When he closed the piano and caressed it, the imagery is that he is closing his own coffin on his music and his life. I've seen it said he never opened it again.
Trent was a 23 year old kid when he wrote this, and after he heard this he said something to the effect of...I didn't realize I had written this song for Johnny Cash. This song means something entirely different coming from a man who lived a life as full as Johnny. This was his goodbye to all of us. I get emotional every single time I hear it.
I was 23 when me and my smokeshow ex-wife were at Kobe steakhouse in Honolulu and she got all their autographs. I thought they were Depeche Mode. Gothy lookin bunch. NIN were cool to a hot chick.Very rockstar of them. 😂😂
Both versions are awesome. But Cash made it one of my favorite songs. As a 60 year old man I seem to be switching my taste from Metallic to more country. Never really listened to it much until this song.
Before the release of this video, johnny cash showded it to his daughter. And she asked, "Why does it feel like your saying good bye?" And he replied "Becaise i am."
He was a genuine narcissistic fool his whole life. I will bring you down. I will make you hurt. Here is repentance tearing his heart out. And the Lord heard his heart. He went away justified
Exceptionally powerful song. Johnny cash made it his own. It’s originally a nine inch nails song. Yeah, that’s his wife on the stairs. She wasn’t supposed to be in it, she just came down by her own choice. She died shortly after this was filmed and Johnny passed soon after. The setting was at his museum and the dilapidated state of it was the perfect choice. This was indeed his last performance and recording. Apparently it took a long time to film and he was loosing patience as time went on. Such a sad song, it gets me emotional watching it alone.
The final shot of him closing the piano brought tears to my eyes the first time I watched this years ago....it still gets me knowing now that he never opened that piano again. Excellent observations and reaction. RIP legend, The Man In Black ❤️
Just to add a bit; The vid was filmed in their home of 30 years & the near-by, shut down, House of Cash museum. The shot of June on the stairs (stone walls & stone fireplace) & Johnny at the dining table, are in their home. Also, Hurt wasn’t his last recording. It was just his last video. He released the audio in 2002. The vid was filmed Feb. 2003 & released March 2003. June died May 15, 2003. In his final interview, he said, even while in the hospital, June pushed him to keep working & “3 days after the funeral I was in the studio" & "it was great therapy for me." May-Aug 2003, he recorded the album, "American V, A Hundred Highways" (not released till 2006). He died Sept. 12, 2003.
@@natomblin Yeah, April 2007. That was sad. Barry Gibb & his wife bought it & were restoring it. Apparently, the workers used a wood preservative throughout the interior, which hadn't fully dried, when another worker was using a power tool & the preservative was ignited by a spark. The fire spread like crazy & the huge house was a total loss.
Written by Trent Reznor several years before as mentioned already. This was the last video Johnny made.He died just a few months later. Trent wasn't too crazy about it when he heard Johnny was going to record it. When he heard and saw the video he reportedly said "This isn't my song anymore. It belongs to Johnny". Powerful stuff, all of it.
Not true. Trent and Johnny were close friends. They filmed the video partially at Cash's house and partially at Trent Reznors house because it had a studio. The needle tears a hole has nothing to do with drugs either. Just look up Trent Reznors response to lyrics of Hurt which Reznors wrote in 1992 or 1993. I enjoy your reviews but I wish you'd dive deeper into the songs and the lyrics by doing research on lyrics before you review the songs. You got the meaning of lyrics so wrong in this video, and that's ok. Just asking if you could maybe research lyrics before watching the video. That was not his Mom, that was his wife the legendary June Cash. They made an award winning movie about the two of them coming together in love. The movie was called, "Walk the Line". A good bye letter? He didn't even write the song. Trent Reznors did. Just some research please,
@@robhamilton4736As someone who has been on tour with Trent Reznor, I can tell you he and Cash were not close friends and you're full of shit. His reaction was to not let Cash cover that song, but couldn't turn down the honor of being covered by such an iconic artist.
Relax. If the man wants to go in completely blind to the song then that's his prerogative. I'm sure you didn't research the lyrics and know everything about the song before you heard it the first time.
@@robhamilton4736 you're pretty confident for how wrong you are. Trent Reznor and Johnny cash never met, let alone being "close friends". Trent Reznor stated in an interview that when he gave approval for the cover he had no indication that it would actually happen. When he got the cd 2 weeks later he described listening to it the first time "like someone else kissing your girlfriend. It felt invasive"
I cry Every. Single. Time. I watch this video. And I grew up with the original Nine Inch Nails version (and loved it), but Trent was right - this is Johnny's song now.
Imagine being NIN, and realizing that Johnny Cash, a man entirely capable of creating his own music, decides to use your song to convey the last message he would get to convey during the short time he had on this planet. What a g-d honor.
Ironically, Trent Reznor was upsetcwh er n he heard about it because he poured so much emotion into writing it. Then he saw the video and was so blown away, he stated it's Johnny's song now.
Trent Reznor has said in an interview that at first he was skeptical about Johnny doing a cover of the song. Then he listened to the CD they sent him and watched the video and realised that Hurt wasn't his song any more. Trent is proud that Johnny took his song and turned it into possibly the best song ever about hurt.
Johnny Cash is the outlaw OG. Trent Reznor wrote a helluva song. That album was great in fact. But that song is Johnny Cash's. Willie Nelson wrote "Crazy", but that is Patsy Cline's song. Prince wrote."Nothing compares to you", but that song is Senaed Oconnor's. And "Fast car" is Tracey Chapman's. For the record.
This song was written and first recorded by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Cash is doing a cover of the song but the allusions to drug usage can relate to Cash as well as to Trent because Johnny Cash went through more than one time of being addicted to pills and alcohol. You are correct that the lady in red in the picture on the wall is Johnny's mother and the lady standing behind him on the staircase is his wife June Carter Cash. The snippets of Christ on the cross comes from an album and movie that Johnny Cash did probably 40 years ago, plus or minus 5 years or so. That movie was entitled Gospel Road and they have pulled tiny bits from that movie to incorporate into this video. When Johnny recorded "Hurt", he was about 70 years old and his voice was not quite what it used to be, though it was still good and was EXACTLY what this song needed. There was a time, back in his heyday, when one of every five records sold in this country was by Johnny Cash. I have been a fan of Cash since his very first recording back in 1955 (that's how old I am!) when he came out with his first hit record, Cry, Cry, Cry. If you want to hear Johnny Cash from back in the day, check out "Here Comes That Rainbow Again" or "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down". He also has some awesome storytelling songs, "I Hang My Head", "Don't Take Your Guns to Town", "Cisco Clifton's Fillin' Station" to name a few. "Hurt", might make you cry but he also had some humorous songs like "Boy Named Sue" or "One Piece at a Time" or "The One on the Left is on the Right". They will cheer you up as much as "Hurt" might have depressed you. You mentioned that it sounded like this was a goodbye song. A few months after this video was completed, Johnny's wife, June Carter Cash died and about four months later Johnny died. It was in fact the last song Cash ever recorded, so this could indeed be his way of saying goodbye to his fans. BTW, you might get some comments that will say Johnny Cash was once in prison. He never was. He spent a night or two in jail but he was NEVER in prison. He recorded two "prison" albums, one live at San Quentin Prison and one live at Folsom Prison and I think that confused some people into thinking he was actually an inmate at one of those prisons but he was not. Thank you for the reaction to this awesome song by the great Johnny Cash.
So many gems in your mini-bio of Cash. I was born in 69, and I grew up just adoring Johnny Cash. My first celebrity "crushes" were on Johnny Cash, Michael Landon and the Duke. I was also a daddy's girl.....go figure. 🤣
If I recall correctly, he had actually had a stroke some time prior, and it had affected his voice somewhat, lending to the gravelly sound, as well as just general age. Or not, as I just looked up. . . Doh
His health was failing when he recorded this cover of Nine Inch Nails song, Hurt. His wife died 3 months later and he died 7 months later. So yes, it was like a goodbye at the end of his life. Liking your reactions.
Near the end of his career he released some new music. Nobody would play it. In typical Johnny Cash fashion he took out a full-page ad and he took out a full page ad in variety. It was a picture of him flipping the bird. He just wanted to thank everyone in radio for their support
This was the song I played for my fathers funeral. breaks my heart, makes me smile and heals my soul. Love you daddy. And Johnny. Thanks Trent! You had know idea what an impact this song would have on the world. Well done.
“I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town, I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, but is there because he's a victim of the times. I wear the black for those who never read”
Some reviews at the time this was released complained that his voice was weak. That's kinda the point. Trent wrote it from the point of view of a young person and Johnny sings basically the same song and you get that it's an old man looking back on his life. Johnny was a hell-raiser!
I ball every time..... He craved his daddy's acceptance...Time is a thief to all of us .... Take lots of pictures, love who Loves you blood or not... We all fall short in life but we have an opportunity to make our wrongs right .... Dont be afraid to fall inlove more than once... Life is Life....we all cry we are happy, mad all of it ...repair what we can and make beautiful memories much respect 🤟💙💜
You are the first reactor that's got it spot on. You realized the picture was his mom, that the woman on the stairs was his wife and that this cover was his was of saying goodbye. I'm very impressed and subscribing because of it.
@@afterhours21711 look up pictures of June's mom and Johnny's mom. They look very different. The picture is clearly of Johnny's mom Carrie. And I can understand being close to your inlaws but why would he make his focus be on his mother-in-law in that scene instead of his own mother? That really doesn't make much sense. Yes losing an in-law sucks but as someone who's lost their mom I can assure you that losing your mom is one of the most traumatizing experiences in life...
@@cassandrahepp6445 I lost mine on 11/25/20 at 73yrs. From a momma's boy it was rough. My 2car garage is still full of her stuff because I can't bring myself to get rid of the stuff that's still here. I'm a pack rat, but this is different..😥😭 R.I.P. MOM, you are missed daily!..from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 🤠
@@billallen4793 I understand all to well. We lost my mom 04/27/2020. She was 60. My sisters and I still haven't divided up her stuff. There's something about going through all of it that makes things so final. She would have been 62 the 25th of this month (she was a Christmas baby).
This video was shot in February of 2003. In May 2003, his wife died from complications of heart surgery. He died a little less than four months later. When he and his wife showed the video to their children after shooting it, one of their daughters said, 'This sounds like you're saying goodbye." He said, "I am." It was on his last album. After Trent Reznor (the original writer of the song) saw the video, he cried. He said it was like someone else stealing your girlfriend. He said, "That song isn't mine anymore. It's his." Pretty powerful stuff. Johnny Cash was suffering from various illnesses at the time, and you could see it. He still went to the studio, though, just to make himself useful. Before his wife died, she told him to keep working. So, he went to the studio, and if he wasn't working, he'd sweep up. Anything to stay busy, and "keep working". So much respect for him.
Johnny Cash was the ONLY one who could’ve covered this song and make it his own. He is the only one to put this degree of respect into it and I’m sure Trent Reznor cried with this cover. Two absolute geniuses 💐
It was definitely a “goodbye letter”. It’s a cover but he recognized the story in himself. The movie about Cash is really good, he struggled his whole life with drugs and pissing off everyone around him. This song is a message to people, life is about relationships, family, and not things. Great job my friend.
he knew it WAS his goodbye song ... and it was so fitting for him .. no one could of summed it / his life up better ... and the imagery is so powerful too ...
I saw a professional musician's reaction to this, and I believe she pointed out that the chord that just repeats and repeats and repeats during the chorus is MEANT to make you want it to stop. Our minds want the chord to change, but it never does and it's unnerving. Once I heard that, I think of it almost every time.
June Carter Cash, his wife and the love of his life died a few months after this was made and he lasted just 4 months without her. I think the video is a cover of a man dealing with addiction and depression and Cash himself had been addicted to amphetamine's since the early 60's, but the final words 'I will find a way', speak to his recognition of the meaning of the great loves in his life; his music, his wife and family.
Cash recorded this in 2002 on his final album. He died in 2003. That is his wife on the stairs who also died in 2003 before he did. This is a cover of a song written by Trent Reznor with the band Nine Inch Nails in the mid-1990s. and it was a song about drug addiction. Cash made it into something more. Reznor was so touched when he heard Cash sing it that he said: "That song isn't mine anymore."
Trent Resner, after hearing Cashes version of it, said, it’s his song now. him and his wife, who was a country star in her own right, have been famous since the 50’s. Imagine what they’ve seen, who they’ve met, Elvis, presidents, MLK, the Kennedy…
I'm a grown ass 27 year old man and this song (specifically this exceptional cover) gets me near to tears every fucking time. Truly an extremely powerful song.
@@Tijuanabill I cry like a baby every time I hear that song. When I’m depressed, that’s one of the songs I listen to, so I can be even more depressed and get over it.
Everything johnny was saying in this song had meaning in his life. He died cpl weeks after doing this video, it was written for him by 9 inch nails band. He struggled his whole life with drugs & alcohol & treated his family rough. But yes Johnny was depressed he missed his wife June. June was a singer too.
A goodbye letter is absolutely what this song was. That's what his kids said he told them. This was the last song he recorded and both he and his wife died within months of each other, not long after this video was made. Yes, that was his mother in the photo earlier in the video. Johnny battled a lot of drug addiction through his career, especially as a younger man. This song, though written by a young man with a different kind of view, was made Johnny's because of his age and wisdom and lived experience. NIN sang it completely differently and it just doesn't have the same meaning. They were telling the story like it was from the view of current drug addiction. Johnny's feeling behind it is so poignant because he's showing it all stays with you. All the horrible things he did to the people he loved and now they're all gone and he knew he would be gone soon, too. The imagery used was his own life, whereas the images in NIN version is nothing to do with them. They show clips from wars they weren't part of and decaying animals mostly. It just isn't the same song, despite literally being the same! Johnny's version of this song makes me well up every time I listen to it. The NIN version doesn't give me that visceral reaction. It doesn'take me almost feel sick to my stomach, like a weight is dropped in my gut. It sounds 90s cool and comparatively light. This version is deep and dark and sad and, yes, his finally goodbye.
When Johnny was 12 his brother died, ripped open by a table saw chain. Father told him it should have been him, not his older brother. Johnny injected opiates to take away the pain. He met his wife and found God.
This song was a mirror of his life. He was a amazing artist with a lions share of regrets. His brother died and his father hated him for it. He was a IV drug addict and LOVED ONE WOMAN fiercely. June Carter. Almost lost her because of his addiction. He regrets all the pain he gave her. " you are someone else, I am still right here" .... she died while he was doing this song... she told him "Go back to the studio and get back to work". He would have given anything to relive another life with her and get it right❤❤❤
June died 3 months after they recorded this video and he died 4 months after that. Hid daughter said "This sounds like you say saying goodbye." He said "Yes I am." He knew he wasn't going to be here to much longer yet he didn't know June would go before him.
Further clarification, it is a known fact that Johnny Cash was not an IV drug addict - he never did heroin, cocaine, crack or other intravenous drugs. Johnny Cash’s drug of choice was pills: amphetamines, barbiturates, pain killers.
Johnny was very sick when this was recorded and many there didnt think he would be able to finish the sessions, and it was indeed a goodby, he passed soon after. What a musician, and a life well lived. It's amazing he lived as long as he did considering the drug abuse in his early days. RIP Mr. Cash
Yes, it was his goodbye, so powerful. And that’s his wife June watching it. How dark was it? She even died before him. Incredible. A Nine Inch Nails song that the producer Rick Rubin found for him. So heavy. Brilliant. Thanks Polo, love being with you when you see these things for the first time, like we once did.
This is the story of his turbulent life. He died shortly after this. SO powerful. Heartbreaking. It's not just people who died, it's people he estranged with his terrible treatment and behaviour, especially when he was younger and using.
His daughter said they it sounded like goodbye and Johnny said “It was.” It was the last recording before his death. My dad was from Tennessee and always reminded me a lot of Johnny Cash. 👵🏼☮️❤️🙏🏼
His beloved wife June died a couple of months after this video,he died around 4 months later.His daughter told him it sounded like he was was saying goodbye and he told her he was.
I think he really owned this song. He's a man who lived through so much. In the end he realized who he was and the importance of Christ above all. Thank God for his wife's unconditional love.
Johnny Cash was one of the greatest storytellers ever in music they did not even know where to place them when he first started rock rockabilly everything
Apparently you haven’t researched this well. Reznor laments that this song was basically lifted from him. He didn’t “give him” this song. NIN version will always be clearly better
@@trentrez6643 There is a documentary about this song where Trent acknowledges he was asked permission for Johnny Cash to cover this song. He said he was honored that Johnny Cash wanted to cover this song and he gave permission. He also said that when he first saw this video, he was brought to tears and realized that this wasn't this song anymore.
This song breaks me every time I hear it. Trent Reznor wrote amazing, personal lyrics and Johnny Cash took that song and put it up in the stratosphere with his entire lifetime of experience infused into every single syllable. If this song can't get you to have compassion for people with chemical dependencies I don't know how to reach you.
I grew up riding around in a truck with my dad listening to that voice. I was also of the age and temperament to have been a Nine Inch Nails fan. And now I’m Stage 4 Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma. The needle is the drug they feed you and it does tear a hole. The pain becomes familiar. Can’t be killed. But I remember everything, including riding around with dad listening to Cash.
The man lived one of the most legendary lives in the history of humanity. The experiences. The money. The relationships. The late nights. The traveling. The chilling moments only Johnny went through. To end his live giving everything to Christ! To repent and to be forgiven of all the wrong. It’s beautiful!
My empire of dirt - all the "things" we collect through our life - bling, clothes, cars, crap - don't mean a thing when you get closer to your death. THey are no comfort. All you have that you can look back on is your treatment of others, how you relate do those closest to you - those that cared for you. That is it - the only thing that matters at the end.
This song, by Johnny, came out a few weeks after I lost my best friend from high school due to complications of Type 1 Diabetes. He was 53 years old and left behind a wife and five kids. I cried so hard, like I never have before. This song always makes me tear up, going on 12 years later. "What have I become, my sweetest friend," still stabs me in heart.
They play this song on loop at the end of the walk through of the Johnny Cash museum in Nashville. It is so powerful that I challenge anyone to leave with a dry eye. This man in his 80s took this Nine Inch Nails song and made it an anthem of his painful past. Just amazing, it was the last song he did on an amazing last album.
I was blessed to get to see Johnny and June live waaay back in the 60's on a Grand Ole Opry tour. Been fan of his since. This is a fitting end to a legendary career, Went out with his boots on.
I knew that this sounded familiar, Mark 8:36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his own soul? Johnny knew what really had worth!
The country singers mean more to me as I get older. Maybe it’s nostalgia or maybe I’m just listening harder. Cash and Kris Kristofferson and John Prine could turn a phrase. This song was written by Trent Reznor and it’s genius is how it addresses addiction and regret equally.
@@trentrez6643 not a problem at all. Most story tellers are telling other people's stories. Cash didn't live the story of Folsom Prison Blues, A Boy Named Sue, Long Black Veil, John Henry, etc. But he could sure tell a story.
@@trentrez6643 Well, Trent himself said that Johnny perfected it, though the song is his, he admitted that this cover was his own song. Even talked about how despite only changing one lyric, it told a whole new story.
You hit it right on the head with "goodbye letter". His wife June Carter Cash passed away only a few months after the release of this song. Johnny would follow her a couple of months later. This was the last record he released.
It's literally a goodbye letter. His own kids said, "It sounds like you are saying goodbye." He said, "I am." June died after this was filmed, and he died shortly after it was released. I don't know if there is any science or morality to it, but I have deep respect for spouses who pass shortly after theirs passes. I feel like...true love carries spouses along...much after they were willing to give up. For better, or for worse, that is beautiful and human.
I'm not a fan of every single song Johnny Cash made, but more than some are irreplaceable. I think the old house and flood imagery were from his childhood home. His family/origins were dirt poor cotton sharecroppers. Legend.
While this is a "Nine Inch Nails" song, I can see why it resonated with Johnny. As a child, Johnny's brother was killed in an accident, and his father told Johnny that he wished he had died instead of his brother. He spent many years addicted to drugs but turned his life around with the help of his wife, June Carter Cash. He recorded this song after her death.
Here's the thing Polo, Imma sit here and listen to this even though I'm not a huge fan, because I know the longer I listen , the better for the algorithm. This is how much I love your gig.
Your spot on about the goodbye letter. His daughter Roseanne listened to the song and cried saying "it sounds like you're saying goodbye" to which Johnny replied "I am."
I'm an old man, Johny inspired a generation, it was the most fitting song to end a brilliant career, but I get tears in my eyes every time I hear this.
It's said that when he closed the piano at the end, it has never again been opened. For some reason knowing that makes this even more sorrowful. His daughter Roseanne told her father this song sounded like his goodbye. It was his last recording.
The man did his utmost best to wreck his life in every way he could with the fame and money that came with it.. June loved him.. and fought for him like a tiger.. finally showing him HER savior, who became his. It was still never easy, and the battle against the dark was life long. 80 years old, and redeemed, but still aware of that dark and pain. Johnny could own that song like not many could. only the second time I've seen this vid... man... intense.
The song was written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Both Trent Reznor and Johnny Cash had drug addiction issues in their past and the song is rumoured to be a reference as to how destructive that can be. After hearing this version Trent was quoted as praising the 'Sincerity and meaning' of Johnny Cash's version and saying "that song isn't mine anymore".
I'm not sure how Johnny came across the song, but I'm sure he saw it as the perfect song to close his career. Such a powerful cover, and beautifully performed. Nice reaction - thanks
most of us think Johnny was this famous superstar but in reality he had problems with drugs, Prison, , crisis of faith in the end he would give it all up to be with his loved ones, as we get older money is not important, getting old is no walk in the park
If you read this, I recommend listening to all the albums he cut with Rick Rubin known collectively as the American Recordings. Find and read about how Rick sought Johnny out when Johnny had been dropped by Columbia Records and basically had nothing going on. Rick said his vision was Johnny, an acoustic guitar, and the songs Johnny wanted to record before he was gone. "God's Gonna Cut You Down" would be a good beginning, great video on that one too. Great reaction!
Trent gave this man his swan song. What an amazing gift. It's Johnny's song, but now I know who Trent is. A fantastic song writer. Thank you to both great men.
You are right, this was his goodbye letter. He had a life full of outlaw stuff, drug and alcohol abuse, hurting his wife and family. He got clean and gave his life to Christ. The video shows the struggle of all that and how at the end of your life it’s all worthless. Another excellent and worthy song to explore if his is Man In Black.
![*First Listen* [Industry Ghostwriter][Hiphop Head] Reacts to: Johnny Cash - Hurt (This was hard)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bpryMvMXjCs/mqdefault.jpg)
![*First Listen* [Industry Ghostwriter][Hiphop Head] Reacts to: Johnny Cash - Hurt (This was hard)](/img/tr.png)
When he closed the piano and caressed it, the imagery is that he is closing his own coffin on his music and his life. I've seen it said he never opened it again.
That closing of the piano made me think of closing a coffin too. Never saw it written before...
It makes me think more of his closing his career. It was truly an amazing way for him to go out.
He died shortly after the video was finished.
Oof. That's a real gut punch. 🥺
That is deep bro
Trent was a 23 year old kid when he wrote this, and after he heard this he said something to the effect of...I didn't realize I had written this song for Johnny Cash. This song means something entirely different coming from a man who lived a life as full as Johnny. This was his goodbye to all of us. I get emotional every single time I hear it.
I was 23 when me and my smokeshow ex-wife were at Kobe steakhouse in Honolulu and she got all their autographs. I thought they were Depeche Mode. Gothy lookin bunch. NIN were cool to a hot chick.Very rockstar of them. 😂😂
Both versions are awesome. But Cash made it one of my favorite songs. As a 60 year old man I seem to be switching my taste from Metallic to more country. Never really listened to it much until this song.
Before the release of this video, johnny cash showded it to his daughter. And she asked, "Why does it feel like your saying good bye?" And he replied "Becaise i am."
wow that tares a hole in your soul. goshh
R. I. P.
That was my impression when I first saw it
Her song about his passing is the heaviest song ever
This video and his performance are riveting and so gutting
The Man in Black lived a hard, often tumultuous life, but he was always genuine. A legend.
A Highway Man ...
He was a genuine narcissistic fool his whole life. I will bring you down. I will make you hurt. Here is repentance tearing his heart out. And the Lord heard his heart. He went away justified
Exceptionally powerful song. Johnny cash made it his own. It’s originally a nine inch nails song.
Yeah, that’s his wife on the stairs. She wasn’t supposed to be in it, she just came down by her own choice. She died shortly after this was filmed and Johnny passed soon after.
The setting was at his museum and the dilapidated state of it was the perfect choice.
This was indeed his last performance and recording. Apparently it took a long time to film and he was loosing patience as time went on.
Such a sad song, it gets me emotional watching it alone.
The final shot of him closing the piano brought tears to my eyes the first time I watched this years ago....it still gets me knowing now that he never opened that piano again. Excellent observations and reaction. RIP legend, The Man In Black ❤️
Just to add a bit; The vid was filmed in their home of 30 years & the near-by, shut down, House of Cash museum. The shot of June on the stairs (stone walls & stone fireplace) & Johnny at the dining table, are in their home. Also, Hurt wasn’t his last recording. It was just his last video. He released the audio in 2002. The vid was filmed Feb. 2003 & released March 2003. June died May 15, 2003. In his final interview, he said, even while in the hospital, June pushed him to keep working & “3 days after the funeral I was in the studio" & "it was great therapy for me." May-Aug 2003, he recorded the album, "American V, A Hundred Highways" (not released till 2006). He died Sept. 12, 2003.
@@wnsafford1854
And the house where this was shot later burned down.
@@natomblin Yeah, April 2007. That was sad. Barry Gibb & his wife bought it & were restoring it. Apparently, the workers used a wood preservative throughout the interior, which hadn't fully dried, when another worker was using a power tool & the preservative was ignited by a spark. The fire spread like crazy & the huge house was a total loss.
i did not know that. very sad and also very evocative.
One of the greatest covers of all time. Johnny Cash was the GOAT.
Not just his career, as great as it was, but his struggles in his life.
Written by Trent Reznor several years before as mentioned already. This was the last video Johnny made.He died just a few months later. Trent wasn't too crazy about it when he heard Johnny was going to record it. When he heard and saw the video he reportedly said "This isn't my song anymore. It belongs to Johnny". Powerful stuff, all of it.
Not true. Trent and Johnny were close friends. They filmed the video partially at Cash's house and partially at Trent Reznors house because it had a studio. The needle tears a hole has nothing to do with drugs either. Just look up Trent Reznors response to lyrics of Hurt which Reznors wrote in 1992 or 1993. I enjoy your reviews but I wish you'd dive deeper into the songs and the lyrics by doing research on lyrics before you review the songs. You got the meaning of lyrics so wrong in this video, and that's ok. Just asking if you could maybe research lyrics before watching the video. That was not his Mom, that was his wife the legendary June Cash. They made an award winning movie about the two of them coming together in love. The movie was called, "Walk the Line". A good bye letter? He didn't even write the song. Trent Reznors did. Just some research please,
@@robhamilton4736As someone who has been on tour with Trent Reznor, I can tell you he and Cash were not close friends and you're full of shit.
His reaction was to not let Cash cover that song, but couldn't turn down the honor of being covered by such an iconic artist.
Relax. If the man wants to go in completely blind to the song then that's his prerogative. I'm sure you didn't research the lyrics and know everything about the song before you heard it the first time.
@@robhamilton4736 you're pretty confident for how wrong you are. Trent Reznor and Johnny cash never met, let alone being "close friends". Trent Reznor stated in an interview that when he gave approval for the cover he had no indication that it would actually happen. When he got the cd 2 weeks later he described listening to it the first time "like someone else kissing your girlfriend. It felt invasive"
@@robhamilton4736speaking of research cashes first wife might not like that movies love story
His farewell song. He had a long and hard life. His wife His companion, soul mate has passed. He is ready to say goodby.
No she passed 3 months after him
She passed before him, but she's alive at this point. She is literally in the video.
That is so beautiful and true
@@sophieandwayneno she died before him
I cry Every. Single. Time. I watch this video. And I grew up with the original Nine Inch Nails version (and loved it), but Trent was right - this is Johnny's song now.
Imagine being NIN, and realizing that Johnny Cash, a man entirely capable of creating his own music, decides to use your song to convey the last message he would get to convey during the short time he had on this planet. What a g-d honor.
That's the most incredibly beautiful way to read this. Thank you.
Ironically, Trent Reznor was upsetcwh er n he heard about it because he poured so much emotion into writing it.
Then he saw the video and was so blown away, he stated it's Johnny's song now.
Trent Reznor has said in an interview that at first he was skeptical about Johnny doing a cover of the song. Then he listened to the CD they sent him and watched the video and realised that Hurt wasn't his song any more. Trent is proud that Johnny took his song and turned it into possibly the best song ever about hurt.
Johnny Cash is the outlaw OG.
Trent Reznor wrote a helluva song. That album was great in fact. But that song is Johnny Cash's. Willie Nelson wrote "Crazy", but that is Patsy Cline's song. Prince wrote."Nothing compares to you", but that song is Senaed Oconnor's. And "Fast car" is Tracey Chapman's. For the record.
This video was named the MTV video of the year. It later was voted the greatest music video of ALL time by MTV.
So very very powerful.
This was his goodbye to all of us. And he meant for it to be.
This song was written and first recorded by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Cash is doing a cover of the song but the allusions to drug usage can relate to Cash as well as to Trent because Johnny Cash went through more than one time of being addicted to pills and alcohol. You are correct that the lady in red in the picture on the wall is Johnny's mother and the lady standing behind him on the staircase is his wife June Carter Cash. The snippets of Christ on the cross comes from an album and movie that Johnny Cash did probably 40 years ago, plus or minus 5 years or so. That movie was entitled Gospel Road and they have pulled tiny bits from that movie to incorporate into this video.
When Johnny recorded "Hurt", he was about 70 years old and his voice was not quite what it used to be, though it was still good and was EXACTLY what this song needed. There was a time, back in his heyday, when one of every five records sold in this country was by Johnny Cash. I have been a fan of Cash since his very first recording back in 1955 (that's how old I am!) when he came out with his first hit record, Cry, Cry, Cry. If you want to hear Johnny Cash from back in the day, check out "Here Comes That Rainbow Again" or "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down". He also has some awesome storytelling songs, "I Hang My Head", "Don't Take Your Guns to Town", "Cisco Clifton's Fillin' Station" to name a few. "Hurt", might make you cry but he also had some humorous songs like "Boy Named Sue" or "One Piece at a Time" or "The One on the Left is on the Right". They will cheer you up as much as "Hurt" might have depressed you.
You mentioned that it sounded like this was a goodbye song. A few months after this video was completed, Johnny's wife, June Carter Cash died and about four months later Johnny died. It was in fact the last song Cash ever recorded, so this could indeed be his way of saying goodbye to his fans.
BTW, you might get some comments that will say Johnny Cash was once in prison. He never was. He spent a night or two in jail but he was NEVER in prison. He recorded two "prison" albums, one live at San Quentin Prison and one live at Folsom Prison and I think that confused some people into thinking he was actually an inmate at one of those prisons but he was not.
Thank you for the reaction to this awesome song by the great Johnny Cash.
Also, when his daughter, Roseanne Cash heard his rendition, she said it sounded like he was saying goodbye. He said "I am".
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 Thank you 💜💜💜💜
So many gems in your mini-bio of Cash. I was born in 69, and I grew up just adoring Johnny Cash. My first celebrity "crushes" were on Johnny Cash, Michael Landon and the Duke. I was also a daddy's girl.....go figure. 🤣
If I recall correctly, he had actually had a stroke some time prior, and it had affected his voice somewhat, lending to the gravelly sound, as well as just general age.
Or not, as I just looked up. . . Doh
Yup, pretty cool story about how Cash wanted to do this.
Revisiting his entire life in one song, it's beautiful it's heartbreaking its unforgettable. We'll never have another Johnny Cash
His health was failing when he recorded this cover of Nine Inch Nails song, Hurt. His wife died 3 months later and he died 7 months later. So yes, it was like a goodbye at the end of his life. Liking your reactions.
Right
Near the end of his career he released some new music. Nobody would play it. In typical Johnny Cash fashion he took out a full-page ad and he took out a full page ad in variety. It was a picture of him flipping the bird. He just wanted to thank everyone in radio for their support
When Johnny passed the video and the song were No 1 through out the land. What a way to go on Top .
This was the song I played for my fathers funeral. breaks my heart, makes me smile and heals my soul. Love you daddy. And Johnny. Thanks Trent! You had know idea what an impact this song would have on the world. Well done.
“I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
but is there because he's a victim of the times.
I wear the black for those who never read”
Some reviews at the time this was released complained that his voice was weak. That's kinda the point. Trent wrote it from the point of view of a young person and Johnny sings basically the same song and you get that it's an old man looking back on his life. Johnny was a hell-raiser!
Hauntingly beautiful. Johnny crushed this cover. He was GIANT!! Rest easy Mr. Cash. You deserve it. And thank you.
I ball every time..... He craved his daddy's acceptance...Time is a thief to all of us .... Take lots of pictures, love who Loves you blood or not... We all fall short in life but we have an opportunity to make our wrongs right .... Dont be afraid to fall inlove more than once... Life is Life....we all cry we are happy, mad all of it ...repair what we can and make beautiful memories much respect 🤟💙💜
You are the first reactor that's got it spot on. You realized the picture was his mom, that the woman on the stairs was his wife and that this cover was his was of saying goodbye. I'm very impressed and subscribing because of it.
In the comments for another reaction I saw someone said that was Mother Maybelle in the picture, June's mother.
@@afterhours21711 look up pictures of June's mom and Johnny's mom. They look very different. The picture is clearly of Johnny's mom Carrie.
And I can understand being close to your inlaws but why would he make his focus be on his mother-in-law in that scene instead of his own mother? That really doesn't make much sense. Yes losing an in-law sucks but as someone who's lost their mom I can assure you that losing your mom is one of the most traumatizing experiences in life...
@@cassandrahepp6445 I lost mine on 11/25/20 at 73yrs. From a momma's boy it was rough. My 2car garage is still full of her stuff because I can't bring myself to get rid of the stuff that's still here. I'm a pack rat, but this is different..😥😭 R.I.P. MOM, you are missed daily!..from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 🤠
@@billallen4793 I understand all to well. We lost my mom 04/27/2020. She was 60. My sisters and I still haven't divided up her stuff. There's something about going through all of it that makes things so final. She would have been 62 the 25th of this month (she was a Christmas baby).
Great observation! I've been saying that for years!😊
This video was shot in February of 2003. In May 2003, his wife died from complications of heart surgery. He died a little less than four months later. When he and his wife showed the video to their children after shooting it, one of their daughters said, 'This sounds like you're saying goodbye." He said, "I am." It was on his last album. After Trent Reznor (the original writer of the song) saw the video, he cried. He said it was like someone else stealing your girlfriend. He said, "That song isn't mine anymore. It's his." Pretty powerful stuff.
Johnny Cash was suffering from various illnesses at the time, and you could see it. He still went to the studio, though, just to make himself useful. Before his wife died, she told him to keep working. So, he went to the studio, and if he wasn't working, he'd sweep up. Anything to stay busy, and "keep working". So much respect for him.
Johnny Cash was the ONLY one who could’ve covered this song and make it his own. He is the only one to put this degree of respect into it and I’m sure Trent Reznor cried with this cover. Two absolute geniuses 💐
No, Reznor didn’t. He laments that this song was basically lifted from him and given to Cash
I heard Trent Reznor thought it was a joke when he was contacted by Johnny 's people until they put Johnny on the line.
Both later comments are correct, until Trent saw the video. Then he said this isn’t my song anymore, it’s Johnny’s.
A Rick Ruben production...
@@Dubmcbogie another fokkin genius btw ...
He’s is a legend beyond legends
It was definitely a “goodbye letter”. It’s a cover but he recognized the story in himself. The movie about Cash is really good, he struggled his whole life with drugs and pissing off everyone around him. This song is a message to people, life is about relationships, family, and not things. Great job my friend.
he knew it WAS his goodbye song ... and it was so fitting for him .. no one could of summed it / his life up better ... and the imagery is so powerful too ...
He knew he was dying, that the time he had left was short. You can hear it in his voice. 1 year later he died, a short time after June Carter died
Yes, he left his first wife and 4 kids for June Carter amid his drug taking and being absent so much
June was such an angel to him. She pulled him out of so much darkness. He’s a true legend!
I saw a professional musician's reaction to this, and I believe she pointed out that the chord that just repeats and repeats and repeats during the chorus is MEANT to make you want it to stop. Our minds want the chord to change, but it never does and it's unnerving.
Once I heard that, I think of it almost every time.
Guess I'm one of those odd people, cause I didn't want the cord to change.
It just keeps building
@@rickwrites2612 Relentlessly. With no "release." That's when the tears come.
That piano always hits me hard... it makes you feel uncomfortable... and I believe that is the whole point
His wife battle cancer for years he lost the will to live
June Carter Cash, his wife and the love of his life died a few months after this was made and he lasted just 4 months without her. I think the video is a cover of a man dealing with addiction and depression and Cash himself had been addicted to amphetamine's since the early 60's, but the final words 'I will find a way', speak to his recognition of the meaning of the great loves in his life; his music, his wife and family.
Cash recorded this in 2002 on his final album. He died in 2003. That is his wife on the stairs who also died in 2003 before he did. This is a cover of a song written by Trent Reznor with the band Nine Inch Nails in the mid-1990s. and it was a song about drug addiction. Cash made it into something more. Reznor was so touched when he heard Cash sing it that he said: "That song isn't mine anymore."
Trent Resner, after hearing Cashes version of it, said, it’s his song now. him and his wife, who was a country star in her own right, have been famous since the 50’s. Imagine what they’ve seen, who they’ve met, Elvis, presidents, MLK, the Kennedy…
I'm a grown ass 27 year old man and this song (specifically this exceptional cover) gets me near to tears every fucking time. Truly an extremely powerful song.
Oh hell, I'm 41 and still bawl like a baby every damn time lol. Probably heard it 40+ times, never fails.
It's up there with George Jones, He Stopped Loving Her Today, for 100% chance of showers, everywhere it's played.
@@Tijuanabill I cry like a baby every time I hear that song. When I’m depressed, that’s one of the songs I listen to, so I can be even more depressed and get over it.
@@GoldenBuddah1972 Have you tried country instead?
Everything johnny was saying in this song had meaning in his life. He died cpl weeks after doing this video, it was written for him by 9 inch nails band. He struggled his whole life with drugs & alcohol & treated his family rough. But yes Johnny was depressed he missed his wife June. June was a singer too.
A goodbye letter is absolutely what this song was. That's what his kids said he told them. This was the last song he recorded and both he and his wife died within months of each other, not long after this video was made.
Yes, that was his mother in the photo earlier in the video.
Johnny battled a lot of drug addiction through his career, especially as a younger man. This song, though written by a young man with a different kind of view, was made Johnny's because of his age and wisdom and lived experience. NIN sang it completely differently and it just doesn't have the same meaning. They were telling the story like it was from the view of current drug addiction. Johnny's feeling behind it is so poignant because he's showing it all stays with you. All the horrible things he did to the people he loved and now they're all gone and he knew he would be gone soon, too. The imagery used was his own life, whereas the images in NIN version is nothing to do with them. They show clips from wars they weren't part of and decaying animals mostly. It just isn't the same song, despite literally being the same! Johnny's version of this song makes me well up every time I listen to it. The NIN version doesn't give me that visceral reaction. It doesn'take me almost feel sick to my stomach, like a weight is dropped in my gut. It sounds 90s cool and comparatively light. This version is deep and dark and sad and, yes, his finally goodbye.
When Johnny was 12 his brother died, ripped open by a table saw chain. Father told him it should have been him, not his older brother. Johnny injected opiates to take away the pain.
He met his wife and found God.
This song was a mirror of his life. He was a amazing artist with a lions share of regrets. His brother died and his father hated him for it. He was a IV drug addict and LOVED ONE WOMAN fiercely. June Carter. Almost lost her because of his addiction. He regrets all the pain he gave her. " you are someone else, I am still right here" .... she died while he was doing this song... she told him "Go back to the studio and get back to work". He would have given anything to relive another life with her and get it right❤❤❤
June died 3 months after they recorded this video and he died 4 months after that. Hid daughter said "This sounds like you say saying goodbye." He said "Yes I am." He knew he wasn't going to be here to much longer yet he didn't know June would go before him.
Further clarification, it is a known fact that Johnny Cash was not an IV drug addict - he never did heroin, cocaine, crack or other intravenous drugs. Johnny Cash’s drug of choice was pills: amphetamines, barbiturates, pain killers.
1000% a "goodbye letter" And I am greatful for it.
Johnny was very sick when this was recorded and many there didnt think he would be able to finish the sessions, and it was indeed a goodby, he passed soon after. What a musician, and a life well lived. It's amazing he lived as long as he did considering the drug abuse in his early days. RIP Mr. Cash
Yes, it was his goodbye, so powerful. And that’s his wife June watching it. How dark was it? She even died before him. Incredible. A Nine Inch Nails song that the producer Rick Rubin found for him. So heavy. Brilliant. Thanks Polo, love being with you when you see these things for the first time, like we once did.
This is the story of his turbulent life. He died shortly after this. SO powerful. Heartbreaking. It's not just people who died, it's people he estranged with his terrible treatment and behaviour, especially when he was younger and using.
Trent Reznor’s original lyric was “my empire of sh*t” but Cash, who was fairly devout at the time, did not want to swear.
His daughter said they it sounded like goodbye and Johnny said “It was.” It was the last recording before his death. My dad was from Tennessee and always reminded me a lot of Johnny Cash. 👵🏼☮️❤️🙏🏼
I liked John's Cash's Version of Hurt by 9" nails. Very Soulful and Deep.
His beloved wife June died a couple of months after this video,he died around 4 months later.His daughter told him it sounded like he was was saying goodbye and he told her he was.
He's reflecting back on his life as he knows his time is short.
I will fight ANYONE who disagrees with me: Hurt is Johnny Cash's best song BECAUSE it is incapsulating his whole career in one song
Grew up with Johnny Cash. His songs told stories, life stories, often real stories.
I think he really owned this song. He's a man who lived through so much. In the end he realized who he was and the importance of Christ above all. Thank God for his wife's unconditional love.
Thank you June!
Johnny Cash was one of the greatest storytellers ever in music they did not even know where to place them when he first started rock rockabilly everything
Trent Reznor showed his class and grace by allowing Johnny to cover this song.
Much respect!
Apparently you haven’t researched this well. Reznor laments that this song was basically lifted from him. He didn’t “give him” this song. NIN version will always be clearly better
I’ve also heard that he said it’s Johnny’s song now. Very respectful of him to say that.
@@susanconstable2113 he wasn’t granting him the song, he was lamenting that the song was basically lifted from him
@@trentrez6643 There is a documentary about this song where Trent acknowledges he was asked permission for Johnny Cash to cover this song. He said he was honored that Johnny Cash wanted to cover this song and he gave permission. He also said that when he first saw this video, he was brought to tears and realized that this wasn't this song anymore.
This does with the Soundgarden and Cash exchange as well.
A much younger guy from Nine Inch Nails wrote this song, but when he heard Cash sing it he said it's Cash's song now. I believe most people agree.
This song breaks me every time I hear it. Trent Reznor wrote amazing, personal lyrics and Johnny Cash took that song and put it up in the stratosphere with his entire lifetime of experience infused into every single syllable. If this song can't get you to have compassion for people with chemical dependencies I don't know how to reach you.
I grew up riding around in a truck with my dad listening to that voice. I was also of the age and temperament to have been a Nine Inch Nails fan. And now I’m Stage 4 Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma. The needle is the drug they feed you and it does tear a hole. The pain becomes familiar. Can’t be killed. But I remember everything, including riding around with dad listening to Cash.
You’re right about it being a goodbye letter. They both died a few months apart shortly after this video was filmed. This one alway gets me.
I think he was speaking from the heart
Thank you, POLO, for a great review. In my humble opinion, this was Johnny's greatest work. And you did it justice.
The man lived one of the most legendary lives in the history of humanity. The experiences. The money. The relationships. The late nights. The traveling. The chilling moments only Johnny went through. To end his live giving everything to Christ! To repent and to be forgiven of all the wrong. It’s beautiful!
My empire of dirt - all the "things" we collect through our life - bling, clothes, cars, crap - don't mean a thing when you get closer to your death. THey are no comfort. All you have that you can look back on is your treatment of others, how you relate do those closest to you - those that cared for you. That is it - the only thing that matters at the end.
This song, by Johnny, came out a few weeks after I lost my best friend from high school due to complications of Type 1 Diabetes. He was 53 years old and left behind a wife and five kids. I cried so hard, like I never have before. This song always makes me tear up, going on 12 years later. "What have I become, my sweetest friend," still stabs me in heart.
They play this song on loop at the end of the walk through of the Johnny Cash museum in Nashville. It is so powerful that I challenge anyone to leave with a dry eye. This man in his 80s took this Nine Inch Nails song and made it an anthem of his painful past. Just amazing, it was the last song he did on an amazing last album.
He was 71
Makes it even more poignant that his home burnt around the same time.
I had tears there
He will always be a legend to me. A very humble man ❤
I was blessed to get to see Johnny and June live waaay back in the 60's on a Grand Ole Opry tour. Been fan of his since. This is a fitting end to a legendary career, Went out with his boots on.
A beautiful, sensitive reaction. I wish I could give it more than a thumbs-up. ❤
I knew that this sounded familiar, Mark 8:36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his own soul? Johnny knew what really had worth!
From dust we were made and to dust we shall return…to live to suffer, to be alive is to find meaning in the suffering.
The country singers mean more to me as I get older. Maybe it’s nostalgia or maybe I’m just listening harder. Cash and Kris Kristofferson and John Prine could turn a phrase. This song was written by Trent Reznor and it’s genius is how it addresses addiction and regret equally.
I'm 60 and I agree. Country singers get right to the point with their songs. I've been on a Steve Earle kick lately. Country singers are underrated.
He was an old man remembering times in his life. He remembers all the people that passed before. He's tired.
Cash was a part of the "storyteller" generation of artists. The more songs you hear, the more you'll hear it. Start with "A boy named Sue".
One problem, this is Trent Reznors story
@@trentrez6643 not a problem at all. Most story tellers are telling other people's stories.
Cash didn't live the story of Folsom Prison Blues, A Boy Named Sue, Long Black Veil, John Henry, etc. But he could sure tell a story.
@@trentrez6643 Well, Trent himself said that Johnny perfected it, though the song is his, he admitted that this cover was his own song. Even talked about how despite only changing one lyric, it told a whole new story.
His life was dark, his light was his wife June Carter. This cover was perfect. You should listen to his his live album from the Folsom Prison.
You hit it right on the head with "goodbye letter". His wife June Carter Cash passed away only a few months after the release of this song. Johnny would follow her a couple of months later. This was the last record he released.
It's literally a goodbye letter. His own kids said, "It sounds like you are saying goodbye." He said, "I am." June died after this was filmed, and he died shortly after it was released. I don't know if there is any science or morality to it, but I have deep respect for spouses who pass shortly after theirs passes. I feel like...true love carries spouses along...much after they were willing to give up. For better, or for worse, that is beautiful and human.
This was his swan song. Once June died, he felt like it was time to go.
Weird thing about this comment is he started in a Columbo episode in the 70s. The name of the episode was "Swan Song"
Johnny Cash is the greatest. There's nothing else to say about him.
I'm not a fan of every single song Johnny Cash made, but more than some are irreplaceable. I think the old house and flood imagery were from his childhood home. His family/origins were dirt poor cotton sharecroppers. Legend.
"It sounds pretty dark."
Well, yeah.
Trent Reznor wrote it as a suicide note, Johnny Cash sang it as his eulogy.
While this is a "Nine Inch Nails" song, I can see why it resonated with Johnny. As a child, Johnny's brother was killed in an accident, and his father told Johnny that he wished he had died instead of his brother. He spent many years addicted to drugs but turned his life around with the help of his wife, June Carter Cash. He recorded this song after her death.
No, she died 3 months after this recording and she is on the stairs in the video!!!
Here's the thing Polo, Imma sit here and listen to this even though I'm not a huge fan, because I know the longer I listen , the better for the algorithm. This is how much I love your gig.
The look on June's face while she watches him is heartbreaking. She knows she's losing the other half of her soul. Then she ends up going first...
Your spot on about the goodbye letter. His daughter Roseanne listened to the song and cried saying "it sounds like you're saying goodbye" to which Johnny replied "I am."
You nailed it - he was saying goodbye. Great reaction!
Good choice of words. Yes it was like a good bye. Very powerful piece. It was perfect for him....
This song is so beautiful and heartrending all at the same time. Johnny Cash is a Legend for good reason and Trent Reznor is a genius and a true poet.
I'm an old man, Johny inspired a generation, it was the most fitting song to end a brilliant career, but I get tears in my eyes every time I hear this.
It's said that when he closed the piano at the end, it has never again been opened. For some reason knowing that makes this even more sorrowful.
His daughter Roseanne told her father this song sounded like his goodbye. It was his last recording.
The man did his utmost best to wreck his life in every way he could with the fame and money that came with it.. June loved him.. and fought for him like a tiger.. finally showing him HER savior, who became his. It was still never easy, and the battle against the dark was life long. 80 years old, and redeemed, but still aware of that dark and pain. Johnny could own that song like not many could.
only the second time I've seen this vid... man... intense.
His daughter said to him after watching the video, that it was like he was saying goodbye….and he agreed, it was.
The song was written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Both Trent Reznor and Johnny Cash had drug addiction issues in their past and the song is rumoured to be a reference as to how destructive that can be. After hearing this version Trent was quoted as praising the 'Sincerity and meaning' of Johnny Cash's version and saying "that song isn't mine anymore".
He was called The Man in Black
Pain, guilt, sorrow and regret. Ultimately no amount of fame and fortune will ever guarantee peace. RIP Mr. Cash
I'm not sure how Johnny came across the song, but I'm sure he saw it as the perfect song to close his career. Such a powerful cover, and beautifully performed. Nice reaction - thanks
Rick Ruben showed it to him and asked him to listen and see if he’d like to cover it
The guy had more riches than I can even imagine. But he still had pain. This was his goodbye to his fans.
An Absolutely Powerful Goodbye From A Legendary Music Icon...Rest Well Johnny & June🙏❤
Whoa...actually got some tears there. Made me think too
Very deep song with lots of meaning. Johnny Cash was my Daddy’s country singer.
most of us think Johnny was this famous superstar but in reality he had problems with drugs, Prison, , crisis of faith in the end he would give it all up to be with his loved ones, as we get older money is not important, getting old is no walk in the park
With all his success, he was still a broken person.
Actor, singer songwriter, TV personality..... very humble beginnings. Beautiful lyrics.
Johnny Cash was the greatest American folk singer nobody could tell a story with a voice in the guitar like he could man he was original
If you read this, I recommend listening to all the albums he cut with Rick Rubin known collectively as the American Recordings. Find and read about how Rick sought Johnny out when Johnny had been dropped by Columbia Records and basically had nothing going on. Rick said his vision was Johnny, an acoustic guitar, and the songs Johnny wanted to record before he was gone. "God's Gonna Cut You Down" would be a good beginning, great video on that one too. Great reaction!
Trent gave this man his swan song.
What an amazing gift.
It's Johnny's song, but now I know who Trent is.
A fantastic song writer.
Thank you to both great men.
You are right, this was his goodbye letter. He had a life full of outlaw stuff, drug and alcohol abuse, hurting his wife and family. He got clean and gave his life to Christ. The video shows the struggle of all that and how at the end of your life it’s all worthless.
Another excellent and worthy song to explore if his is Man In Black.