Kudos! While Johnny didn't write this, it resonated with him and he did his version. For Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) it was written about his struggles with addiction, depression etc..... For Johnny, it was a reflection of his life, his regrets, an apology and a goodbye. He led one hell of a life which included substance abuse, infidelity, and all the typical trappings of the celebrity lifestyle. When Johnny's daughter saw this, she cried and said, "It sounds like you're saying goodbye" and Johnny replied, "I am"..... That was Johnny's wife June Carter Cash standing in the stairs watching him. She died 3 months after this was filmed and Johnny followed 4 months after her. I believe this was a gift from Johnny, the gift of wisdom....
Yeah Mike most people don't even know about the original NIN version b/c it wasn't that big of a hit but it was a great song too! Not better than this one but still great though! :)
Nine Inch Nail's songwriter, Trent Reznor prolifically responded to Cash’s “Hurt” cover with: “I wasn’t prepared for what I saw, and it really then, wasn’t my song anymore.”
@@jonthomas3065 I know! I heard a podcast interview (Howard Stern, I think) where Trent was asked about Johnny's version. Trent said he actually refused to listen to it at first, but then a friend (think it was his manager) showed him the music video for his first "listen".... Trent said it actually brought them to tears. That's when Trent said "It's Johnny's song now". Funny how the same song can come across so different yet be SO equally powerful and moving!
Yeah but the truth is that bith versions are great. Johnny Cash more ballad, the other more rough. But these are Reznor musics and lyrics creator wise. Also for Trent it has different meaning. Both versions are great.
Both songs are beautiful. And even if Cash and Reznor are singing the same lyrics (mostly), they are two totally and completely different songs with totally different meanings. Both have a place.
I can't listen to this without tearing up. I'm a 72 year old man and there is so much in this song that resonates with my own life, so many regrets and bad choices, with anything good being very transitory - RIP Johnny, if there is life after death I hope you are back with June
Although Johnny didn’t write this song, he lived every word of this song . You should research Johnny’s music. He was ahead of his time. He’s truly the Man in Black. He wrote some bangers. This was the last song He recorded before he passed.
The picture of the woman on the wall was his mother . His wife, June who’s in the video passed away 3 months after it was made and Johnny followed 4 months after her.
Maybe I'm a slow learner, but Johnny's passing is what convinced me that it is 100% possible to die of a broken heart. They say old age, drugs, etc did Johnny in. I'm pretty convinced it was a broken heart.
@@JayLachMe My grandma died only a few months after My grandpa died. She told me she no longer wanted to go on without her love of her life. I believe too that one can die of a broken heart
That's how you turn an hymn of despair into the death knell for a dying giant. When you run out of time, you can't lie to yourself anymore. Also, that image of June Carter watching the man she loves singing his goodbyes is heartbreaking, little did she know she would go before him. Of course it's rough, it's a man closing the lid on his life. We spend our lives not thinking that they will end someday.
He's not talking about the people who were fucking with him - he's talking about the people's loved and how he's let them down. It's a song of regret looking back on his life
I think it also about using “needle injecting heroine ( his sweetest friend ) and how escaping. Ruining his life and how his lies and lifestyle has only to hurt everyone even though he has possessions they mean dirt
Let's not forget this WAS actually the first time Stevie saw/heard this (unlike some "Reactors"). I guarantee he'll come back to it again and again, and his insight into the meaning(s) will grow. Love his enthusiasm and openness!!!
@@zackyboi2048 Totally agree. Joaquin is lightning in a bottle in literally every role he takes. In that role you didn't even see Joaquin. It was like watching Johnny play himself.
"If you take your time to listen to it, country music is very similar to rap," Snoop Dogg told Billboard last year. "Johnny Cash is the one who stood out to me. I love his style, his swag, the songs he made."
Man I remember when he dropped this. I was like...dude this is a Nine Inch Nails song and was just blown away. This man was, is, and will always be a legend.
If feel sorry for future generations. They won't have this type of music to look back on. Instead they'll have ex strippers and guys with faces covered in tattoos about nothing to look back on.
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) actually wrote the song. Here's what he had to say about Johnny Cash's cover: 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.
I can never listen to this song without tearing up... That feeling of total abandonment, total solitude even surrounded by people; that's pure depression and self harm...damn
Everytime I hear this, I tear up, too. I'd heard Reznor's version years ago, liked it. Then I heard Cash's version after working in long term care and hospice for a long time. Now I always hear this and think of all of my dementia patients. It resonates so damned hard for me, knowing what they go through as they struggle to remember things, their spouses, their children, their *lives,* and how they're simply waiting to die.
I think it's also just the entire situation of being at that stage of your life... and essentially just waiting to die. Health is starting to go, you've accomplished all you've wanted to/could do... now you wait for the end, looking back and thinking about your legacy.
So this was basically his self eulogy of his life with a nine inch nails song, his wife passed away right before this was let out which makes it even more soul ripping.
@@Zikliv, the photo is his late mother-in-law, Maybelle Carter, whom he was extremely close to. His wife, June Carter Cash, is the woman in the video who is standing on the stairs.
Man….. I remember exactly where I was when I first this song. It literally stopped me in my tracks, I stood there and just listened, I walked away damn near in tears. I felt him giving in, looking back and I felt as I lived 1000 lives in a matter of 3 mins. Wonderful version
This song was written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails (NIN). The NIN version is also fantastic but different. Johnny Cash did a cover of it and made it his own as part of his American Recordings series produced by Rick Rubin (Def Jam, Beastie Boys etc...). When Trent heard Johnny’s version and saw the video he was shook. It is so powerful if you play it all the way through without stopping. The transparency and experience in his vocal is haunting. If you want to hear a great Johnny Cash record written by him do Ghost Riders In The Sky - absolutely haunting.
Tried to listen to the original after hearing Johnny’s, does not hit the same lol. The cash version is far better IMO. Great reaction as always Stevie keep putting in that work
Johnny didnt write Ghost Riders in the Sky. The original version by Stan Jones was recorded in late 1948 or early 1949. A recording by Stan Jones and his Death Valley Rangers issued on Mercury 5320 in May 1949. Fellow songwriter Eden Ahbez sent the song to Burl Ives, who recorded his own version in early 1949. Also in 1949 The Sons of the Pioneers released the song,which made a huge hit.
This was the perfect song for him at the end of his life. Johnny Cash had a crazy, interesting, sad, complex life and he'll always be one of my favorite artists.
Every time I hear this song it is so cathartic for me.. Trent managed to express some serious feelings and thoughts and then to have Johnny do this cover so beautifully at that point in his life just gives it even more depth. It's seemingly simple but you can get lost in it. Just so very touching.
Didn't write it. A NIN song from the 90's that addicts clung to so they weren't alone. A copy without acknowledgement of true original is a slap to the face.
@@matthewbrug6337 You'd have to really understand how Johnny was with his family (or more so how he wasn't) to realize he wasn't "dad" an he knew it hence the song being so perfect for is "goodbye".
@@WatchingFromWork6636 bull, she said daddy in the originally quote. She almost always called him dad still does, in public. At home, he was daddy. June wasnt her mom, thats why she called her June... as Carlene called him john since he wasnt her father... and june was momma
I'm still infuriated that a no talent hack like G-Eazy would have the gall to cover Lazarus. The song is holy ground. It was a legend saying good bye, and it should NEVER be covered EVER! Covering it showed a definite lack of class. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-igxj6l_J6PY.html
Trent gave this song to Johnny after he recorded it... Shows the humbleness of Trent and the performance Johnny gave!! Having June in the end... That's what he wanted most! Her!
Original song was made by Nine Inch Nails. But after Johnny Cash did this, Trent Reznor loved it so much when he watched the video, that he cried and declared this is his (Johnny Cash) song now.
If anybody truly knows Johnny and Junes story, that image of him singing this song while she stood over him looking down on the stairs.... that just hits right in the chest
That was actually an accidental shot. She had come to check on him, because he hadn’t been feeling well, and didn’t realize they were shooting and she was in the shot. That’s why she looks so concerned. When footage was reviewed, the director decided that it was the most honest shot of them they’d get and kept it in.
@@kristinkeiner6547 please do not spread missinfermation if she was not ment to be there she would have left right away she was there for multiple shots camera focused on here she would have been blured out a bit due to lenz focus she was ment to be in it " June Carter Cash who participated in the video (shown gazing at her husband in several sequences) "
Only the Man in Black could sing someone else's song on a steady key making it so powerful and his own just by putting his life and experience behind it. The song gives me chills each time I hear it even years later.
My daddy is from the Johnny Cash Era I played this for him and said what's your thoughts dad? He said honey to me it's about the end of life sometimes all you feel is the pain of age you watch loved ones die and relize all the hars work you did and things you bought really doesn't matter in the end. We all are going die you just get tired and start thinking what will I be be remembered for but with time we all are forgotten it's just facing the fact there's mistakes, good and bad but one thing no one can escape death in the end we start looking back. My dad's still alive 99 years old and within 2 months I've watched him so downhill everytime they take blood I see him wrench and think of this song about feeling the pain. For me its the watching your last few years, and people die leaving us behind only to follow in their footsteps . Funny thing is my daddy could pass for Johnny Cash look a like. Hars to watch this.
this song wasn't about people against him, it was for the people that were with him no matter what, his wife and mother and everyone else, and his sorrows outliving them, its an old man wishing he could start over and make better choices. he is regreting the choices he made in live and wished he could have made differently
You are right… he didn’t write it… but it sure does fit… and this isn’t about people against him. I like the nine inch nails original but I have to say I prefer Johnny’s rendition
In my mind, this is the greatest cover song of all time. Trent Rezner wrote this song and origionally performed it as Nine Inch Nails, but reportedly when he heard this version years later he said, "It's Johnny's song now".
Johnny and June is one of the most iconic true love stories. That is most definitely his wife. She saved him in more ways than one. Watch the movie I walk the line.
Amen! Walk the Line is a fantastic film! Right up there with Ray in many ways. Joaquin Phoenix at his finest. Johnny Cash has music that only gets better with time and perspective.
100% sister!! The movie "Walk The Line" is a MUST!! Johnny and June's story is incredible... She was a great woman and he, a great man.... Together, they were epic!!
@@goldengreen7763 She was a wonderful and talented woman.We were all lucky to have her, her music AND her influence on Johnny and his music!! May they rest easy together in eternity... They will live on forever in their music for generations.... Peace and light to you and your family. :)
Still remember when this song and music video first dropped and how powerful his cover of NIN's song was. It was sad because this song took on a whole new meaning when he covered it, and right after his wife passed away, then a few months later he passed away. The amount of love he got that year was beautiful, just a reminder of the influence that he had on people.
Let me just say.. you're one if the most intelligent reactors out there.. to all types of music and bars. I like getting your perspective.... you should see the Johnny Cash movie " WALK THE LINE" . I wasn't a big Johnny Cash guy... but now knowing the story..and what he went thru. It's pretty dope.. he was diffrent... anyway.. great reaction SK
Taking a stroll back through Johnny Cash's life and catalog, this song becomes more and more impactful. Like others have mentioned, this is a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song, but as you can tell from Johnny's delivery and video this song really hits home for him at this stage of his life (he died shortly after recording this). Keep expanding those horizons bro! I hope you'll dip your toes into Metal at some point (start with radio-friendly bangers like "Sad but True" from Metallica)
Johnny Cash and his second wife, June Carter Cash, lived in this lakeside mansion from about 1969 until she died about three months after this video was filmed. She wrote one of his greatest hits, "Ring of Fire." Johnny wrote songs also. Their son, John Carter Cash is shown in the video as a baby and as a boy of about 9. The interior of their home was fit for a king. After John and June died, that home was lost in a fire. Another reminder that all is lost eventually.
He said one of the realist things you could say “idk shit about Johnny cash but the fact that I know of him means something” but the original is by nine inch nails
I loved the song when Nails did it.. When Johnny Cash did it.. my soul moved and cried..his wife died.. he did this song and died. I believe this was a farewell 😢
Wrong. He wasn’t heartbroken about what others did to him - he was heartbroken at how HE HURT others. He abused his wife, his family, his friends. He was a self absorbed drug addict. Now he had outlived everyone he hurt (and loved and took for granted), and has finally seen how much pain HE caused.
You know nothing about Johnny Cash nevertheless read about him before you say he abused June or his kids you are wrong and plus he didn’t write the song
This is the first reaction to this song I felt actually warranted a comment from me. When you gave the explanation of the line "You are someone else, I am still right here" that was the first time I interpreted it that way. I always envisioned he was talking to his past self-- this person he no longer identified with or recognized, yet has to live forever with the consequences of their actions. Anyway, thanks for opening up an alternative door for that line.
Johnny Cash was a legend. There will never be anyone that done what he done during is career. He really made this cover feel like it was written for him even though it wasn’t. R.I.P June and Johnny
‘Trent Reznor was born to write this song.’ “Johnny Cash was born to sing it.” Bono, U2 Trent Reznor didn’t perform this song again live for many, many years. ‘It’s not my song anymore.’
He covered this song and afterword Trent Reznor said that this song belongs to him now. His wife died shortly after this video was made and he followed her 4 months later. I lived close to him. The day after he died, I drove by his estate. I've never seen so many flowers and teddy bears in my life. His gate was covered. I drove by the House of Cash every day. Now they've moved it to Nashville and you can tour it. I am proud to have been alive when such greatness was around.
I grew up listening to classic country and it always felt like it melded into my love of rap seemlessly. It’s hard to pinpoint, but it’s palpable. There is a shared experience of hardship and hearing how folks have grown, succeeded, and celebrated the struggle has always been refreshing. You’re a GOAT in these breakdowns Stevie. Keep it up.
This is a cover. The original is by a band called Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor, the heart and soul of that group, wrote it from his perspective, the perspective of a young addict that has basically given up on himself and Johnny Cash took it and turned it into the last hurrah of a man knowing his days were numbered, which they were. Both haunt me for completely different reasons; the first because that could‘ve been me and the second because it could be me decades upon decades from now.
Lol Trent Reznor is THE ONLY MEMBER of NIN. He only hires musicians when he tours. All of his albums are recorded solely by him. Vocals, instrumentals, everything is just TRENT
@Stevie Knight You're so on point when reviewing this and not one time did you mention the color of his skin; nor did you bring your own into this. Some similar content creators would have put in the title "Black Man Reacts to Johnny Cash" Which to me is mostly obvious from a thumbnail. In your case it was just one man in great detail... reviewing another man's performance. We need more of this, not to say we don't have issues or problems with relations - but as you've done to respect a piece of music & give your honest feelings to it without any preconceived ideas. Very refreshing, Subscribed & will enjoy binge watching many of your other reviews, you're one in a million, thanks for this.
This comment is part of the problem it raises. Your preconceived title, that you came up with, is what irks me about your willingness to be the one who jumps in and leads the charge on these matters.
@@tbone7463 There is one race, the human race, the more that it is left out of click bait videos reactions the better. Not sure if you meant you were irk'd by others who proceed in a manner or the fact it was pointed out. NWA put out music that represented the street life they lived... Johnny Cash wrote about his life traveling making music. Neither one has to be reminded of melanin along the way. Who feels it knows it. No need twist a comment on a video and be irk'd just have a good one & realize it was in support of your constant fairness when making your titles.
@@tbone7463 Also, my title wasn't preconceived, it is a title that exists, you can search using that exact title and find a minimum of 4-5 videos. I don't see a problem with people making a living with click bait, at some point they may actually have something worth saying.
The ending where he closes the piano is just so poignant and heartbreaking. He was closing the door on not only his career, but his life and he knew it. He went out on his own terms. He actually didn’t write this song, Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails wrote it and performed it first, but after hearing Johnny’s version Trent Reznor said that Johnny had taken his song, because of how much it touched him with Johnny’s version. I can’t listen to this song without shivers. You need to listen to some of Johnny’s older stuff, he’s got an amazing catalog.
This song reminds me everytime of my father in law who was a gentle man who passed 12 years ago at 60. We always sing this to remember him. He died suddenly from asbestos poisoning and it broke his sons hearts so this is a sad but happy listen. Love from Ireland
Knowing Johnny Cash’s tumultuous story and her love with June, this song always makes me cry. He didn’t write it, but it obviously hit him to the core at the deepest level and was his plea to her as the were both in poor health and he was faced with losing her and not having more time to make it up to her. As Trent Reznor said, it wasn’t his song anymore (although I always loved the original too)
He was apologizing to the people he loved that he hurt. Esp. his wife June. Johnny was my favorite country singer. Trent Reznor wrote this. He gave it to Johnny when he heard the way Johnny made it his. Trent said i was born to write this Johnny was born to sing it. Trent gave this song to him. Awesome reaction love to you and your family from the one and only Memphis Tn. i have heard this song many many times and i still bawl.
I've always felt the line "I wear this crown of Thorns, upon my Liar's Chair" Is a reference to how he is a Devout Christian (Jesus's Crown of Thorns) who has known the Devil through his own actions (the Liar's Chair).
Reznor wrote it but like when Hendrix covered Dylan's All along the watch tower Cash owns this song now. The weight it carries coming from such a senior, experienced, seasoned artist just makes it hit so much harder. One of the greatest covers ever!
True. I'm one of those who thinks Reznor can do no wrong, but Cash just destroyed this. I honestly think this version is more relatable, but... I can't allow myself to actually say one is better than the other. Cuz...NIN. But, ill say that this version actually brought tears to my eyes and the original didn't. Thats all I'll say
@@MrGloverGlover it is. But even still, Reznor deserves ALL of the credit in my eyes because it IS his writing. However, I do realize that a LOT of people get frustrated with us "NIN SONG! NIIIIIIN SOOOOONG!!" commenters. And I get it. But trailblazers like him are few and far between...plus, I'm just a big fan
Johnny Cash did not write this song, but his performance of it made it his! The lady behind him is his wife June Carter Cash. The lady in the red dress in the picture is Johnny's Mother. The first scenes were at the "House of Cash". It was a House/Museum, however he never lived there. The Museum was a history of his career. It was in disrepair as seen in the video, no need to stage it. Symbolic to how the music industry often neglected/forgot the older stars. The older house in the video that he's seen looking in the window is where he grew up. His wife June died a few months after this video was made. Johnny passed away shortly after. Some say of a broken heart. There's even a song written about loving like "Johnny and June" by another artist. Neither was their first spouse, but when they found each other..... The song "Ring Of Fire" was written by June and performed by Johnny, kind of sums up their love.
Johnny's manager had been trying to convince him to cover this song for years. Johnny always said he just couldn't relate to it. But as he got to this point in his life, he had lost so many people from his generation, suddenly the song took on a completely different meaning.
Rick Rubin , the producer and not johnny's manager wanted him to cover. it did not take years to convince him. This song is on AmericanIV: The man comes around. It is mostly comprised of striped down covers. Get you facts straight before you give out your opinions.
I thought it was Rick Reuben? His manager was against it. He thought it was a bad idea, but Rick Reuben kept at Cash with it and because he couldn't understand the lyrics, he had to just read the song instead, and THEN he fell in love with it. Right? I could be completely wrong though.
It doesn’t matter how often I hear this song I’m always moved to tears just can’t help it... what a beautiful yet tragic song, so human .. thx for reacting and appreciating Stevie 💗
@@jeremyfitts6802 sigh. People can like what they want. Stop replying to every comment because you have some sort of personal vendetta against Cash. You seriously have issues.
Johnny was all prayed up by this point. Listen to “When the man comes around”. He is speaking of the past and time wasted and how he would do it different if he could go back. “Ain’t No Grave” and “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” are also moving.
The song was originally written by Nine Inch Nails(a rock band) but after Johnny Cash’s Version came out, the Nine Inch Nails said it is now Johnny Cash’s Song
The bit ‘you are someone else, I am still right here’ is actually him talking to himself in a way. He’s saying his body, everything about him externally is someone else (has aged, changed beyond comprehension) but he (on the inside) is still right there, no change’.
Johnny Cash was a alcoholic and drug addict. His wife June in the video died shortly after this video, Johnny died like 4 or 7 months after. Their love story was explained in her song Ring of Fire
When he first released this song I listened to it, and in my own mind I knew he was saying good bye, before all the info about it came out. To me it was him saying good, and telling the music industry and the young people coming into it, this is my life, if you want to live your life how I lived it, this is how you leave it.
I know he didn’t write it but Johnny Cash doing this song just makes it hit different. Especially considering all the shit he went through in his life and how close to the end he was when he recorded this. Rick Rubin’s production just makes it that much better.
“I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel”...That’s got to be the reason I watch every reaction to this vid. This is one of musics greatest artists regretting the way he lived his life. From the anger he had in the choices he made, to the frailty of when he’s pouring the wine, and the final goodbye when he closes the piano top and caressed it with familiar and regretful farewell. This vid always hits me hard and it’s always enjoyable when a reactor feels that same weight.
His wife June wasn't supposed to be in the video, she was sick at the time and died shortly after this video, but she came downstairs while he was shooting. He died a few months after she did, so not long at all after he recorded this song.
June Carter Cash who participated in the video (shown gazing at her husband in several sequences) dont spread misinfermation plz they would not have a zoom in cam ready to see her and it would not be focused in a way to see her
This was the last song he recorded. 💔 The woman on the stairs is his wife June, also a legendary singer/musician. Check out the movie Walk the Line. It's his life story.
I was thinking this line too.. However crown of thorns is implying what Jesus wore during his crucifix and it's an imagery of something holy.. And it was a diss at MGK (rap devil 😈 hence the horns)
Johnny Cash passed away about 7 months after he performed this. Everyone commenting, they are Reznors bars (they are) but if you listen to anything Trent Reznor has said about this, Its Johnny Cash's song, He made it his own. Song is an old man reflecting on past transgressions and looking at his life before death
He said that out of respect. This will always be Trents song. And yes, it’s beautiful how it comes full circle. But Trents version is much better. Cash’s music video is what makes his good.
@@chrislegit3198 I love Trent’s version.. But I love how johnny put his on touch on it. Video really helped, but Johnny could always tell a story and have your attention..
The Man In Black. It's an anthem, it's the reason Rock and Metal and Grunge and Punk and Goth and every other counter-culture music genre favors black clothing. Because of that one song sung by a country singer who toured with Elvis back in the day.
Yes, that was his wife June Carter in the video. She passed away not too long after the video & Johnny followed her later that year. Even though he didn't write the song, it was a sort of representation of his life & how in some ways he messed things up. Watch the movie Walk the Line and you'll have a better understanding of who he was.
What gets me every time is that the table is set up as his own “last supper”. Being that he passed shortly after this release, this really was his final farewell to the world.
What the actual fuck?! I literally searched for this yesterday, (stevie knight hurt reaction) and now he has a reaction to it? O_o Well then.. let's go! :D
This was actually written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Johnny may not have written this, but it hit him so hard because he was a man with a lot of demons in his past. It seemed he exorcized a lot of them when he recorded this. He was finally able to fully express his feelings before leaving.
Even if he didn't write it, his choice to cover this song was amazing. This version is so different than the nine inch nails version that I actually prefer it out of the 2
Johnny Cash is a legit legend, seriously he is the rightful king of country music. Like you said you don't know country but you know him. There a lot of people that don't know country or like it but know who he is. And a lot of his songs speak to people.
