I started this for my art class, but I reckon I might keep it going.
Musical Analysis Two - Hurt
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Hurt
Covered by Johnny Cash in 2002
Written by Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails (hereafter referred to as NIN,) released in 1995.
This song shook me to my boots when I first heard it twenty years ago. I had no idea at the time that Johnny Cash didn't come up with it, and later struggled to listen to the NIN version after I learned it originated with them. I have no doubt it meant a lot to them when they wrote it, and that the moments in their life that inspired it were substantial.
But those lyrics, emitted in that worn gravel baritone, from that aged face with it's weary eyes, I mean it's his damn song. Trent Reznor of NIN said it himself, though he did describe his realization as feeling "like I lost my girlfriend." (Uitti, 2022.)
Overall the song has a slow rhythm, maybe because Johnny Cash couldn't sing any faster given his deteriorating state. But even the original performance by NIN, was slow, though their tone is tinny in my meager opinion.
The harmony is twangy in the version by NIN. They all aim for a high pitch, the instruments and Reznor. The texture is that of uber coarse sandpaper, effective if judiciously used, but like asphalt that makes a a bad road rash it can really make a scrape. When I think of the color of their tone it's the white hot that is screaming out of a plasma cutter. It speaks to the "nails on a chalkboard" agony they must have been experiencing at the time.
The texture of Cash's version is...it's not smooth, unless it's smooth like a landslide of boulders is smooth. A graze from one smooth bigass rock may not leave a mark, but that terrible rumble means you're gonna have to dodge a lot of them. His tonal color is more maroon, like lava that has came from the tube white hot a long time ago, and is cooling as it's flow slows, but might still level a town. The harmony of his bucket of gravel voice and the instruments does pick up some speed, and there is a painful crescendo at "I will let you down" and the dynamics of the whole song and instrumentation comes crashing down to highlight the verse "I will make you hurt."
These are the same lyrics, and maybe if we overlayed the route the notes and the instrumentation and lyrics took they may be similar, though NIN would be several octaves higher, their peaks and valleys wouldn't be strangers. But they feel vastly different. NIN feels like they can pull themselves together, they're vibrant still, and if they can get it together they can make it, they can take that white hot agony and be forged into something with years and years of life ahead of it. Cash's version is a denouement, the still loud settling of the snow as the avalanche comes to a halt in the valley, the last sounds reverberating well into our memory, like the dead Dall ram sheep head a hopeful hunter stumbles across before the next winter. Cash is dead, and snow from that avalanche melted, but his voice lives on, his music remains, inspiring following singers and enthralling new listeners, the same as that dead head brings hope that before he died that magnificent ram progenated, insuring that his species continues to thrive.
I really love this song it always gives me shivers. When I was reading the introduction, it caught me off guard that Johnny Cash didn't come up with this or he was at an old age when he sang it. I think Johnny's voice being as rough as it was when he sang it made the song so much better the roughness in my opinion gave it the feeling it needed to be a "sad/chilling" song. Loved reading this.
Wow! I had no idea this wasn't Johnny Cash's original song. I'm really glad you picked it! After listening to the NIN version, I think the beginning of both versions is about the same. It's when you get to the chorus that Johnny Cash's version is at a lower octave than the other. Super good analysis!
You know, that is insane to learn that this isn't Johnny Cash's song I totally thought it was. It really does feel completely different and almost hurts to listen to. But what NIN do amazingly is build an experience and story with the music on top of the lyrics. Both songs are completely different somehow but carry the same beautiful and at times horrid lyrics. Really reminds me of how The Sound of Silence by Disturbed completely outshines Simon & Garfunkel.
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I really love this song it always gives me shivers. When I was reading the introduction, it caught me off guard that Johnny Cash didn't come up with this or he was at an old age when he sang it. I think Johnny's voice being as rough as it was when he sang it made the song so much better the roughness in my opinion gave it the feeling it needed to be a "sad/chilling" song. Loved reading this.
ReplyDeleteWow! I had no idea this wasn't Johnny Cash's original song. I'm really glad you picked it! After listening to the NIN version, I think the beginning of both versions is about the same. It's when you get to the chorus that Johnny Cash's version is at a lower octave than the other. Super good analysis!
ReplyDeleteYou know, that is insane to learn that this isn't Johnny Cash's song I totally thought it was. It really does feel completely different and almost hurts to listen to. But what NIN do amazingly is build an experience and story with the music on top of the lyrics. Both songs are completely different somehow but carry the same beautiful and at times horrid lyrics. Really reminds me of how The Sound of Silence by Disturbed completely outshines Simon & Garfunkel.
ReplyDelete