Some people consider this the saddest music video. It has the power to reduce people to tears. It's powerfully sentimental. So grab some Kleenex before starting to watch.:)
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Q: The song “Hurt” was one of Johnny Cash’s last songs. What is the story behind this song? Was this song a memory to his past?
A: “Hurt” was actually written by Trent Reznor of the alternative industrial rock band, Nine Inch Nails. It was included on the “Downward Spiral” album released in 1994. Reznor has been quoted as saying he wrote the song in his bedroom “as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone.” Cash recorded it in 2002 for his album, “American IV: The Man Comes Around.” At the time, Cash was 71 and his health was rapidly declining and he knew that he was looking at the end of his long musical career. Although he could not have predicted at the time that his wife and greatest love, June, would precede him in death shortly after recording “Hurt,” the song’s obvious references to depression, self-harm and drug addiction clearly resonated with Cash. Cash’s version of the song was named “Song of the Year” in 2003 by the Country Music Association.
While the original song spoke of depression, Cash's voice, lyrics, and prior reputation masterfully transform it into a gloomy yet hopeful statement of faith and mortality.
