20 Years Later: Remembering Johnny Cash, his legacy, and the video to the song “Hurt”.
The “Man in Black” left this world on September 12, 2003.
J.R. Cash was born on February 26, 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas (U.S.A.)
Source: Photo Credit: Gijsbert Hanekroot / Redferns
Johnny Cash (1932-2003)
Like a ballad, each of our lives tells a story, many of which share a common thread.
Last year, Johnny’s son, John Carter Cash, eloquently summarized his late father’s legacy and emotional connection with many of us.
“Dad still holds a place in the hearts of so many because he was real. On finding Johnny Cash, one peels back the first layer and finds something more. He had voluminous layers, leaving it nearly impossible to predict what you may find next. Indeed, the world now is full of those who bare their personal lives to gain more attention for themselves, self-perpetuating rumors through social media and headlines. For most, this is driven by selfishness. Dad, too, was always willing to show his failures, where he had fallen short. But humble effacement was not for his selfish gain. He wrote about his sufferings with addiction, confessed to hurting even those he loved the most and how he could have lived his life better. He was willing to show his shortcomings so that he could help others, so that perhaps through seeing where such a powerful, successful person had made mistakes, others might avoid them. Again, he was authentic. His kindness led his path.”
- Carter Cash, John. “Johnny Cash, 90 Years On”. AARP. Jun. 1, 2022
It also has been twenty years since the release of the memorable video to the song “Hurt”.
Like many of us, I felt a surge of emotion and shed a few tears the first time I saw the video. I witnessed a man that looked to be at the end of his life, looking back on his life. It was not surreal; it was too real. When the video was filmed in February 2003, Johnny was 71 years old and had serious health problems. His frailty was evident in the video and he ultimately passed away, around seven months later. His wife, June Carter Cash, who was shown gazing at her husband in the video, died a few months before Johnny, on May 15.
At the time, my only personal guideposts for this stage of life were my grandparents. While watching the video, I instantly remembered my grandfather, who was around Johnny’s age when he died, nearly ten years prior. My grandfather was a WW2 and 23-year Army veteran, who like Johnny, had a deep baritone voice and a quick wit. I also remembered my grandmother, who passed away a year before the video was made. While brief, June’s appearances towards the end of the video affected me; the mixture of helplessness and sadness reflecting in her eyes was reminiscent of what I saw in my grandmother’s eyes, as my grandfather’s health deteriorated.
Hurt was written by musician and Nine Inch Nails founder, Trent Reznor. He described it as “a little poem I wrote in my bedroom”. It was written during a time of intense depression for the singer-songwriter.
When Reznor was asked if Cash could cover his song, Reznor said he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." He became a fan of Cash's version, however, once he saw the music video.
In an interview, Trent explained, “A few weeks later, a CD shows up with the track. Again, I'm in the middle of something and put it on and give it a cursory listen. It sounded... weird to me. That song in particular was straight from my soul, and it felt very strange hearing the highly identifiable voice of Johnny Cash singing it… Anyway, a few weeks later, a videotape shows up with Mark Romanek's video on it. It's morning; I'm in the studio in New Orleans working on Zack De La Rocha's record with him; I pop the video in, and... wow. Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps... Then it all made sense to me. It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. Some-fucking-how that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning – different, but every bit as pure. Things felt even stranger when he passed away. The song's purpose shifted again. It's incredibly flattering as a writer to have your song chosen by someone who's a great writer and a great artist.”
- Geoff Rickly interviews Trent Reznor, Alternative Press
The music video was directed by former Nine Inch Nails collaborator Mark Romanek, who sought to capture the essence of Cash, both in his youth and in his older years. In a montage of shots of Cash's early years, twisted imagery of fruit and flowers in various states of decay, seem to capture both his legendary past and the stark and seemingly cruel reality of the present. Much of the video is in a style deliberately reminiscent of vanitas paintings, thus emphasizing the lyrics' mood of the futility and passing nature of human achievements. According to literature professor Leigh H. Edwards, the music video portrays "Cash's own paradoxical themes".
Romanek had this to say about his decision to focus on the House of Cash Museum in Nashville: “It had been closed for a long time; the place was in such a state of dereliction. That's when I got the idea that maybe we could be extremely candid about the state of Johnny's health, as candid as Johnny has always been in his songs.”
Source: Wikipedia.org
Thankfully, producer Rick Rubin saw the common thread between the song Hurt and the life of Johnny Cash.
While the details of Trent’s life and Johnny’s life were different, they both shared the pains of addiction and expressed feelings of regret and remorse; a connection.
Two Legends… Cash and Rubin.
Photo Credit: Unknown.
Jonathan Horsley of MusicRadar interviewed Rubin in December 2022. “He didn’t know who I was, but he wanted to understand why I would want to work with him because why would anyone want to work with him? In his mind, he was done,” Rubin said. “I didn’t convince him. We just say and talked for a while, and I said, ‘Well, let’s just sit down and play me songs you love, and we’ll figure out what to do.’ He sat in my living room and he just started playing me these songs, most of which I had never heard, old country songs, or old folk songs, and it was magnificent.”
Asked how he chose the songs Cash should perform, Rubin explained that they all had to fit with the legend and mythos of Johnny Cash. That’s why Hurt worked so well.
“I thought of the image of Johnny Cash as the mythical man in black, and any song he sang had to suit this mythical man in black,” Rubin said. “And one of the ones that seemed to have resonated with people after we did it was the Nine Inch Nails song Hurt. And if you listen to the words, it’s like looking back over a life of regret and remorse.”
- Horsley, Jonathan. “Rick Rubin says Johnny Cash looked at him like he ‘was insane’ when he first played him Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt”. MusicRadar. Dec. 30, 2022
Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back
Up front there ought to be a man in black
Lyrics from “Man in Black” by Johnny Cash
I once was lost but now I'm found.
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