🎵 Nine Inch Nails - Hurt REACTION

[@violaissoepicandcool8477]

I know the Johnny Cash cover is more popular. But i always preferred this one. Theyre both great, but this one is so much more haunting. Johnny sounds like a older guy reflecting on a long life, the mistakes and all, while NIN sounds like a younger guy who feels like his life is already ruined. Like, hes only made mistakes. But thats who he is. He doesnt know how to be better. And he doesn't really want to. Hes sorry, but he would do it again.

[@Chris-zp6eh]

Right? Crazy how different the two are.

[@Levi_Amongst_the_Watchers]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. The original is incredibly underrated and deserves more appreciation.

[@Bekka_Noyb]

also prefer this version

[@Adrian101882]

Yes, always loved this one better. It’s significantly dirtier in a regretful junkie kind of way, as the song ought to be

[@Chris.Davis.2]

Reznor getting paid either way. For the record I think this is the best version also.

[@antitypical1807]

Lex nailed it. This song is literally at the end of "The Downward Spiral", a concept album about a man's descent into depression and suicide.

[@judasgoat1035]

uhh it's about heroin addiction

[@christinerobinson9372]

and drug addiction.

[@musicaddict5076]

@@judasgoat1035 It’s about both - addiction and suicidal thoughts. This song and the entire album (which is really a concept album of both things).

[@bsizzlehill2283]

Drugs in excess = depression

[@feluia]

Exactly, le version de Cash esta mas adaptada a alguien que recorrio un largo camino y vio morir a sus amigos seres queridos y ya es grande de edad y paso por cientos de momentos en la vida...

[@tomfabozzi6309]

The Johnny Cash one is valedictory, it's like a goodbye. It's the sound of regret. This is far darker - it is the sound of someone who is broken, and who may not make it much further. Both disturbing in their own way, and you can find beauty in both of them, too

[@mantism.d.8363]

I agree, except for the last part. There's no beauty in this lol. It's pure despair, and doesn't have a happy ending. Unless you mean the composition.

[@tomfabozzi6309]

@@mantism.d.8363 i thought that meaning was obvious. To construct a song that powerful emotionally has a beauty to it

[@GimmeJimmy23]

Thank you for this comment.

[@damyuu23]

⁠@@mantism.d.8363 so the idea of juxtaposition in a song by a musician whose music is known for dissonance literally and methodically is lost on you.

[@TidePride]

"The Downward Spiral" is one of the best concept albums of all-time. Each track is a timeline of his slow decent into addiction with each song progressively sounding more manic, unstructured and out of control. "Hurt" is the final track of him getting clean & reflecting on his life...you sonically go through his addiction and recovery.

[@BeyBattleBoy]

There's no "getting clean" or recovery that occurs in this album. He continued indulging and devolving until nothing "helped". The album ends with the main characters suicide.

[@TidePride]

@@BeyBattleBoy that's extremely open to interpretation and Wikipedia confirms as much: "Some listeners contend that the song acts as a suicide note written by the song's protagonist, as a result of his depression, while others claim that it describes the difficult process of finding a reason to live in spite of depression and pain"

[@BeyBattleBoy]

@@TidePride also from wikipedia: "It is a semi-autobiographical concept album, in which the overarching plot follows the protagonist's descent into madness in his own inner solipsistic world through a metaphorical "downward spiral", dealing with religion, dehumanization, violence, disease, society, drugs, sex, and finally, suicide."

[@BeyBattleBoy]

@@TidePride From Nine Inch Nails wiki: "The Downward Spiral", thirteenth track on the eponymous album, is often seen as the final part of the story, in which the main character commits suicide with a gun

[@frzamonkey]

where are you getting any feelings of "recovery" from this song? it's someone flushing their life down the toilet.

[@swiftslick]

This is what I consider to be the truest version of the song. You can feel Trent Reznor’s pain. It’s as if he’s unraveling mentally and emotionally as the song progresses. Brilliant performance.

[@richard_n]

One of the best written songs of all time. This song hits like a punch to the emotions. By the way, I still think this version is better than the Johnny Cash one.

[@wesbaumguardner8829]

You are not alone, my brother.

[@mickeyd7283]

Because it is better than the Johnny cash version.

[@Hoosier_daddy69-z9t]

Well johnny cash views kills his version lol

[@Sinister_Steve]

Because Cash's version is shallow.

[@Hoosier_daddy69-z9t]

@@Sinister_Steve nine inch nails version sounds like a whiny baby i cant hear it.

[@chriskoprowski1980]

This whole album from beginning to end is a masterpiece.

[@williamslater-vf5ym]

Yeah I liked it.

[@jamiesweitzer8469]

Both renditions are 5 stars for their making the song their own way, it is perfectly done in their respective genres.

[@xxMelaniexx]

Everything about this song makes you feel. Addiction is a he'll of a demon

[@maxdamagusbroski]

Did you just assume addiction's gender?

[@stephm.3407]

NIN is not everyone's cup of tea, I personally ADORE the Pretty Hate Machine album, it was my favorite, but Downward Spiral was a masterpiece as well. Johnny covered NIN, so this is the original.

[@stonedphilosopherza4915]

Yup- this

[@curefanatic1821]

100% agree. PHM was and still is my favorite. But DS is a close second. Funny thing was I did not like DS when it first came out. I wanted more like PHM and Broken/Fixed. Needless to say it grew on me.

[@BensSoZen]

PHM def seems to be the most well-paced of Trent's albums.

[@Ellie-dl9pr]

I LOVE NIN

[@Ellie-dl9pr]

@@curefanatic1821 The Fragile is a great album too.

[@ThisisNOHA]

There's an incredible acoustic performance that Trent Reznor did on live TV in 2005 for a slightly different take on the same song - probably my favorite version. The Johnny Cash version is from the POV of an old man approaching death filled with regrets, whereas this version is about an addict hitting rock bottom. As a recovering alcoholic with over 4.5 years off the booze, I can tell you which version I identify with more, but both are fantastic. Great music is great music - no need to pit the versions against each other.

[@Mcguinness3]

Invasive question here, feel free to ignore. How did you start to get clean? What was step one?

[@SenorGooch]

@@Mcguinness3 Losing everything, being hospitalized, then starting detox and being forced into a program. I am an alcoholic and was drinking heavy 24/7 for 10 years. I’m not even 30 yet. I would be dead if I didn’t get sober a few months ago

[@ThisisNOHA]

@@Mcguinness3 Not invasive at all! Honestly, my method of going clean was always cold turkey, which is NOT recommended but I'm just being honest. Having quit booze that way twice now, I'd rather not go through it again. I'm not a massive AA person but I do love the phrase that's in the book, "you hit rock bottom when you stop digging." I knew I was fucked - alcoholism runs in my family, so I could see the writing on the wall. First year was sheer willpower, second year was my AA year (I have mixed feelings about it but it did help me a lot early on), and since then it's been a mixture of therapy, working out, and making my own music. I really don't miss boozing; I have a much fuller life without it.

[@ashleysanford8645]

@@ThisisNOHA you actually have to be careful quitting alcohol cold turkey the DTs can kill you! I cut my drinking down to half of what I was normally doing over a 3-month period before I went quote on cold turkey. That lasted about 8 months. And then on and off you know how it is. But I've talked to a good friend of mine who is a high-end registered nurse. And I told her how much I was drinking and she told me if I had just stopped instantly I would have outright killed myself.

[@ThisisNOHA]

@@ashleysanford8645 Oh, I definitely do not recommend the cold turkey method and it's far safer to go through rehab; I just always feel I have to be honest when I'm asked about my experience. But I know people who drank much worse than I did whose DTs nearly killed them as well, so it's not something to be taken lightly. I hope you're in a better place these days.

[@toumlachlagrapp2282]

Different mood than Johnny Cash version. NIN's is darker and more violent. Definitely my favorite.

[@mikesmelon5714]

Lex has it right. "The needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting." I was in a bad place too when this album came out and instantly gravitated to his sound and message. His journey got better as did mine and I came through the other end alive and wiser for it. He is in great shape these days and I just saw them in Philly in May. NIN is sounding better than they have in a while which is not easy to do.

[@radicaladz]

Context is everything. The original is the finale of an album about a person at the end of a downward spiral of depression, addiction, self-loathing and apathy, but someone for whom their life is not necessarily over yet - there's the lingering hope of them turning it around. Cash's cover comes at the end of a long life and career, of ups and downs, loved ones lost, second chances given, someone who lived long enough to be a legend and is now contemplating their legacy with mixed feelings. It's a great piece of songwriting, that means different things to different audiences depending the artist and how they approach it.

[@Skegfromcraigslist]

Well said

[@FisterSavage]

Ive watched grown men cry at NIN concerts to this song. Im one of them.

[@LeviF477]

I love the way this song starts out with just basically vocals and an organ playing softly and then it builds to the gigantic crescendo on the last line. I really appreciate both versions but the ending of the NiN one gets me every time.

[@JesseJames7-8-9]

Lex is so tuned in… This whole album both pushed and pulled me from “the end”. I was a teen in the 90’s when it was almost fashionable to be suicidal. Got way too much into the lyrics and had a talk with myself. I realized that it was a story about someone that couldn’t crawl out, Trent was trying to help us realize you can. Important album.

[@jyanixbach1975]

"A needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting" I always took this song to be an allegory for ODing on heroine

[@ricobonifacio1095]

Trent Reznor is a music layering genius. The whole album "The downward spiral" is amazing musically. Even with a more stripped down sound here, this song is still done in an amazing way. Full of emotion.

[@joloj23]

Right after his wife died, years even. Johnny reflected, and knew that this was his last song. He made it excellent. NIN are so good. I’m a NIN fan, and I appreciate what Johnny did. He made this song epic. Love me some Johnny Cash.

[@jenica9705]

This album and pretty hate machine got me thru some hard times as a teen.

[@rx7dude2006]

I love the original, nothing against Johnny's cover but coming from the mind of the original artist, nothing compares.

[@Hoosier_daddy69-z9t]

Sorry but johnny cash views kills his version lol

[@untunedguitar45]

@@Hoosier_daddy69-z9tbecause quality is always dictated by numbers, so if a large number of people agree with a particular thing it can only be eine gute Sache

[@Hoosier_daddy69-z9t]

@@untunedguitar45 nah johnny cash brought the song to s new emotional level and its just better then the original

[@notjimmystewart]

He was crazy depressed during this album…he gave his dog writing credits on ‘Broken’

[@neotheone7923]

my old depression song. i used to lay in a black room with this on repeat

[@stonedphilosopherza4915]

Is it just me or was the nineties as a teen a really depressing time? Looking at the comments seems to be a lot more people experienced it the way I did? Super depressed?

[@raskolnikov6443]

@@stonedphilosopherza4915 decline of society and now we went even further down. No purpose. Families have become unstable. Gender roles etc. society is very confused. No more children. Many kids in the 90s were already lost.

[@Cadinho93]

You guys should react to more Nine Inch Nails… "We're in This Together", "March of the Pigs", "Something I Can Never Have", "Dead Souls", "Right Where It Belongs", "Only", "Down in It", "The Day the World Went Away", "Into the Void", "The Becoming", "Ruiner", "Just Like You Imagined", "Reptile", "The Fragile" 🎸🤘

[@Ryan-bn4uc]

Yes! Absolutely agree...!

[@ericplantier9201]

I would have to add “Somewhat Damaged”to that excellent list. Arguably my favorite NIN track. That track and “Promise” by Violent Femmes (I know. It’s a weird combination) got me through a lot of lonely and depressed times in high school and college.

[@R_SENAL]

All those AND : Copy of A, All Time Low, The Wretched, Zero Sum, She's Gone, Less Than, Satellite and Echoplex. 😋🤘

[@NoYoutubeName1]

Also “No, You Don’t” and “Starfuckers Inc”

[@davidschweig7993]

Dead souls is damn amazing!!

[@williamprater2212]

I've watched a bunch of your videos, Brad likes this song and understands it based on his eyes

[@jasonfirewalker3595]

Holy memories Batman! 1st Lollapalooza NIN, Jane's Addiction, Souxie and the Banshees, Living Color, Ice T, Buthole Surfers and Henry Rollins. The mosh pit was HUGE.

[@sagittated]

That was my introduction to Nine Inch Nails. I was at the record store when they opened the next morning to get Pretty Hate Machine.

[@Kid-8888]

When the Downward Spiral Album was released in March of 1994 I was 21 years old 2 months shy of my 22nd Birthday. I myself was on my own Downward Spiral having my own Addictions to Drugs & Alcohol which started around the age of 7 years old. "Hurt" was my favorite song on the Album followed by "Closer", as I also felt that it told my story and expressed my pain exactly to the letter. On the late night of 11/10/1998 I popped every pill I had, smoked all my weed & drank a couple quarts of beer and some whiskey. I was never a pass out drinker but was accustomed to black out drinking. Well that night I for sure passed out on the living room chair. The next morning I awoke to the stench of ashtray & booze. As I looked around I saw several baggies and bottles strewn about, somehow I told myself That's It M******. Luckily, on 11/11/1998 I chose a different path to take, that is my Sobriety date! Somehow and thankfully I did not need to reach Rock-Bottom, I somehow believe it was Divine Intervention as it was surely beyond my Being. Today I am 50 yrs old and in November I will celebrate 24 yrs of Sobriety. The damage has been done but here I sit with a whole different appreciation for life. "Hurt" always takes me right back there, it always shows me the contrast between Black & White and all the Friends, Loved Ones & Family that has been lost in the Grey areas between the two paths. The Energy and Emotion that this Song Conjures in my Being is Real and Powerful! Thanks Brad & Lex! The live for this one was a real wave of emotion. Watching as it was unfolding in real time with you two experiencing the song was Golden!

[@oteroair]

Here ya go!! Knew Trent when he was a long haired skinny kid playing a synthesizer with cool beats in an alternative club in ft.lauderdale

[@stevekrasz1]

The downward spiral is literally an album you have to experience from beginning to end at least once in your life. Such an incredible, beautiful, most depressing masterpiece of music ever made. The most insane and incredible concept album. You’re literally listening to a man’s most darkest decent into sex addiction, drug addiction, depression, loneliness, and suicide through songs. You will feel different after listening to this album.

[@thumplife792]

I love this original version. I am a huge Johnny Cash fan, and love his as well. It's amazing how you can take one song, and by the artists injecting their own emotion and experiences can make it mean two completely different things.

[@TillyOrifice]

Yeah it's a good piece of song writing that can produce two distinctively different versions and they're both brilliant.

[@jbs454]

One was told from a young man point of view. Who screwed up his life and Johnny’s version is telling it from an old man who is on his deathbed thinking about his lifes regrets

[@judasgoat1035]

no it's about both trent and jonny's struggle with heroin addiction.

[@jbs454]

@@judasgoat1035 Johnny cash never did heroin look it up, he did speed mostly.

[@Dinosaurs_with_laser_guns]

The live version from the thumbnail is much, much better. It’s cool visually as well. Another great NIN song in the same vibe is ”Something I Can Never Have”.

[@LilNewo]

I find the best way to interoperate is to put yourself in golems shoes singing to the ring, only the ring is heroine.

[@shimewaza]

The lyrics to Hurt are excruciatingly perfect.

[@pleutron]

For me as a teen & 20-something in the mid-90's, I loved this track. When it first came out, I didn't know it was about drug addiction at all. I gravitated towards the lyrics in a depressive state of mind in general. Sometimes it doesn't matter to the listener what the songwriter was writing about per se, but how one can associate themselves to the lyrics.

[@yvettestevens2324]

Man this song, this version. It would just send me to different place.

[@davidleach4689]

It's about drug addiction and the guy he became when on drugs,I also read that David Bowie helped Trent get off of heroin. I am so glad he did he is one of my favorite artists.

[@reymontcantil199]

lex nails it. this song was really important to a lot of us when it came out. especially those of us who lost friends in high school to suicide. a remarkable beautiful song. check out the live version too its also amazing.

[@Dark_Harmony]

No matter the age, I've been losing friends for years. Most of us in our 40's & 50's now. The ones that crossed over hit a wide age range. Recently gone. From their 20's all the way up to age 60. Most due to alcohol. Some due to fentanyl & heroin. And mental problems. And I feel like any fun had was so fleeting, & I'm left here almost alone with almost nothing, getting old, dealing with both emotional & physical pain, & really confused on how to properly grieve.

[@CJ-Fischer]

Went to the Johnny Cash museum in Nashville 7 months ago. It’s incredible and the last part on your way out is Johnny covering the song Hurt. Not gonna lie…made me cry on the way out…so touching.

[@mrfrostyog]

This song brings me to tears every time.

[@73Fluxx1]

Lex's intuition is always spot on.

[@diegocozzolino4295]

the guitar scratch in the end is the spiral that dissolves all the hopes of a young guy that life is definitely ruined what a masterpiece

[@justinjenkins2728]

No greater feeling that being at a NIN concert, this is now always the last song played. Literally your there with thousands of strangers who understand you and have experienced and gone through similar situations and struggles in life. Everyone has a bonding moment where people are crying and strangers just comfort and hold each other. This song has saved so many lives and being able to share those emotions with people in a live setting with a man who has overcame his demons and continues to make amazing art, it’s beautiful.

[@kesleycottrell1416]

Trent Reznor even said he wrote the song but it is Johnny's song.

[@thorfinsky1427]

No.....it's not.

[@saintsataniko2116]

I've seen this performed 5 different times live and it was always amazing...but one of those times was special given that it was with David Bowie when they toured together. The hardcore NIN fans didn't like hearing Bowie's crooning voice singing parts of Trent's pained verses and chorus, but what do you expect of a bunch of disgruntled kids. It was magnificent...and NIN was and is one of the greatest live bands in the world. And oh yeah, the actual time lapse video of nature's cruelty that was also used as a backdrop for the song in concert was jawdropping.

[@samredras]

I remember going through a horrible and sad divorce and sitting in my car one night with a bottle and listening to this song. I had validated my whole life around my marriage and now my life was meaningless. I would have just given away everything. This song helped me through that night cause I related to it so much. It said the words I felt.

[@musicaddict5076]

I was lucky enough to see him perform this with David Bowie. Always will be my favorite NIN song. The piano is very simple and straightforward but extremely impactful.

[@Dark_Harmony]

Yeah, me too. It was really different having Bowie add to it. So many bizarre ways the song can go. Bowie always had a haunting voice, so it really added to the creep factor.

[@jaydubb3246]

Both versions were incredible, but for me it was Trent all day that had the best version. It jus hits different. He wrote this so young, and to be there at his age, i related it to myself.

[@jaybea365]

The reason these folk works as reviewers is the dichotomy. Brad is very lyrically focused, while Lex is all about the beat/vibe.

[@sandman17100]

That industrial sound, raw.❤️

[@mytube-b-utoob3182]

If you dont have depression, Trent Reznor will let you feel it! He is a true artist in the most fantastic way

[@magneteye]

This was a time in his life when he was deep into Heroin abuse addiction.

[@markjenkins2262]

When are you guys going to review Wet Leg 'Chaise Longue'? Band from the UK....will be huge

[@jeffreekoch9298]

Great suggestion! They are a throw back to new wave, post-punk. 🎶 Good upbeat modern day band. My daughter likes them, she showed me this group months ago.. For this channel, the problem is some people overlook a lot of modern bands, when there are a whole bunch of good ones out there.

[@survival7691]

This version is haunting and has a little creepy sound to it. I love this version! Johnny Cash's version is sad

[@peterz4427]

KZbin has a duet of Trent and David Bowie doing this from their Dissonance tour (in case you want to look it up). That, too, is an amazing version of this song. And Trent is so happy one of his idols is doing this song, sight to see!

[@brycesstuff]

When y'all were talking about the static being in your left ear, and it giving you a feeling of discomfort... all I could do is smile. Trent rezner is such an iconic artist, his use of atmosphere through little tricks like that is absolutely amazing. So many of his songs put you in the place he wants you to be to make the lyrics mean what he meant for them to mean. Trust me, do more NIN. So you can't go wrong with anything off of the albums... Pretty hate machine, broken, the downward spiral, the fragile, and the singles further down the spiral, March of the pigs, closer to God (has remixes that were used in the movies seven, and the fan, freaking amazing) 😃👍👍

[@muleb384]

Nice read Lex. I think that loud, jarring sound at the end represented exactly the moment you think.

[@disturbedrobot]

i listen to a very wide range of music. everything from country to goth to punk to jazz to you name it. i even own a bulgarian gypsy music album. i listen to it all. out of everything i've heard in my life, this is the most painful song by far. trent reznor is a genius. beyond his technical and musical talent, which he has in spades, his honesty truly sets him apart. not a single word of this song is bs. he writes and sings from a place so deep within him that it's hard to imagine how he can continue to do so and not absolutely go crazy. if music is a form of therapy, then trent is working so hard to deal with his demons. the only other song from NIN that hits me in the gut as much as this one is "right where it belongs". it's less about him as him forcing you to confront yourself. but the impact is pretty painful. not as much as "hurt", but pretty damn close. thanks for doing this song.

[@Remmy-iq3bs]

Cash cover was wonderful but no one for me can touch Trent. He’s a genius. Despair, Sadness… The whole record was a masterpiece. That longing you can feel in his voice. Great video thank you for both of your takes on it

[@carriemichelle322]

Trent is Brilliant and music is timeless! Been a fan for over 25 yrs. Something I Can Never Have, Terrible Lie, well everything Trent has done. Got me thru very dark times. He is also good friends with Tori Amos and you can hear him in the background of Past The Mission. Definitely should check out more of both!!

[@mage1439]

I'm going to have to confirm that for myself. What I do know is he had a horrible relationship with Tori in the 90s and that Pretty Hate Machine is likely a title that's directed at her.

[@HarkanGrimshaw]

The way this song tells you a story about the struggles of life as a addiction driven person is amazing. The musical beat is a emotional roller coaster that takes you for a ride of highs and lows and shows you what it feels like to have your ears and not your eyes tell you a story. Trent Reznor is a god of musical genius.

[@michaelsangster2354]

I love Trents version where he seems to be apologetic about his addiction at the start, making excuses for his addiction in the middle and defiant about it at the end. Whereas Johnny Cash was able to make the entire song very apologetic about his life choices.

[@tonyo3544]

Nine Inch Nails is just the best!

[@balanchuk]

Really enjoy the reviews, I'd dig hearing your take on the modern stuff like Durand Jones and the indications or Black Pumas !

[@jdjohnson7299]

Brilliant. The true version. So powerful. This was his "downward spiral", the constant descent into drug addiction, depression and suicidal thoughts. He wished he could to far away and start over because if the damage his addiction caused to him and others. He felt he could not ever get out of the spiral where he was. "I will let you down. I will make you hurt" is so true of what addicts do. Johnny Cash's version is a sanitized version and there is nothing wrong with that because it was a beautiful recording. But this is the true, down and dirty, gritty original. Thanks for reacting.

[@liuhuidan]

Hurt is a sort of eulogy. The tone is of hollowed out emptiness after his suicide that occurs in the incredibly disturbing previous track. When he says ‘keep himself’ he means he would not give himself over to the silencing machine mentioned in track 1; a self hating self consuming inner monster that spawns after he sheds his morality to pursue hedonism. Also, in closer when he says ‘you get me closer to god’ we must remember that a few tracks earlier the chorus went ‘god is dead and no one cares’. This informs us that the albums central theme is indeed suicide and makes closer a much sadder piece than people understand.

[@1drsausage]

I used to be big into Nine Inch Nails in the 90s and the Closer album was one I listened to much when I was working at the factory I was working in around 94. Head Like a Hole was another one I listened too, suited me as a young revolutionary wannabe lol, and it was good for motivation. I'm older and wiser now btw

[@1drsausage]

The downward spiral is the name of the album, closer was the song that was oftenn played on MTV. I misspoke on the album title.

[@cptlou]

Brad being nice

[@juninplays8742]

Lex is on the money. When you lose yourself to a substance, you are no longer yourself. This song is essentially a suicide letter that thankfully, he never took action on. Heroin is a hell of a drug.

[@musicron2740]

i like the cash version also ., but trent is so fucking good at setting an audio mood, that they listen to the very end even though its just fucking sound.

[@jd35711]

the pain and desperation of an old man vs that of a young man

[@judasgoat1035]

it's about both of there struggles with heroin...age has nothing to do with it.

[@jd35711]

@@judasgoat1035 by all indications cash never took heroin, and the music video is clearly about an old man looking back at his life in despair

[@judasgoat1035]

@@jd35711 uhh no it's about being addicted to heroin, while most claim johnny was only into barbs and that may well be true the song as Trent wrote it is about herion addiction.

[@_dmfd]

Lex is completely right. He offs at the end of the song bc he couldn't deal with his addiction and losing his sanity longer.

[@eximusic]

Seeing this song performed on the original NIN tour of this album was an intense experience. I don't really relate to this music as much today, but back then it spoke for the times in a way.

[@johnclaeys9514]

There is video of an awesome live performance of this featuring Trent Reznor and David Bowie singing…first individually, then in harmony.

[@thetheatrezoo3603]

Lexi is right on the mark. This is the last song on the Downward Spiral. You really have to hear the entire album. It's an amazing album, the songs bleed into one another, they go from high self-assurance to complete melancholy to rage, to a kind of pleading until the end with the regret of Hurt.

[@sophistichistory4645]

The static is called "sepia", an acoustic effect that can evoke age, obsolescence, uselessness or simply a Victrola of the 1920s.

[@bandpassmess]

My mom just passed away. At the end she would punch the bed too reassuring she was still here. After she passed I told myself no more will I bother my family with my demise. I will move from this area and live a quiet life when I go I want no one attached just another corpse to be buried away from any family . Million miles away . I will find away.

[@stuartmayberry666]

Lex is spot on with her take. This is more obvious in the context of the album itself, as the preceding track "The Downward Spiral" describes a suicide attempt. That track fades into "Hurt". I just started watch you two today and I love what I've seen so far. Keep up the good work!

[@elischultes6587]

When the wife and I were first together this album was part of our romance music. We were rock and grunge fans. I listened to country too.

[@LucTonnerre2000]

I will always prefer this original version over Cash's cover. Yes, Cash added a different feel but that one "off" note in the verses makes this one so much more dark. Trent's vocal performance is out of this world. Absolutely mind blowing.

[@mattbarker9552]

6:27 such a profound and immediate analysis of the song. She understands NIN's sentiment 😞

[@dom19945]

Yep. That distorted guitar and fade out was the offing of the speaker.

[@module79l28]

Industrial Music, the only musical genre where any sound can be used, even noise. And that's why I love it. 😀

[@TrojansOwl1]

Jonny was able to change the octaves and sharps and flats to make the song feel comforting and predictable. But this original version is meant to make you uncomfortable.

[@chetcarman3530]

He would keep himself himself instead of losing himself to drug addiction,etc.

[@abstractobjection]

Spot on. He kills himself in the song prior - The Downward Spiral, Hurt is like a little nursery rhyme his soul is singing on the way out. I picture the last three noisy chords like the gunshot from another angle and you’re left with the ringing and the record scratching.

[@soulbearer6214]

One is from a young man's point of view an the other is a late in life view. Cashes hits harder cause it's about the end of your life . Every1 fears that day. Nin is about drugs an depression. Nin is still 1 of my all time favorite bands. Trent is still making great music today. Over 30 years of music an still killing it.

[@judasgoat1035]

actually it's about being addicted to heroin.

[@KeithDCanada]

'Wish' is one of my favorite NIN tunes....

[@Miniboss_Mike]

This is the finale to his three albumn epic. Tells the tale of suffering through some relationship where bit by bit he give himself away until nothing is left. Who he was before is gone and all he's left with is grief, anger, regret and sorrow. Then he ends it.

[@lrads1]

Aw man...they'll be at Riot Fest in Sept/Chicago. Singing this song with Trent...is the best!

[@LunatiqHigh]

There's a remix of the song called Hurt (Quiet) that removes the static ambience. lol. I think maybe even the air too.

[@geneforte9038]

U guys gotta play , "Who knows what tomorrow may bring" by the group Traffic

[@PrettyDeadThings]

The Downward Spiral imo is one of the greatest albums of all time and I was fortunate to be able to see NIN & Manson in Oakland for The Self Destruct Tour. Hurt sounded just as good live as it did on the album. "Recorded not incidentally in the Beverly Hills living room where Sharon Tate was murdered (the living room, also not incidentally, of Reznor’s home), The Downward Spiral explores Reznor’s No. 1 subject - control - in a thousand different guises. Paranoia, predation and acceptance, sex power and religious power and gun power, the power of the suffering over the guilty and the consumer over the consumed are all blasted out with the kind of overwhelming presence Baudelaire might have had if he’d had access to a battery of Macintoshes, a MIDI hookup and a Strat." It's an absolutely brilliant Album and I implore anyone who's never listened to it to do so at least once in your life.

[@Nicole-sf5ms]

Trent Reznor is a master of sounds. The static and the locust sounds are how I sometimes hear the world around me when I'm in a bad way. Depression can make everything be noise, useless noise, annoying noise. I think Reznor was definitely wanting the audience to be bothered by it.

[@jonlate4581]

This is not a johnny cash cover. Johnny cash was a nine inch nails cover. This is the original song.

[@willfromyadkinville]

the 1990s was something!

[@williamslater-vf5ym]

The live version video is much better than the recording.

[@Reani71]

It's quite mindblowing to me that the same song sung by two different artist bears two almost completely different comprehensions and that is even though they're singing almost the same lyrics (Johnny Cash only exchanged 'crown of shit' for 'crown of thorns'). Sung by Trent Reznor I get that depressive vibe, a man who doesn't care anymore and takes himself completely out of the picture while in Cash's case it sounds more melancholic and regretful to me. Isn't music the most fascinating thing on the planet ?

[@mori1bund]

My favorite version of that song is Trent Reznor's live duet with David Bowie when they were on tour together 1995.