Hurt

I know it's not punk, but it's a great song and I already wrote this for thedancas.wordpress.com so here is my review for Hurt, by Johnny Cash and Nine Inch Nails.





So, when Dan asked me to write this paragraph on why Nine Inch Nails' version of Hurt was better than Johnny Cash's version, I decided to put each cd into the stereo and listen to each song with my eyes closed and describe the picture I saw. When I listened to the Man in Black sing it. I pictured Johnny at the gates of Heaven, about to be saved from his cruel life. The vision I saw during NIN's version of Hurt was like a short movie that starts with Trent Reznor curled up in a dark cave, needle in hand, tears streaming down his face while he waits to die. He then begins to crawl out of the cave, where he finds himself at the edge of a cliff in the pitch black night. At the climax of the song, the ground beneath Trent crumbles and he is now in  free fall when I realize that it is not Trent that is falling, but it is actually me. As I reach the bottom of the cliff, a huge pit, miles across, opens up in the ground and I fall down and down and down. Finally, I hit the bottom, finding myself in Hell, watching Lucifer, himself, whipping Trent Reznor, who once again is curled up in a ball, with a switch of fire. At the end of the song, Trent cries out as Satan turns towards me, grinning and drooling, as everything fades to black. Nine Inch Nails' version evokes such a strong image that no single other song can evoke, period. I deeply appreciate Johnny Cash's version and I know i'm against the whole world (even Trent Reznor himself) when I say that Nine Inch Nails did the song better, but just about everything about it was superior. The beginning ambiance noise, the broken guitar sound, the weak breathy voice, the delay on the vocals in the chorus, and the ending noise are just a few of the many qualities that enhance the mood of the song so much and that the Johnny Cash song lacks. No matter who does it, it's one of the best songs ever, but Nine Inch Nails perfectly records the emotions that come right from Trent Reznor's heart as he descends in his downward spiral.