Johnny Cash's Hurt: Detailed Song Analysis

Hurt is a song by the rock band Nine Inch Nails that was recorded by the American singer Johnny Cash in 2002 and included in the album American IV: The Man Comes Around. The video clip won a Grammy in 2004.

Lyrics of the song Hurt

I
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
REFRAIN
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
II
I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
REFRAIN
III
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

Translation of the song Hurt by Johnny Cash

I
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that is real
The needle rips a hole
The old familiar sting

Try to kill everything
But i remember everything
CHORUS
What i became
My sweetest friend
Everyone leaves
in the end
and you could have everything
my empire of dirt
I will let you fall
I will hurt you
II
I wear this crown of thorns
Behind the liar's chair
full of broken thoughts
that I can not repair
Under the stains of time
Feelings disappear
You are someone else
And i'm still here
CHORUS
III
If he could start over
A million miles away
I would like to continue being me
he would find a way

Analysis and interpretation of the song Hurt

Both the song and the video have bleak tones. The repetition of some notes gives the impression of monotony and sadness. This is confirmed by the first verses of the stanza I, when the author talks about hurting himself: hurting himself is the only way to feel alive.

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that is real
The needle rips a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill everything
But i remember everything

Pain is also an anchor for reality. In depression, a person can experience different sensations that are his creations. Hurting and focusing on pain is a way to escape from that world created by depression.

In the final verses of the first stanza, another element comes into play: vice and drug abuse. Vice causes a hole that can only be filled by vice itself. And although drug use is related to the desire to forget, the subject of the song "remembers everything."

The chorus It begins with an existential question: "What have I become?" The question is interesting in this context. She implies that despite depression and drugs, the subject remains self-aware and self-aware.

What i became
My sweetest friend
Everyone leaves
in the end
and you could have everything
my empire of dirt
I will let you fall
I will hurt you

In the chorus the reference of the addressee and of loneliness becomes visible. This passage can have two interpretations: one, that people leave after the effect of the drugs wears off. Another, that loneliness is an inherent condition of existence, and that it and sadness arise from the absence of loved ones, either because of their death or because of their distance.

It can be thought that the recipient is someone close to you who has left. The subject of the song feels that he could have left everything for that person, but at the same time he didn't have much to offer. His kingdom is made of dirt, and in the end, he would have only hurt and disappointed her.

In the second stanza a biblical reference is made to the crown of thorns that Jesus wore. The crown is related in the song to the "liar's chair". In the passion of Jesus, the crown of thorns was the beginning of the Stations of the Cross. In the song, it apparently represents a discomfort of the conscience, as if the thorns were the memories or the thoughts that weigh on the author's head.

I wear this crown of thorns
Behind the liar's chair
full of broken thoughts
that I can not repair
Under the stains of time
Feelings disappear
You are someone else
And i'm still here

The memory is something recurrent in the song and appears again in the following verses. Memory and forgetting come into play. Over time, forgetting erases some feelings. However, the author feels stagnant, while the interlocutor becomes someone else.

The third and last stanza it is a kind of redemption of the author. He is fully aware of his problems, but he expresses that even if he had the opportunity to start over, he would still be who he is. His problems are not inherent to him, but derive from adverse situations.

If he could start over
A million miles away
I would like to continue being me
he would find a way

That way he would be able to do things differently and keep the essence of his person. In other words, there seems to be no regret in that regard. As difficult as his current situation is, he exists only as a consequence of what he was.

Meaning of the letter

This song was not written by Johnny Cash, but it is still possible to notice parallels between the lyrics and his life. Cash had serious problems with drugs, mainly with pills and alcohol. He also suffered from severe depression. His relationship with June Carter was very conflictive, but in the end she helped him get rid of drugs and lead a more peaceful life.

All of this may have contributed to making his performance so beautiful and profound. The lyrics relate the reflections of a man wrapped in depression who, in a dark moment, hurts himself in search of relief and a truly true feeling.

Drugs are another outlet for depression, but they create a vicious cycle. The landscape of the song conveys a lot of sadness, but the author is aware of his situation.

This leads to an existential reflection: how did the author get to that point? The memories appear with a tone of regret. Loneliness appears frequently in the text, always related to the past.

But as much as the past is a place of regret, the author never denies it. The song ends with the redemption of the one who, above all, is true to himself.

Record series American Records

American Records is a sequence of Johnny Cash albums produced by Rick Rubin for the record label of the same name. The first album in the series, released in 1994, marked the resumption of the singer's career, which was eclipsed in the 1980s.

The series includes both unreleased tracks and versions. One of the most important records is the American IV: The Man Comes Around. This was the last album released in his lifetime, as Cash died on September 12, 2003. Two other albums were released postmortem, called American V: A Hundred Highways Y American Recordings VI: Ain't No Grave.

Original version of the theme Hurt

The original version of Hurt was recorded by the group Nine Inch Nails and released on their second album called The Downward Spiral 1994. The song was composed by Trent Reznor, a member of the band. In an interview, Renzor expressed feeling honored by the choice of Johnny Cash and, seeing the video clip, he was so moved that he even said: "That song is no longer mine."

Johnny Cash introduced a unique change in the letter: he changed the expression "crown of shit" (crown of shit) by "crown of thorns" (crown of thorns). The singer was very Christian and refers to the Bible and other religious subjects in various songs.

The video clip of Hurt

The video clip alternates images of an elderly Johnny Cash with several other videos of him younger, giving the song an autobiographical touch.

Song and video together shows an old Johnny Cash, who remembers his past and, despite various adverse events, faces life with dignity. Hurt it becomes the song of a man who has suffered, but who is also proud of his legacy.

If you want to see the video clip, we leave it in the following link: