Johnny Cash - Hurt (Reaction) 

This song was done by a band called 'Nine Inch Nails' in the mid 90s. After hearing Cash's version the lead singer of Nine Inch Nails said "This isn't my song anymore".

That feeling was a dying man singing his last song.

Trent Reznor is quoted as saying “I was born to write it. But Johnny was born to sing it”.

Trent cried hearing Johnny do his tune. Note to musicians, if Johnny does your song.. it’s his song now.

His daughters watched it, with him, and started to cry. They said “Dad it’s like your saying goodbye.” He said...”I am.”

This is Johnny Cash's last music video. His wife June Carter Cash died and he joined her in death a few months later.

I’m 65 years old and this makes me tear up every time. I love the reaction, you get it.

If this song doesn't just completely rip your heart out and expose your raw nerves, you have neither. It touches us all because we all have regret and shame as we grow older. God knows I certainly do.

When he closed the Piano case, the way he did it he knew that the end was near.

When he closes the piano at the end, it’s like he knew that would be his last time touching one.

When Trent Reznor heard Johnny Cash's rendition, he proclaimed that the song was no longer his. It belonged to Johnny Cash.

The proper reaction to this song is to ugly cry.

June was dying, even with his millions Johnny could not save her. He died soon after.

His daughter said to Johnny that she felt like he was saying goodbye with this song. He replied that he was.

Johnny is a legend because he was a master storyteller. He had the unique ability to make you feel every single note.

when I was a child, living in Cottontown Tennessee, Johnny Cash would drive by our house in a long black car, I think it was a Lincoln, and wave at my Brother and I as we played in the yard. It was the coolest thing in the world.

Johnny Cash is not like a legend. The man IS a legend.

If this doesn’t touch your heart, you are already dead.

As a father, my oldest is near your age, I’m so proud of you for opening your mind and expanding your knowledge. We need more of this in the world. Well done.

This song hits SO damn hard. Its puts a knot in my throat everytime. The realization that life is limited and no matter what you have you can sell it for more time. So powerful

What he did to you emotionally with this song is why he is a legend.

It’s a Nine Inch Nails song about being a heroin addicted and hurting people around you. When Johnny redid it it took on a whole new meaning.

This song is so powerful I'm not going to lie almost every time I hear brings a tear to my eye

The feeling that everyone gets is that they realize this is a Dirge. A dirge is a lament for the dead, especially one forming part of a funeral rite. Johnny was saying goodbye.

Written by Trent Reznor about his heroin addiction; Cash made it a life's reflection. Both songs are awesome and haunting in their own ways

Everyone knew.. when June passed.. Johnny was going soon.. this was his goodbye .

Others probably already commented, but some things about this video. The first older woman in the photograph is Johnny's mother. They were sharecroppers living in that little white house in the video and he sang gospel songs with his mother as they picked cotton. That's how he learned to sing. The second woman you see (who is also behind him on the stairs) is his wife, June. She dies shortly thereafter. Johnny probably knew she was dying which adds to the pain of him saying everyone he knows goes away in the end. He died shortly after she did. She definitely was his soulmate. The flood waters they show alludes to a flood that hit their home and his father saved them by putting them on the door to float away. There are no pictures in the video but one of his great tragedies that stayed with him was the death of his older brother whom his dad favored and Johnny was close to himself. His brother was working in a sawmill as a child and Johnny took off to go fishing. The saw came loose and cut his brother in the chest. His father tracked him down and Johnny saw his brother die of the wound. His father told him he wished it had been him who died. The guilt of taking off to fish while his brother was injured never left him. He suffered from addiction and destroyed his first marriage with that and infidelities. This song is originally about addiction so Johnny knows about that and the pain it causes. He also knows about hurting himself just to see if he can feel. I think a bit part of the regret you hear in his voice isn't just for his own life, but the fact that he wished he could have left the world a better place than he found it. A lot of his music is about protest and social awareness of issues. One of his first songs is Folsom Prison Blues and it talks about the loneliness and hopelessness of prisoners. He would go on to perform in prisons. He was a big advocate for Native American causes. He once fought the KKK because the media went after his first wife and children calling them mongrels. Johnny went after them. He fought for veterans and against the Vietnam war. He dressed in black just to call attention to all the poor and the beaten down. There is so much to Johnny that people should know. He was woke before woke was used. He used his platform before that was a thing especially in country music. And he never, ever backed down. When his producers didn't want him to perform in prisons because they thought it would offend his Christian listeners, he said, "Well they ain't Christians then." He carried the pain of the world on him and this video shows it. You should listen to God's Gonna Cut You Down. That's his last video. That is Johnny telling the world they better wake up one last time. It's powerful.

Your reaction is so genuine. You had me in tears. So well explained. You rock man!

The video was recorded in February of 2003. His daughter, on seeing a preview of the video, said to him it sounded like he was saying goodbye, he replied that he was. June Carter Cash, his 2nd wife, is the woman sat on the stairs in the video; also a singer in her own right who toured with him and sang with him on several songs. She had come down to check on her husband that day as his health was declining. June Carter Cash passed away a few months after the video recording in May of 2003 and a bereaved Johnny Cash followed her a few months later in the September. The song is by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and is about his battle with addiction and depression. Cash also an addict and alcoholic for much of his early life, spending time in Jail on half a dozen occasions for possession. The song encompasses the way both musicians life threads are woven together and entangled across the decades between them, so much so that Trent when he saw the video said it was like loosing his Girlfriend, as the song had become Johnny's. Johnny was a campaigner for prison reform and the rights of Native Americans and much of his material reflected his own passions and darker past. It was June that Cash attributed to rescuing him from his drug and Alcohol addiction a theme of the song. Carter is the person played by Reese Witherspoon alongside Joaquin Phoenix, in the biopic of them: Walk the line. Johnny Cash's star had declined in the 80s and the Museum to his life with the smashed Gold Disk on the Floor, used as one of the backdrops to the video, ended up being shuttered. In the 1990s Rick Rubin and American Recordings more of a Rap, Punk and Metal label sought Cash to record for their label, and offered Cash complete artistic freedom. With them his career revived and he brought out his most critically acclaimed albums, the America series, bringing Cash to a new younger audience; starring on The Simpsons and Headlining at Glastonbury in 1994. The 4th and penultimate album of the America series from which this is one of several Hit Singles: American IV: The Man Comes Around, You may recognise the Title Track too, was released in November of 2002, and he was still working on his final Album right up to the end and that was released posthumously.

His wife June passed away 3 months after this song was released, he passed away 7 months after she passed, June is the one on the stairs, she was coming down to check on him during the recording and the director kept it in

To really appreciate this video, it helps if you know his struggles with addiction and going to prison, his suffering amid his fame, his deep love for his wife, and his rare and unconventional willingness to work with a wide artists from a wide range of genres.

You are one of the few who didn't laugh when he said " You stay the hell away from me, you hear ", no one ever realizes the impact of the clip.

“You live life forward and understand it backwards.”

Johnny didn't die he went home I'll see him again one day.

Johnny was real and raw, no one could tell a story like him. He's with Jesus now

I visit Johnny's grave once a month nothing is more humbling to stand in the presence of greatness. I have been a Johnny Cash fan forever. Rest well my friend.

“You live life forward and understand it backwards.” A broken man singing about a life full of regret. When he closes the piano at the end, it’s like he knew that would be his last time touching one.

He had so much pain, he had to put it somewhere before he left. So he put in this song. Now he can rest.

Johnny knew the pain of addiction to drugs, loss of friends and a part of himself. The little house you see is where he was born and raised. the old refrain "you can never go back home' is true as all has changed, and home is not there any more, but memories remain.

Basically this was Johnny's way to say goodbye to his friends and fans

This was Johnny's goodbye letter to us, so to speak. As the video ended, I was touched by the finality of him closing the lid on the keyboard. The man certainly made his mark, and he was a man of parts. It really touched me too, June in the video, watching him in sadness, knowing he was near the end. RIP Johnny. I'm sure Heaven's choir found a great spot for you, Sir. For the record, he had a few far happier songs, notably "Boy Named Sue." :) LXB

For the longest time I couldn't listen to this and watch his video without bawling like a baby, and I'm a 36year old construction worker. He may not have written this song bit he certainly understood it deeply.

And yeah. When June shows up, I lose it too, since she died before it was released and he died about a month after. It DESTROYS me.

This song still makes me cry everytime I hear it. My life the last 3 years has been filled with so much death. At 32 years old I feel like I am watching all My love ones die off one at a time. ( when I was born I was there was 5 generations of my family a live at the same time. I am the oldest of the that 5 generation)

4:10 He is not talking about cuting himself. "The needle tears a hole , The old familiar sting" - he is talking about drugs, addiction.

You know, Cash got big, right when, movies, and, really recording lives was becoming a thing. He lived much of his life in that lime light. Of course it’s sad that he’s passed, but, near the end, he was able to part with not just a “bye”, it was a peek into his entire life. You get to see him. His accomplishments. His regrets. His love. Everything. I think he may be, the first genuine, larger than life artist who had that. He grew up in front of the camera and went out that same way. Such a huge, genuine respect for Cash. Guy is the epitome of legendary.

John died after this, 120 days after his wife, June. Fame, money, looks. But in the end........."You can have it all. My empire of dirt." Wow.

You will never see a uhaul trailer behind a hearse.

When i heard it the 1st time it felt like someone trying to get to grips with mortality. Now I hear a song of a person whos pushing people away and hoping for death. The physical pain is a reminder hes still around. He hates what hes become, bitter at the world thats left him behind. His wife in the video died not long after they filmed the video. Johnny Cash died within a year after.

Interesting story during the filming of this, June came down because she was worried about him, the director told her to stay and watch when she was going to leave. Her reactions are genuine, she could see the pain he was in from everything he was going through. This video is such a heartbreaking tribute to an icon.

We all cried when he said goodbye to the family. It killed us and he said he had many regrets in life and this was about them.

Only a true artist and a man of humility could sing this song with heartbreaking sincerity like Johnny does here. This is when I "got" Johnny for the first time. I suspect I'm not alone!

The woman is his wife, June. She died three months of heart disease after this video. That broke Johnny to pieces, and he died soon after.

Good to see you are opening up to all kinds of music.

There's a line I like to say when I hear music like this and it goes, "You never know what a person has been through till you hear them sing it from the heart."

This song bypasses all genres. It's something in and of itself, and has an impact on those who've lived it, like only few songs do. RIP Cash!

She was immediately zoned into the song. Yeah, it'll do that to you.

John was old school, he walked the walk and talked the talk. The man was a genious. Miss him....

This is Johnny Cash saying good by. Is this showing us all how somber things are in the end. "Rejoice oh young man in the youth"

johnny's cover is so soul tearing because he knows he was dying...this is his goodbye message to humanity.

This song says to me, "we spend our youth busy acquiring wealth, then we spend our later years trying to claw back our youth.

You need to watch the movie about him. “Walk the line.” You will understand where that feeling comes from more. The man is a legend.

You asked 'what this is, this feeling'. Ludwig Von Beethoven probably said it best. It is the power of music to transport one directly into the state of mind of the composer.

When his wife died that was it for this great man she was his true love.

To me, the closing of the piano was ending it all.

Sweetheart - your honest admiration and respect as a young girl for a song like this matches the quality of this man and his songs.

I’ve watched a lot of reactions to a lot of songs. I relate to your reactions the most. I can be stone faced at a funeral but the second they play “Taps”, it’s all over. Music stirs the soul. I don’t understand people who aren’t moved to tears by something like this. I can be overwhelmed watching a great musician play an upbeat song just as well as a sad song. I can’t imagine the feeling of moving the masses with your music. I enjoy it on a small scale. Can’t imagine doing it on a large scale.

your reactions are so powerful. You feel everything, I am so happy to see someone so intutive and feeling, I hold alot of respect for you. There are other songs you've missed though from my era. I used to listen to Kansas, Styx, and Kiss, till I went to summer marching band camp, and three young ladies introduced me to Brothers Johnson and Earth Wind & Fire. I was hooked and R&B was all I would listen to for years. Great reviews of the music.

The woman on the stairs was June Carter. She passed away 3 months after the filming of this video.

Johnny Cash has always used songs to tell stories. Most of the stories are hard and raw and he was a master at it.

What you're feeling is profound sorrow. This is an old man and the end of his life, reflecting on that life and saying goodbye. The older you get, the more heartbreaking it becomes.

this song still makes me tear up ....that man went through hell in real life and the people around him too ...but still one of our greatest singer ever..the part where June is behind him looking at him just kills me ....

End of life regrets are hard yo.

Reznor wrote the song from a very dark place, it feels bitter and brittle. Cash re-imagined it, writing it as a old man reflecting back on a lifetime of joy, sorrow and regret. It becomes reflective and more bittersweet.

The song was actually written by Trent Rezner of the band Nine Inch Nails, but when he heard Johnny Cash's version was blown away and said, "that song isn't mine anymore." That is the ultimate compliment.

He was at his "Last Supper", it was the end for him.

June helped him fight his drug addiction, if it wasn't for her he would have died long ago. This song is his pain from his past and his wife June passing...

Seven years ago, I was driving to my hometown to say goodbye to my grandmother on her deathbed. As I hit the city limites, this song came on the radio. I had to pull over and have a good cry before heading on to the hospital.

Growing up my dad was a huge J Cash fan, so I had to listen to all his songs. I remember seeing that his wife had passed away & was sad when I heard he had passed away a few months later I was extra sad. It was a few years later when I heard this cover. So much emotion is delivered during it. My dad would have loved it, as I do

I simply think this song is “a literal work of perfection” So much went into this. So many minds connected. Literally so much that can’t be explained other than. “Things came together” A man. A legend. A storyteller. RIP

This is Truth, This is Pain.....This is Life................A True Masterpiece.

The look that June gives Johnny totally railroaded me, man.

I love how you allow yourself to feel. Truly. And share that with us. You are brave in your vulnerability. And it is beautiful.

I just discovered your channel a few days ago and you've become my favorite reviewer. While many reviewers comment on the technical aspects of the performance - the singer's vocal range, tone, pitch etc - but what I really appreciate is that you comment on your feelings and emotions to the song. These are the songs of my generation and it's great to see younger people discover the feelings that this era's songs created for us.

Johnny Cash was one of Americas greatest singers. He's in the Country, Gospel, and Rock n' Roll halls of fame.

This is one of the many reasons why he is a legend.

How is it that a song that makes you feel so sad is one you want to keep watching over and over? A masterpiece.

I grew up with my Dad listening to Johnny, been listening since i was about 5, i'm now 64 and still listen! RIP...

This was Johnny's bow out of this earth. Thanks Trent for making a song for Johnny without realizing you were.

If I ever became an actor, and needed to make myself cry for a scene, I'd just think of this song. Haunting. Sushi's facial reactions, especially early on, are exactly mine. Fighting the emotions.

The song speaks to all the atrocities we as a human being are capable of inflicting on our loved ones and ourselves. He was hopelessly devoted to the woman he did so wrong for so many years. He made this song not long before he passed away.

When he recorded this, his wife June had just passed away. This was his last song before he followed her into the night. Johnny Cash had been a drug addict back in the early days of his career. He related to the words about the small prick of the skin (not a knife but a needle). Nine Inch Nails' Trent Rezner wrote this song but said that Cash made it his own. It is poignant IMO because he is basically singing his own requiem. They did an edit to put his late wife June on the stairs watching him. I enjoy your comments and reactions.

The feeling you had come over you is the result of a true artist connecting with the song he's singing and the power that comes from that! It truly is magical what these artists do!

This was his goodbye video. He died shortly after.

Like a legend, iconic for the very first time, like a leeeeegend, with a talent that's hard to find.

The song “ HURT “ is originally from the band call - NINE INCH NAILS - they wrote the song they was known for their 1990 Rock Punk band and their take of this song is much HARDER, filled with ANGER, VILANT PAIN... Now the iconic Mr. Johnny Cash did a slower emanational hunting Western rendition of the song which Mr. CASH could relate too the song for his life was coming to its full circle. You see Mr. Cash was is known for the hard man in Black and didn’t give a Fuck Westin performer with the DARK SONGS as well. When I first seen this video of Mr. Cash doing his rendition of the song “ HURT “ I knew this may be the last time we will see this great iconic Westin song writer singer and actor again. You see being an EMPATH I could sense Mr. Cash was Dyeing... He could relate so much to the lyrics of that song for he lived a rough life with no apologies behind his actions. In his own way Mr. Cash was fighting against the system that time which kept a good man down or that would keep a poor cold miners son longing to not follow in his fathers lead in an Honest Man’s dirty job and lifeless wages. I knew shortly after this video MR. JOHNY CASH would be dead... This was Mr. Cash respectively his last Swan song. They don’t make most musicians and songwriters like this anymore God bless him and love him, may the lord keep his soul closest to the HEAVENS....

That feeling is when a legend says goodbye.

If you don't get Johnny Cash you got a hole in your soul.

at the end when he closes the lid on the piano and then rubs his hands on the wood reminds me of old people rubbing their hands across the casket at the funeral of a there lived one as a last physical connection.

Baby girl it's the same exact feeling we all had when we heard Johnny do this song, we all knew it was his swan song and every one of us had tears of pain at the end of this and I do mean everyone of us rip johnny and thank you