Reaction to and Analysis of the cover of "Hurt" by Johnny Cash

This is my reaction to and analysis of Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt." Originally written by Trent Reznor.
Original Video: • Johnny Cash - Hurt
Johnny Cash channel: ‪@johnnycashofficial‬
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00:00 Intro
06:23 Reaction watch
14:32 Analysis watch

[@bjspeck4337]

That was the last time he opened the piano. Roseanne, his daughter, said when she saw this "It sounds like you're saying Goodbye." He replied, "I am". June died just a couple months later and Johnny just a few months after she did. This shakes me to my bones every time I hear it. The first time I heard it I was his age and now a couple of years later. I am so glad you did this reaction and analysis. It is good that you added your perspective, seeing it through your eyes and ears as well. Congratulations on 100 reactions especially since I've been so happy to have your reactions, the laughter, the joy all the way since VoicePlay's Wicked.

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your comments here, and it means a lot that you are still here and enjoying my work since my first video. :-)

[@bjspeck4337]

@@davidkreacts 😂

[@Tark-qs4mu]

This one is HARD to watch. I spend hours afterward on the brink of tears. The regret, the pain of that regret, and the acknowledgement that, even knowing what he knows now, how much it hurts him and those he loves, he'd do it all over again even if he were to live a different life... To me this has always seemed like an apology to his family for all the pain he's caused them over the decades, and an admission that things could have never been any other way, not because of circumstances but because of who he is. This song does exactly what the title says it's going to do, it hurts. So much. Congratulations on 100 videos, David. A remarkable achievement, sir.

[@yoclark2723]

There are so many elements of his life and fame, his love of June and his family. Yet all the awards and accolades are all just not worth what they once were. It's the most powerful piece he ever produced. Thank you for featuring it. One thing that is so mindblowing is that Johnny Cash listened to Nine Inch Nails. Congrats on your 100th video.

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed. Yes, ultimately awards and accolades fade, but the legacy of music that he left behind has taken over. Love your last point too - it does make you wonder who listens to what.

[@maryannanderson2213]

I am an incredibly old woman (DInosaurs were romping through the forests when I was a child.) and I have been a Johnny Cash fan since 1957 when he released Cry, Cry, Cry for Sun Records and I have continued being a fan of his until this very day. Back in Cash's heyday, it was reported that of every five records sold in this country, ONE of them was by Johnny Cash! I love the silly side of Cash as shown in his records, Boy Named Sue, One Piece at a Time and The One on the Left is on the Right but I also like his sad records like I Hung my Head, Don't Take Your Guns to Town, and of course his cover of Hurt, that will tear your heart out. He recorded some great story telling songs like Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down, Cisco Clifton's Fillin' Station and Here Comes that Rainbow Again. I think the footage of him walking down the beach came from the movie he wrote and released back in 1973 called Gospel Road, which was the story of the life of Jesus. He also had some great gospel records like Far Side Banks of Jordan (with June Carter Cash), He Turned the Water into Wine and Were you There? The beautiful high voice in Were You There was by his sister-in-law Anita Carter. I never had the privilege of meeting Johnny Cash in person but his music was so much a part of my life that I felt almost like he was one of my brothers and when he died back in 2003 I cried like a baby. I thought your reaction to Hurt was great and I would love to see you react to other songs by Johnny Cash. There is a reason he's a legend!

[@dj_410]

Fantastic reaction!! God I love this song, Johnny is so honest and raw in his vocals and performance!

[@davidkreacts]

100%. It's quite extraordinary.

[@miafranlund6982]

He owns this song now

[@LoppyJen]

This is one of my favourite Johnny Cash songs because of how much of himself he pours into it. I knew this was going to be an amazing reaction and I'm so glad you were able to get around to doing it. Fun fact about this video: June wasn't supposed to be in it; she just happened to come downstairs while they were filming, and then ended up in the video. Also, it was filmed in Cash's home of almost 30 years.

[@davidkreacts]

That is a wonderful bit of serendipity. I love that.

[@RWHansen]

This always makes me tear up. Especially the last scene. It always feels like he is somehow saying goodbye. It's like he knows his time is almost up and he both rails against it but is also tired and ready to go. I lost my dad recently, so I could be reading more into it than is there, but that is the wonderful thing about great art. You can find meaning in it that may not have been intended but that makes it no less valid.

[@StevenHughes-hr5hp]

He knew that both he and his wife June Carter Cash were dying at the time. Less than a year later they had both gone away (in the end).

[@Aurora-cv5to]

I cried. Again. Every time. This was done just a few months before he died. I checked and was surprised to see I was not yet subscribed. Now I am. Happy 100th!

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you very much - I appreciate the sub, and hope you continue to enjoy my work. :-)

[@staceypost7282]

Congrats on the 100th video. Seems simultaneously like you've been with us forever, and not nearly enough. This video is incredibly raw. Anyone who's lived a certain number of years, let alone as many as Cash had, can resonate to every emotion he's expressing.

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that. I cannot agree with you more - this really hits home, even now, so by the time I'm 70 I can only imagine what it will feel like.

[@dagmar.6954]

This song was originally written & performed by "Nine Inch Nails". It was written about drugs & depression. But Johnny Cash's version is considered the best. His version is more about regret for past mistakes in life & realizing material things & fame mean nothing in the end. When the video was filmed in February 2003, Cash was 71 years old & had serious health problems. His frailty is clearly evident in the video. He died seven months later, on September 12 & his wife, June Carter Cash, who is shown gazing at her husband in two sequences of the video, had died on May 15 of the same year.

[@carinarodebak9419]

I simply have no words for what I experience, every time I watch this video and hear Johnny sing. I have always admired Johnny Cash singing and this hits HARD every time.

[@pheebs1444]

…and now I know why it always makes me cry. Thank you.

[@davidkreacts]

You're welcome.

[@frankster1477]

Glad you finally got to this. I had never heard the Nine Inch Nails original, and it is still hard for me to wrap my head around that facts that a) Johnny Cash did not write this and b) that it was not written about him. It could have been. They did a very good job of representing his life in the video, and coupled with the lyrics it is so powerful. Truly a masterful combination of singer/song/visual.

[@davidkreacts]

Absolutely agreed with all of your comments.

[@r3adrpro811]

Congratulations on your 100th video. I discovered you only a few weeks ago, David., and been binging your channel ever since. You are now in my "reactors playlist" along with Peter Barber, The Charismatic Voice, Mortius, Jennifer Glatzhofer and one or two others - you all bring something different to the commentary and I love it! Here's to your next 100!

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you are enjoying my work, and I'm flattered that you keep my videos in such excellent company as those reactors you mention. :-)

[@heatherarmstead]

Oh god this song makes me cry every time

[@Starrynightdiner]

Thank you for the two shoutouts. You didn’t have to do that. I forgot all about this request. I knew you would “get it”. Vulnerable is the word that comes to my mind. Having seen this reaction i think back to my Dan Vasc requests. I gave you three choices. Regardless of which you react to, please take some time on your own and watch his Gethsemane. Just like this video, i think you will “get it” and it will move you. ❤❤❤❤❤happy 100🎉. Seems like yesterday that first one came out. What a journey.

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you so much! I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to. :-) I appreciate your recommendations and Dan is coming in the next few weeks.

[@par500dragon7]

'Ramble with articulation' ... hilarious! I've enjoyed your reactions since the first one of VoicePlay's Wicked. I laughed at your amazement. I cry almost every time I watch this video.

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you! I really appreciate your continued support - it's humbling that so many have stuck with me through all this. Yes, my subsequent viewings of this one have only been enhanced as I uncover more layers of emotion in it.

[@carolburnett190]

Congratulations on your milestone! I simply dripped tears the first time I watched the original video. I’m old enough to remember Cash’s rise to fame and the scandals that flew around his life. Although the video is obviously extremely powerful, I think it is even more so when one recognizes the old film clips and understands the stories behind them. Thank you for sharing your insights and thoughts.

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you very much! Yes, I can believe that context would add a lot - I fear that I know nothing of Cash's film career, but this has piqued my interest to discover more.

[@susanmarks2382]

Thank you for doing this you managed to explain why this video kicks me in the guts everytime, still! I'm from Yorkshire, my Dad was a country fan and he had the original LPs of San Quentin & Folsom Prison so I've listened to Johnny all my life ( as my niece said when young 'the story songs' - other influnences, Marty Robbins Gunfighter Ballards, Elvis, Mario Lanza, Frankie Laine). The wood clad white house was i believe his childhood home ( the flooding- listen to '5ft high and rising'), when he is walking with the long stick near water that's one of his daughters. Johnny's jaw broke in dental surgery later in life and never helped properly, so constant pain. 😢 If you want a masterclass on managing an audience San Quentin 68/69 album, when he sings San Quentin (which he had just written).

[@joyceshellhammer8865]

I have seen a lot of reactions to this song, but yours has been the most inclusive. You touched on so many points that others have missed, such as the lighting, the focus point in varying shots, as well as the emotions in the song. Very well done, thank you.

[@gamesman0118]

This song and others like it got me through my mom's death. Sometimes it help's to know you are not alone in your loss. The regrets we all have get much bigger and more immediate when we are grieving.

[@asaabrahamagulnik574]

I absolutely love your insight and the time you take to react.

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you very much - I'm glad you enjoyed. :-)

[@SleepyheadJJC]

Quite a gut wrenching video. Thank you for the insights

[@roger5322]

Good, bad, or indifferent we are the sum total of our life's experiences. Change one and you alter the whole.

[@denisemagnuson8366]

Congratulations !❤

[@CapriUni]

Masterful analysis! Congratulations on your video centennial!

[@davidkreacts]

Thank you very much! I really appreciate your continued support of the channel. :-)

[@lisamclaren3532]

David, what a wonderful reaction! Love the NIN version, and this one. If you can, please check out the version of Hurt that came out from one of your fellow reaction channels recently - Lolli Wren - The Fairy Voice Mother. You will not be disappointed!

[@vinnieblair8576]

ONE FOR THE ALGORITHM. CHEERS!

[@ByHisGrace12]

The last part with the fast clips: Cash was a Christian that went “secular” for a while. If you look at the clips from a Christian view, it shows him doing all of this “worldly” stuff through his life while at the same time driving the nails into Christ’s wrists. “I would keep myself. I would find a way.” - he lost himself in the fame and “decadence”.

[@starstuff84]

I have yet to listen to this and not wept.