVER, EVER incinerate time by telling your child "Sorry, kiddo, Daddy's too tired tonight", or "Daddy's got paperwork to do. Tomorrow, OK?" Create time if you have to, because this is where it matters. You have one chance. Time goes by deceptively fast, and it can't be recovered. If you let it slip away, you'll be left with ................ REGRET.

Great reaction! This song means so much to me as a recovering alcoholic, and it reminds me of the damage I did/could do if I ever picked up a bottle again. Music, in many ways, is my therapy.

I believe this music video was shot in 2002 just before Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter passed away in 2003... It captured the last moments of their lives while looking back at the past. The song itself was a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song 'Hurt' (from 1994) - Johnny Cash was always a fan of covering other artists' songs in his career... The song was about addiction, and Cash knew all about the struggles against his addictions. Johnny Cash was in failing health... he had stopped touring since 1989, but he kept recording in the 90's after producer Rick Rubin offered him a chance to release any music he wanted to offer on his American Recordings label. At age 71, Cash was nearing the end of his life, and his 4th release for Rick Rubin was 'American IV: The man comes around' ... and it was a dark record. He would continue recording songs until his wife June Carter passed away in '03... Johnny Cash passed away 3 months later... The legend of Johnny Cash as an old school country music icon was made into a movie w/ actor Joacquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and actress Reese Witherspoon as June Carter, capturing his origins in Arkansas... and his turbulent life until the late 60's when he and June (who was his 2nd wife) finally married. Johnny Cash was known as the 'Man in Black' because he always performed in a black suit... he related to the working poor and the downtrodden people of America; he would perform in prisons during his career to entertain convicts and felons as charity. He had served in the US Air Force... and was a married father struggling to support his family in the 1950's... He was discovered by Nashville label Sun Records, who had also launched Elvis Presley's career and made him a star w/ country hits like - 'Cry, Cry, Cry'... and 'Folsom prison blues'... His band had a distinct sound like a moving train. On tour, he met June Carter, a singer who was part of a performing family called The Carter Family in country music... They became friends and collaborators in music, and she would often tour w/ him (She was divorced w/ children... she married a 2nd time, only to divorce again)... In the 60's, Johnny Cash was signed to a bigger label Columbia Records and the hit songs kept coming - "It ain't me babe" (feat. June Carter)... 'Orange blossom special'... 'Jackson' (feat. June Carter)... Unfortunately, Cash was struggling w/ drug addiction and alcoholism... his behavior got worse and his performances would be disastrous at times. In the end, it cost him his first marriage and his career started to fail... June Carter stood by him, but it was difficult... and she was also tormented at the time being in love w/ him while he was married - she co-wrote the song 'Ring of fire' ... which Cash made a hit single; it was about her feeling like she was going to hell for loving him. June Carter and her family's interventions finally helped Johnny Cash to clean up his act by the late 60's... but June would not commit to him until he proposed to her in front of an audience at his concert, and she finally accepted. They were married in 1968 and welcomed a son... The iconic duo spent the 70's touring and recording, as well as raising their collective children... Cash appeared in movies and TV over years... However, his past drug abuse affected his health in later years and ended his touring days by 1989. Cash would have remained a 'legacy artist' if Rick Rubin had not given him a chance to record new music... Johnny Cash found his new records selling to a young audience in his final years.

The closing of the piano lid is the closing of a life of music. It is symbolically the closing of a coffin lid. It is the end.

I have heard that at the end of the video when he closed his piano, he never opened it again. I also heard one of his kids said dad it sounds like you are saying goodby. John said I am.

This song gets quite a different perspective when sung by an old man troubled with addiction his whole life instead of an angsty 20-something. John knew it was too late to fix anything, so he just said "I'm sorry" and "Goodbye" to his wife and kids with this. And the way he caresses the piano at his former home. He never played it again after this video. When he closes it in the end, it was the very last time and you can see it.

This song has touched so many people in so many ways. I’ve seen a few reviews of this song. Most everyone starts off smiling then it sinks in. I grew up with Johnny and The Carters of which his wife June Carter Cash.

There is a movie "Walk the line" that tells Johny Cash's story, his history with drugs and the up's and downs of his personal life. a lot of the clips in this video come from it and it is well worth watching. As for songs, his iconic work is "Folsom Prison Blues" "99 to life" and "Boy Named Sue" but there are a lot more that are worth hearing.

His daughter said to him it sounds like you are saying goodbye he said I am. That was the last time Johnny opened and closed the lid on that piano.

Thus song was originally written by Trent Reznor for Mine Inch Nails, about wanting to end everything after his heroin addiction. When Mr. Cash recorded and released it, his wife had died and he was a few months away from crying himself; I believe he was 94, and very ill with cancer and other conditions. This was the last video he made.

There were probably (definitely) many places that Johnny Cash saw things differently ideologically than I do, but my respect and reverence for the man are limitless. The kind of awareness of one's own failings that he shows in this song is one of the rarest things to see, and it speaks volumes about his character.

The bit that always gets me, is that when Johhny closes the piano lid at the end of the video, he never opened it again. That was the last time he played it.

Yes, this is now Johnny Cash's song with a change of perspective and performance style. It has even deeper meaning from a older man approaching the end of life, looking back at struggles, regrets, losses, than as a young man's demons. There is another song that the same thing happened to, the cover of 'The Sound of Silence' by David Draiman / Disturbed has also been said to change ownership in the change of performance and arrangement to something more powerful than the original. Both the music video version which is lovely, but the live performance on the Conan O'Brien Show when David was ill with a fever and didn't know if he could perform. Conan said the whole backstage crew came to the wings after a few bars because they knew something special was happening, he said that's never happened before. You can tell by the audiences reaction why.

Yes, ... "Full of broken thoughts, i cannot repair..." you are a genius too, sweet Inna.

"The Man In Black" is a song that tells the story of why Johnny always wears black. It's a great song and it will be an answer to a question that you will have in the future. ✌🏼❤🇺🇸

Although Johnny didn't write this, he has written a few songs about shame and redemption in a similar vein. You should definitely check out I Hung My Head, a beautiful song, The Beast in Me is another great song.

I heard Johnny only changed one word to the original song, this song is amazing

So - June Carter Cash was in the video with him, his life partner and the one that kept him on the straight and narrow. This video came out in February of 2003 and she passed away in May of that same year. Then Johnny Cash passed away five months later. Sad year....

This is a powerful song.

It's takes alot to make me cry. And I have never cried to a song. But for some reason my eyes leak a little from this song.

The destruction of luxury is a statement that he does not care about anything material , all he wants is some one who cares and loves him (his wife) the line "If I could start again...I would keep myself , I would find a way" , is basicly refering to that he knows that he has been a royal pain to some and he would love to have a second try at doing better.

He lived an interesting life. There is a movie about his life called Walk the Line that is excellent. Worth watching.

Growing up as a kid, and having my dad play his music all the time. Mum loved Nana Mouskouri, nice voice, but I couldn't get on board with her. Doing security work at concert for many years, I heard Nine-Inch Nails do this song a few times at concerts. I was super excited when I heard Johnny did a cover of this song. It broke my heart on first hearing it. Totally made me look at life differently after.

It's quite the message, isn't it? Johnny Cash had pretty much seen everything and done everything. He either already had or could have anything material in this world he wanted. But as he felt the end approaching, he counted it all as an "empire of dirt" and had the same pain and regrets at the end of life as the rest of us.

This video is for those who know his story. 1. She died 3 months after this video. 2. He died 4 months after she died. 3. High C smash on piano and nail smashed, is the nails to coffin analogy (he closes it at the end).

He closes the piano the same way they close a coffin lid and say goodbye 😢

Johnny felt like he lost everything when his wife June died. He lived only 4 months after she passed. When she died he felt he had lost it all.

Johnny's cover of this tune always gives me chills, because I feel like it's my Grandpa talking to me. (My Grandpa was an interesting man with a storied past as well.) Trent saying "that's HIS song now" strikes quite the chord. Keep it up, we need more of this.

He's saying goodbye.

A mulher não demonstra emoção alguma!!!! Incapaz de ser sensível!!

I highly recommend watching Nine Inch Nail's video for this, specifically the live video from 1995. It's has the most impact you could get, aside from listening to the entire downward spiral album. The video from 1995 is Trent Reznor eviscerated on stage, bleeding out behind the bleakest vision of reality you can imagine. DO NOT watch any live version of Hurt after the year 2000. It has an entirely different impact from when it was fresh. Trent Reznor went on to have a happy marriage to a beautiful wife, have children, freaking win Oscars, be wealthy. Showing that you can come back from something like this. When he performs this song now he's sort of picking at scars, but man, back in the day it was something so powerful to see. I must admit to an unhealthy obsession with the album Downward Spiral. It's been my favorite album since it was released in 1994. It was the only album my mother grabbed from me and returned to the store haha. Of course, I bought it again months later. It's probably the darkest album I've listened too, and I've listened to all the metal. Band can release album "I've watched Serbian Film, and I wrote an album about it" and it just does nothing to me. However, The Downward Spiral has all my demons in it, it's personal, it means so much more even than just the story of the concept album.

If you're wondering who the lady is in the video that's June Carter she's apart of country music royalty if you want to listen to the Carter family and some more country classics

Even though it is a cover I think this is his greatest song, it really makes you think, about life, regret & loss, a real heart string puller, possibly his greatest and final performance, wonderful.

This song was one of many song covers Johnny Cash released at the end of his life, 5 whole albums of them, but this was the most famous by far.

Number one video of all times by the way

I don't have anything to add to this, some songs just carry so much weight in their delivery, so many possible meaning's & all are true at the same time. It might take a little wile to mentally unpack it all.

He was also a very religious man, and there's a ton of religious imagery in the video: the crown of thorns, the communion cup spilling out the blood of Christ, the image of Christ himself, and the pounding of the nails. The music itself pounds, over and over on the same note, ever increasing intensity. This was his swan song, yes, but is full of his expectations for his afterlife. It's truly an amazing work of art.

Trent Reznor was shocked when contacted by Johnny to sing his song. He was very honored to have Johnny cover it.T

The man in black Johnny Cash your music will love for ever

Johnny Cash didn't write this song, it was a Nine Inch Nails cover but Johnny did such a good cover that Trent Reznor who wrote it said that it is Johnny's now. Johnny did change one word in his version, in the original it is a crown of shit but in Johnny's it is crown of thorns. The woman on the stairs is his wife June Carter who was famous in her own right as part of The Carter Family who have been around since about the 1920's and still have members of the family singing as The Carter Family. Johnny, who is also known as just Cash, had a troubled life having been addicted to painkillers and having a older brother who was killed when he fell onto a table saw and was almost cut in two in a sawmill. The family also experienced the loss of their farm in the Dyess flooding, which is recounted in the song Five Feet High and Rising. In 1950 Cash enlisted into the US Air Force where he reached the rank of Staff Sergeant and became a Morse Code Operator and was allegedly one of the first people to hear of Joseph Stalin's death. His music career highlights are that he formed his own band called the Tennessee Two and was signed by SUN Records (same company that Elvis Presley was signed to). There is a recording somewhere with Cash, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins called the Million Dollar Quartet on December 4th 1956. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n72SirWctarFfaM.html. He did songs like I Walk The Line and Home of the Blues. He moved to Columbia Records and made songs like Don't Take Your Guns to Town and Oh Lonesome Me. Other songs you can listen to are San Quentin and Folsom Prison Blues, A Boy Named Sue and Get Rythym.

This song is original from the band Nine Inch Nails and there there lead singer Trent Reznor and his battle with substance abuse . when he (Trent Reznor)heard this cover of Hurt he said this is not longer a NIN song it's his Song now talking the (Man in Black) Johnny Cash. The woman who you see in the photo is Johnny Cash mother and the other one standing on the stairs is his wife June Carder Cash who passed away shorty after the video was made.

With this video, which was also Johnny's last before he withdrew from music completely and unfortunately died in 2003, Johnny tried to reflect on his own life, in contrast to the original. It reflects the early days of his career, as well as its sometimes difficult course. The video also makes it clear that everything is temporary and that money and fame cannot replace health. This becomes particularly clear in the video when he, almost alone in an armchair, reflects on his life, while his wife June Carter Cash listens to him from the stairs and has to realize helplessly, almost pitifully, that the time to say goodbye will soon come . The last scene in the video is intended to symbolize the end. The end of saying goodbye to his fans as well as the end of earthly existence. He closes the coffin lid himself... Rest in Peace, great Man in Black. I am proud to have seen you live in 1982. I will always carry this gift in my heart...

When Trent Reznor wrote this song, he was singing it from a different place. It was dark and brooding. And then comes JR Cash. Similar reasons, but it was as though he was singing his eulogy. He knew his time was short, and this was the song to be remembered for all time. The end of this video always hits me pretty hard. When he closes the lid on the piano and wipes it down, it's as if to say "Goodbye". There will never be another Johnny Cash. The love and hurt that June Carter had in her eyes is a love we all want. She tragically passed shortly after the video was made, and he passed not too much later. "When Reznor was asked if Cash could record a rendition of the NIN song, the rock frontman noted he was flattered but wondered if the song might come across as too “gimmicky.” But the music video and Cash’s recording assuaged his worries. Said Reznor, “I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. [I felt like] 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.”

You need to watch the movie "Walk The Line". A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. The film follows Cash's early life, his romance with the singer June Carter, his ascent in the country music scene, and his drug addiction. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter.

His wife (the woman on the stairs) died a few months before this song was released and he died soon after the release

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails wrote it but said Johnny owns it now.

Johnny Cash died a few months after doing this video , and his wife died before Johnny , His wife is in the video she came down from her sick bed and the camera man had to ask if it was ok to film her

Thank you young lady!

Johnny Cash and June Carter-Cash met shortly after his music career started in the 1950s. She was also with him in the end, standing on the stairs behind him in this video. They were divorced but remained life long friends. They had a hit song together in 1967 called "Jackson". Check it out.

When he closed the lid on that piano, that was literally the last time it was played. He died shortly after this and his Daughter vowed that the piano would never be played again.

This is by far my favorite song of Johnny, there's so much emotion in his voice here. The song is actually a cover from Nine Inch Nails, and to me this song is the perfect example that a cover can be better than the original. In the Netherlands we have the 'Top 2000' each year, where people can vote on the best songs ever. This song has been in the top 50 constantly for over 10 years. I'm gonna bombard your Discord now with some recommendations of Johnny and associated acts 😜

The last thing he did, was his goodbye song, even though it's not his song, only a cover, he made it his own and better than the original

One on his songs that gets lots of radio play is " burning ring of fire"

Still to this day I shed a tear watching this video

"this man is a lyrical genius. Cash: "Da fuq?!" Trent: "thank ya, Inn."

I’m sure this has been revealed, before and better by others, but Johnny Cash was said to be a deeply religious man. This song was recorded just before his death, and features both his mother (the picture on the wall) and his wife (the woman standing on the stairs). However, he did not like to shove his beliefs down other people throats. For him, faith was about the painful realization of his own sinfulness, and although he knew he was forgiven, he still very much regreted his wild youth. It may be one of the driving reasons many of his songs are about crime, punishment, and regret. Also, his is very famous for performing in prisons.

It was the end of his Life.

The songs to listen to are Walk the Line, Folsum Prison blues, Ring of Fire, and there are many others. He was a great entertainer.

Just keep in mind a few months after he made this video he passed.

A cautionary tale, beautifully and impactfully told.

You have to remember he had a highly successful 60 year carreer before thids song.

I turned 60 a week ago and I find that material positions don't mean as much to me as they did when I was a much younger woman.

Probably the best cover ever..

My grandfather passed away a month after my granmother back in 2020 i was 22 so logically i know better but this song makes me wonder if this is how he felt, makes me wonder if i had visited more if we would have been there instead of in our own worlds of grief and events maybe he woulda survived and been around for my own kid who came 9 months later, beautiful and heart wrenching song he was a gem

Other songs by Johnny Cash include: I walk the line Folsom Prison Blues A Boy Named Sue and one dedicated to you…Nearest Thing To Heaven

My name is Sue,,,, Wholesome prison, ,, Ring of fire,, Jackson,,, just to name a few,,he had too many hits to remember off the top of my head, look for his old albums then you'll understand why he is a legend, ps he had a drug habit. most his life

Not to be weird, but I absolutely love you!

Although Johnny cash didn't write this song, he owned it through and through, and took it to his grave

Johnny was a man with a great deal of disappointment and tragedies in his life. I grew up with him as a popular singer, and knew his story, so this video always hit me so hard. It was said that the mark of a true artist is if they can get an emotional response from an audience, if that is the case then Johnny Cash was the greatest artist of all time.

A Boy Named Sue (Written by Shel Silverstein)

The Lady standing behind him was his dead wife. Listen to Folsum Prison Blues and Ring of Fire.

Johnn Cash is the Country Music, Rock and Roll Songwriters and Gospel Halls of Fame. The only other person in all 4 HOF's is Elvis Presley.

Hurt...Johny, cash or original...😊 Anyway, thanks from Serbia 4 fresh perception!

The lady on the stairs is his wife June Carter

Mr. Cash did not write the song but he changed the timing and phrasing to make it his. Those of us who had followed him through his career took it to be a goodbye song from him. He died several months after this recording. Good analysis for someone who had never heard any of his work. He has so many songs you could spend years. A good one is "Ring of Fire" about the relationship he had with June his to be wife. Another is "Folsum Prison Blues" from the perspective of a prisoner. Here is a live recording. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ra1gmbZlqdWrhZc.html

The last great song he did. He knew he was dying.

Johnny Cash was indeed a brilliant songwriter and storyteller check out "God*s gonna cut you down" sometime

He was famous for more years than he wasn't famous in his entire life.

Sunday morning coming down- Johnny Cash written by Kris Kristofferson.

Hello Inna to write something about johnny cash here would be the longest comments the man had a stellar life with both good and bad moments to much to pin point in short form the man is a legend.

Dear Inna, we would love to recommend to you the following songs: Sinéad O' Connor - Nothing Compares To You Madonna - Frozen

Nine inch nails wrote the song, but after they heard this version they said it was his song now.

If you missed it. This will boomerang intentions all songs deliver.

Great reactuon Inna!

The song ended, then his life ended. Last song he sung...