What made Johnny Cash cover ‘Hurt’?
There’s the odd golden occasion in music where a cover version becomes even better and inevitably enjoys a greater legacy than the original source material. In this vein, Johnny Cash walked all over Nine Inch Nails and their song ‘Hurt’, making his solemn, reflective interpretation of the track a critical hit that went some way in defining his overall career. What’s even more remarkable, however, is that he managed to do this at the 11th hour, in the final breaths of his career and indeed just a year before he sadly died.
As much as it may seem that ‘Hurt’ was an inevitable match made in heaven for Cash, the reality is he took more than a little convincing. Record-producing mogul Rick Rubin had the genius foresight to know that the song suited the country singer down to the ground despite its original alternative rock sound, as he explained, “The key was the lyrics. If the lyrics were right, it didn’t really matter what genre the music was or where the music came from.”
In this sense, Rubin was bang on the money in his choice – the song’s references to mental pain and destruction could almost have been written by Cash himself, given his lyrical draw to themes of sorrow and moral troubles. But in an uncharacteristic turn of events, Cash seemed reticent to the vision at first.
Rubin continued: “I sent him a burned CD [of] 25 potential songs, and that was number one. When he called me, that was the one he didn’t respond to.” However, ever the optimist, Rubin persisted in his efforts: “Then, on the next CD I sent him, it was number one again. It was probably the only song I sent him three times.”
It’s hearing stories like that that makes you realise why titans like Rubin really have cut their teeth and left their mark on the music industry, because few would carry the tenacity to be sure such an unconventional choice would work for an aging country legend. But such was his steadfast view on ‘Hurt’ that Rubin also had the brains to know when to take a different tack.
“Finally,” he recalled, “I said, ‘There’s that song that I sent you,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I don’t hear it at all’. So, then I was in the studio with Smokey Hormell, and I had Smokey play the acoustic part while I sang the vocal myself. I said, ‘It can sound like this, just read the lyrics’, and I think that was what convinced him – he was like, ‘OK, I’ll do it when we’re together.’”
While still not exactly sounding like an effusive vote of confidence, Cash clearly had the trust in Rubin to know when he was right – and, well, it was probably the best ever time to give in to pressure. ‘Hurt’ ended up selling millions of copies and being roundly considered among Cash’s greatest-ever songs. Alongside this, its music video featuring the elderly singer looking back over shots throughout his life became widely revered – and you know it’s good when even Nine Inch Nails handed over the plaudits of the song to him.
The case of Johnny Cash and ‘Hurt’ shows that it’s never over until it’s really over – the fact that he managed to achieve one of his most illustrious hits in the year before his death is a remarkable testament to the longevity of Cash’s staying power in the music industry and speaks to the power of his iconic legacy. It’s scary to think, though – what would have happened if Rick Rubin never managed to get him on his side? For sure, it’s a fate of too much pain.
