Johnny Cash's Nine Inch Nails Cover - Hurt (Reaction!)

Yes, that is his wife. She came downstairs to make sure he wasn't overdoing it while filming and they asked on the spur of the moment if they could film her, too. Part of this was filmed at his home and part was filmed at the Cash museum, which had been damaged by flooding and was closed to the public. It was fitting that he was also closed off and damaged is what I read somewhere. But there he was, surrounded by everything anyone could want on Earth, realizing that it was all a pile of dirt since ultimately that doesn't mean anything to you anymore when you die. (My interpretation.) They did the filming on the fly, no time to prep, no make-up, no attempt to look younger or hide his ill-health. Raw and vulnerable is how I see this. The juxtaposition between the younger man with everything and the old man wishing ... His wife lived long enough to see this, but not much longer. He lived long enough to see it nominated for a bunch of awards (that it, inexplicably didn't win) and died two weeks after the awards show. It's all incredibly evocative and painful, but almost impossible to ignore. If you haven't already, watch the end again, all the way to the part where he closes the piano lid and caresses it as a good-bye, you cut it off a little too soon. Whether it's true or not, I don't know, but it is said he never opened it again. It's very poignant. His daughter said it looked like he was saying good-bye and he replied that he was.

Trent Reznor said, flat out, once he heard Cash’s version, and saw the video, that this was Cash’s song. Greatest respect. RIP Johnny Cash.

I still feel like Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt is the purest expression of regret that I will ever hear. He compressed seven decades of pain and sorrow into four minutes of music. I've seen people say that Trent Reznor's version is a young man in the midst of addiction, realizing what he is doing to the people he loves and knowing he has to change. Johnny's version is an old man at the end of his life, looking back at all of his mistakes, all of the cruel and careless things he did, and knowing that he can never make amends because he is out of time.

June Carter Cash was not a saint, but you wouldn't have known it based on the way Johnny worshipped her. And she, enduring years of his tours, addictions, arrests, and more, stood by him through it all. Her expression, looking at him as he sang those lyrics -- "I will let you down, I will make you hurt" — that is what true love looks like.

You stopped it twice in a row before it ended. The last scene has him closing the piano and very tenderly and lovingly stroked it. The symbolism was powerful. He literally never opened it again. His wife died 3 months after the song's release and Johnny died 4 months after she did.

He suffered with different addictions his entire life. This is the reason he chose to sing the song

His wife coming down the stairs...2 weeks before she passed. She was crying because she knew...she knew this was Johns last recording. He lasted just months after her passing. She was a popular member of the Carter family of musicians..hence her name June Carter Cash.

When they show his wife standing behind him, I cry, everytime. She stands as an angel standing sentinel over her husband.

I think Julia Nilon put it best in her reaction to this. She said watching the scenes from his life then seeing him close the piano at the end, after music had been his whole life - it is like watching him die. It's almost cripplingly sad.

After many years, Johnny's fame faded in the 80s and 90s. But then a producer approached him about doing this. He agreed and did a final album in which he covered several young artists and groups. The album was a hit. When his daughter heard this she said, "It sounds like you're saying goodbye". He replied, "I am". A final poignant goodbye to his lifetime fans (like me) and a fitting finale to a huge career spanning some 50 years. I cannot help but weep when I hear this. I grew up listening to Johnny. He was a staple in my home and my grandparent's home. There will never be another Johnny Cash. RIP, Johnny. Thank you for so many years of great music. I look forward to hearing you in concert in Heaven.

Trent has often said in interviews that Johnny played it better than he ever could and the song now belongs to him.

Johnny also fought drug and alcohol addiction during his lifetime. The lady on the stairs is June, his wife. You should watch the last 10-15 seconds. The imagery of the piano is very profound.

This song was Johnny’s life. That’s why Reznor told him “this is your song now”

Rick Rubin is the unsung hero of this song. He convinced Johnny to do it, Trent to let them, he made the arrangement and did the production to make the song work for johnny, and chose the director for the video. This was very much his vision

In case it isn’t gut wrenching enough when Johnny breaks down during the climax, watching him close the piano at the end makes me lose it every time. It’s like he didn’t want to stop playing, but knew he had to

One of my top 3 favorite covers of all time. I always cry when he closes the piano 😞🖤

I came home from work one day, went to see what my grown son was doing…he was sitting in front of his computer, watching this video with tears just streaming down his face. All he could do was point & yes, I also cried realizing Johnny Cash was saying goodbye. He was 71 yrs old when he recorded this, just a little over a year older than what I am now. My son & both grandson’s love this man’s music.

The look June gives him when she comes down the stairs is heartbreaking. She knows she's losing the other half of her soul, oddly she went first followed soon by him

Make sure to go back and watch the very end, where he closes the piano with a real reverence. He never opened it again.

Hurt is how Johnny was feeling at the end of his life. He knew addictions, struggles, lies, deceit and love. He suffered along the same lines as Trent....he understood what Trent was saying so Johnny chose this as his goodbye song. Johnny recorded this song in February 2003. June (his wife on the stairs) died in May 2003. Johnny (71) died in September 2003.