| "Hurt" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Promotional single byNine Inch Nails | |
| from the albumThe Downward Spiral | |
| Released | April 17, 1995 (1995-04-17) |
| Studio |
|
| Genre | |
| Length | 6:12 |
| Label | |
| Songwriter | Trent Reznor |
| Producer | Trent Reznor |
| The Downward Spiraltrack listing | |
14 tracks
| |
| Audio | |
| "Hurt" onYouTube | |
"Hurt" is a song by Americanindustrial rock bandNine Inch Nails from its 1994 studio albumThe Downward Spiral—where it is the closing song on the album—written byTrent Reznor. It was subsequently released on April 17, 1995, as apromotional single from the album, wherein it was issued straight to radio.[3] The song received aGrammy Award nomination forBest Rock Song in 1996. In 2020,Kerrang! andBillboard ranked the song number two and number three, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Nine Inch Nails songs.[4][5]
In 2002, American country singerJohnny Cash covered "Hurt" to commercial and critical acclaim. The related music video is considered one of the greatest of all time by publications such asNME. 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".[6]
The song includes references toself-harm andheroin addiction, though the overall meaning of the song is disputed. Some listeners contend that the song acts as asuicide note written by the song'sprotagonist, as a result of hisdepression, while others claim that it describes the difficult process of finding a reason to live in spite of depression and pain and does not have much to do with the storyline ofThe Downward Spiral.[7]
The music video for Nine Inch Nails' original version of "Hurt" is a live performance that was recorded before the show inOmaha, Nebraska, on February 13, 1995, and can be found onClosure and theDualDisc re-release ofThe Downward Spiral. The audio portion appears on the UK version ofFurther Down the Spiral.The version released onClosure differs slightly from the video originally aired on MTV. In addition to using an uncensored audio track, theClosure edit shows alternate views of the audience and performance at several points during the video.
To film the video, ascrim was dropped in front of the band on stage, projected onto which were various images to add visual symbolism to fit the song's subject matter, such aswar atrocities, anuclear bomb test, survivors of theBattle of Stalingrad, a snake staring at the camera, and atime-lapse film of a fox decomposing in reverse. A spotlight was cast on Reznor so that he can be seen through the images. Compared to the live renditions performed on future tours, this version most resembles the studio recording with its use of the song's originalsamples.[citation needed]
There are also official live recordings on the later releasesAnd All that Could Have Been andBeside You in Time. Each version features distinct instrumentation by the varying members of the band in the respective eras.
During theDissonance Tour in 1995, when Nine Inch Nails opened forDavid Bowie during hisOutside Tour, Bowie sang "Hurt" in a duet with Reznor, backed by an original melody and beat. This served as the conclusion to the dual act that began each Bowie set.
During theFragility Tour, the progression was performed byRobin Finck onacoustic guitar rather than on piano.
Since the 2005–06Live: With Teeth Tour, Nine Inch Nails has been playing "Hurt" in a more toned-down style, featuring only Reznor on vocals until the final chorus, when the rest of the band joins in.
The song was brought back to its original form during the Lights In The Sky Tour in 2008, before returning to the toned down style on the 2009 Wave Goodbye tour.
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[10] | 8 |
| USRadio Songs (Billboard)[11] | 54 |
| USAlternative Airplay (Billboard)[12] | 8 |
The song was featured in theseason two finale of the adult animated science fiction programRick and Morty, overlaying the series of events in which Rick surrenders to the intergalactic authorities, allowing his family to return to Earth while simultaneously abandoning them.[13]
| "Hurt" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byJohnny Cash | ||||
| from the albumAmerican IV: The Man Comes Around | ||||
| B-side | ||||
| Released | March 2003 | |||
| Recorded | 2002 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:38 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter | Trent Reznor | |||
| Producer | Rick Rubin | |||
| Johnny Cash singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Hurt" onYouTube | ||||
In 2002, American country singerJohnny Cash covered the song for his final album during his lifetime,American IV: The Man Comes Around. Its accompanying video, featuring images from Cash's life and directed byMark Romanek, was named the best video of the year by theGrammy Awards andCMA Awards, and the best video of all time byNME in July 2011.[17] The single contains a cover ofDepeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" as a B-side.
Cash's cover of the song had sold 2,148,000 downloads in the United States as of March 2017.[18]
Cash's cover is widely considered one of his best works. In 2017,Billboard ranked the song number four on their list of the 15 greatest Johnny Cash songs,[19] and in 2021,American Songwriter ranked the song number three on their list of the 10 greatest Johnny Cash songs.[20]
When Reznor was asked if Cash could cover his song, Reznor said he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." He became a fan of Cash's version, however, once he saw the music video.
A few weeks later, a CD shows up with the track. Again, I'm in the middle of something and put it on and give it a cursory listen. It sounded... weird to me. That song in particular was straight from my soul, and it felt very strange hearing the highly identifiable voice of Johnny Cash singing it. It was a good version, and I certainly wasn't cringing or anything, but it felt like I was watching my girlfriend fuck somebody else. Or something like that. Anyway, a few weeks later, a videotape shows up withMark Romanek's video on it. It's morning; I'm in the studio in New Orleans working onZack De La Rocha'srecord with him; I pop the video in, and... wow. Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps... Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine any more. Then it all made sense to me. 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. Some-fucking-how 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. Things felt even stranger when he passed away. The song's purpose shifted again. It's incredibly flattering as a writer to have your song chosen by someone who's a great writer and a great artist.
— Geoff Rickly interviews Trent Reznor,Alternative Press[21]
Mike Campbell (acoustic guitar) andBenmont Tench (piano, organ,Mellotron) ofTom Petty and the Heartbreakers played on the track.[22]Smokey Hormel also played guitar on the track.[23]
The music video was directed by former Nine Inch Nails collaborator Mark Romanek,[24] who sought to capture the essence of Cash, both in his youth and in his older years. In a montage of shots of Cash's early years, twisted imagery of fruit and flowers in various states of decay, seem to capture both his legendary past and the stark and seemingly cruel reality of the present. Much of the video is in a style deliberately reminiscent ofvanitas paintings, thus emphasizing the lyrics' mood of the futility and passing nature of human achievements.[25][26] According to literature professor Leigh H. Edwards, the music video portrays "Cash's own paradoxical themes".[2]
Romanek had this to say about his decision to focus on theHouse of Cash museum in Nashville:
It had been closed for a long time; the place was in such a state of dereliction. That's when I got the idea that maybe we could be extremely candid about the state of Johnny's health, as candid as Johnny has always been in his songs.[27]
When the video was filmed in February 2003, Cash was 71 years old and had serious health problems. His frailty is clearly evident in the video. He died seven months later, on September 12.[28] His wife,June Carter Cash, who is shown gazing at her husband in two sequences of the video, had died on May 15 of the same year.
In July 2011, the music video was named one of "The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos" byTime.[29] It was ranked the greatest music video of all time byNME.[30] It was ranked the second best music video byRolling Stone Magazine in July 2021.[31]
The house where Cash's music video for "Hurt" was shot, which was Cash's home for nearly 30 years, was destroyed in a fire on April 10, 2007.[32]
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[40] | 38 |
| Germany (Official German Charts)[41] | 75 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[42] | 25 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[43] | 39 |
| USAlternative Airplay (Billboard)[44] | 33 |
| USHot Country Songs (Billboard)[45] | 56 |
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USDigital Song Sales (Billboard)[46] | 34 |
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Norway (VG-lista)[47] | 8 |
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[48] | 42 |
| Germany (GfK)[49] | 68 |
| USDigital Song Sales (Billboard)[46] | 69 |
| US Alternative Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[50] | 9 |
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[51] | 66 |
| France (SNEP)[52] | 52 |
| Scotland Singles (OCC)[53] | 33 |
| US Country Streaming Songs (Billboard)[54] | 22 |
| US Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[55] | 9 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[56] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[57] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| Germany (BVMI)[58] | Gold | 150,000‡ |
| Italy (FIMI)[59] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[60] | 2× Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[61] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[62] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[63] digital | Gold | 2,148,000[18] |
| United States (RIAA)[64] video single | 2× Platinum | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
The song has been used in the 140-second advertisement "This is Why" created for the SickKids Foundation by Cossette in 2019 as part of the "SickKids Vs." campaign to support fundraising forThe Hospital for Sick Children inToronto.[65]
In 2019Mumford & Sons performed a cover version as a ballad in their show at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, Trent Reznor's origin city.[66]
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| Related |
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| Spirit (2007) | |
|---|---|
| Echo (2009) | |
| Hurt: The EP (2011) |
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| Glassheart (2012) |
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| Christmas, with Love (2013) | |
| I Am (2015) | |
| Stand-alone singles | |
| Featured songs | |
| Soundtracks | |
| Live albums | |
| Concert tours | |
