After largely disappearing from the music industry following 1972, Johnny Cash reemerged in the early 1990’s after teaming with noted producer Rick Rubin. This reentrance occurred during the height of the alt.country moment, and, utilizing the subgenre’s tendency toward a raw, unpackaged product, Cash bared his imperfections.
This strategy is clearly demonstrated in his cover of “Hurt”, a song originally written by the Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor. As Cash did not write the lyrics, one cannot turn to them as a window into his mind. Rather, the vocal performance provides a glimpse into this realm. The rich, booming voice, aided by echo, that characterized much of his past work is gone. Instead, one hears the dying singer’s aged voice without any studio effects. His presentation of the opening lines is particularly interesting when he sings, “I hurt myself today/To see if I still feel.” A slight pause separates ‘hurt’ and ‘today’ while the end of the second line is marked by a slight upward inflection. In both instances, the performance of the particular lyric provides commentaries on the singer’s life with the first implying a self destructive history while the second seems to question whether or not this past has destroyed him.
Another choice that stands out in particular comes at the conclusion of the first chorus when Cash sings, “I can make you hurt,” and the music stops so that the singer is left alone uttering the final word. Pain was a major theme in Johnny Cash’s life, from drug addiction, to divorce, to a perpetually broken jaw, and to the diseases at the end of his time. The emphasis on the word highlights this fact.
There are many other small choices mirroring these three, but one major effect is the pairing of Cash’s aged and deliberate vocals with a similarly paced guitar and piano accompaniment. All three build until they reach a crescendo at the second chorus. At this point, the recording becomes distorted, implying, perhaps, that the sound equipment was not powerful enough to capture the pure emotion present (realistically this is probably a nod to alt.county preferences). Cash’s haunting reflection and the final statement that he would not change his past are made possible entirely through his vocal presentation of Reznor’s lyrics.
This strategy is clearly demonstrated in his cover of “Hurt”, a song originally written by the Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor. As Cash did not write the lyrics, one cannot turn to them as a window into his mind. Rather, the vocal performance provides a glimpse into this realm. The rich, booming voice, aided by echo, that characterized much of his past work is gone. Instead, one hears the dying singer’s aged voice without any studio effects. His presentation of the opening lines is particularly interesting when he sings, “I hurt myself today/To see if I still feel.” A slight pause separates ‘hurt’ and ‘today’ while the end of the second line is marked by a slight upward inflection. In both instances, the performance of the particular lyric provides commentaries on the singer’s life with the first implying a self destructive history while the second seems to question whether or not this past has destroyed him.
Another choice that stands out in particular comes at the conclusion of the first chorus when Cash sings, “I can make you hurt,” and the music stops so that the singer is left alone uttering the final word. Pain was a major theme in Johnny Cash’s life, from drug addiction, to divorce, to a perpetually broken jaw, and to the diseases at the end of his time. The emphasis on the word highlights this fact.
There are many other small choices mirroring these three, but one major effect is the pairing of Cash’s aged and deliberate vocals with a similarly paced guitar and piano accompaniment. All three build until they reach a crescendo at the second chorus. At this point, the recording becomes distorted, implying, perhaps, that the sound equipment was not powerful enough to capture the pure emotion present (realistically this is probably a nod to alt.county preferences). Cash’s haunting reflection and the final statement that he would not change his past are made possible entirely through his vocal presentation of Reznor’s lyrics.
