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Lauren Bosteder

Prof. Leonard

English 1201-507

26 September, 2021

“Hurt”: An Emotional Comparison Analysis

In 1994, the band Nine Inch Nails first released the song “Hurt” on their album titled

“Downward Spiral.” The song, originally written by Trent Reznor, reveals a dark time in the

songwriter’s life -- the themes of self-hate and drug addiction are prevalent throughout. The

music video for this number was released in 1995, showing similar themes of despair mentioned

within the lyrics. In 2002, Johnny covered the song “Hurt” and gave the song a whole new

meaning, especially when the music video for the number was released. His music video portrays

Cash singing about his pain and regrets from his past that he is reflecting on as he approaches the

end of his life. Although both music videos for the song "Hurt" are intensely emotional, the

emotion communicated in each rendition is defined differently. The Nine Inch Nails version

focuses more on self-hatred and the path of drug addiction to ease internal sorrow whereas

Johnny Cash's remake discusses the feelings of despair many people carry throughout their lives

and how it affects them in the end.

It is no surprise that both versions of “Hurt” rhetorically appeal to pathos. The lyrics and

the messages of each song are both very heavy as well as their visual representations. Each

individual version got their message across effectively in their own distinct way. The original

version of “Hurt” (1994) written by Nine Inch Nails’s lead singer, Trent Reznor, reveals his

personal struggles with self-hate and becoming lost in the world of drugs. The song itself is

heavy and emotional, opening with the lyrics “I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel.” The raw
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emotion that is shown in Reznor’s voice throughout the song expresses the pain in his lyrics, and

the dark downbeat makes the song even more heart-wrenching. The music video for the number

was released a year later in 1995, which displays Reznor performing the song while black and

white images of death and destruction are presented over top of Reznor, a visual representation

of his song lyrics.

Later, in 2002, Johnny Cash announced that he would be releasing a cover of Nine Inch

Nails’s "Hurt.” Shortly after Cash released the cover, he released a music video along with it that

completely changed the meaning of the original lyrics. The music video features an old Cash

looking back on his life and remembering his fame, family, and more, with the lyrics showing

the pain and regret that he has faced and how it is affecting him as he is approaching the end of

his life. The video represents Cash’s declining state very well, and the flashbacks of clips from

when he was younger real in the message that he’s trying to send. The tone of the guitar and

Cash’s decaying voice shows the emotion that was put into the number.

Although both renditions of “Hurt” are both deeply emotional, they each portray the

emotion of the song in various ways throughout each music video. In the Nine Inch Nails music

video, it depicts the theme of suffering and addiction using black and white imagery. The images

that are shown throughout the music video are of dying animals and plants, people suffering,

destruction, warfare, and more. The images represent a story of how deep emotional suffering

can lead a person down a path of self- destruction. Along with this, Reznor is shown on stage

performing the song while the visuals play over top of him, and this can provide some insight

into Reznor’s emotional sufferings as well. Even with the music video, the lyrics can provide

some clarity into the message of the song. The lyrics “The needle tears a hole, the familiar sting,

try to kill it away” provides some clarity into Reznor’s drug addiction and how he used it to
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silence the pain that he felt. Also, the lyrics “And you can have it all, my empire of dirt” shows

the singer feels everything “dying” around them; the imaging shown in the video exemplify the

theme of death throughout the video.

Johnny Cash’s version of the music video shows a theme of pain and regret that can be

experienced at an old age. Cash is shown looking back on all the events of his life, remembering

all the struggles that he faced at the peak of his fame and how the regret from those days is

affecting him as he nears the end of his life. Featured in the video are clips of Cash from earlier

in his life show that he is reflecting on his past of hardships, represented by a man inside a jail

cell and a broken record. There are also pictures of his fame and family that he lost because of

his darkest times, showing family members who are no longer a part of his life. Also, the

expressions on Johnny Cash’s face show that he regrets a lot of things in his life and felt a lot of

pain because of it. Even with the music video’s somber message, there is some hope that can be

found in the lyrics. The lyrics “If I could start again, a million miles away, I will keep myself, I

would find a way” provides a haunting redemption to live life without regrets that Cash portrays

within the song.

It is also worth mentioning that each version of this song appeals to each of their own

audience – Nine Inch Nail’s audience mostly composed of people who relate to the lyrics while

Cash’s audience is mostly longtime fans of the artist. Even though there are slight differences

with each version’s audience, there is also some commonality between the people who have

listened and watched each version. Both songs have a common theme of suffering through pain,

so people who have suffered through similar experiences as the artists of each song can relate to

the lyrics and to the music videos.

The original version of the song “Hurt” written by Nine Inch Nails and the remake by

Johnny Cash both contained sentimental themes within them even though each artist portrayed

the message of the song differently. Johnny Cash’s version focuses more on the pain and regret

that can be experienced at an old age, while the Nine Inch Nails version focuses more on the

falling into downward spiral of life of suffering and addiction. In addition to this, each song

appeals to their own audience with a commonality that lies between people who have suffered

the same fate as each artist. The messages portrayed by each artist are equally as important –

they teach beauty behind all the suffering and how even though there may be no hope left, there

is still light in the darkness - “I would find a way.”

Works Cited

Cash, Johnny. “Johnny Cash - Hurt (Official Music Video).” YouTube, uploaded by

JohnnyCashVEVO, 13 Sept. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHCfZTRGiI.

“Nine Inch Nails: Hurt (Live) (1995).” YouTube, uploaded by Nine Inch Nails, 17 Mar. 2009,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhh21crSohs.