If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Nine Inch Nails must have incredibly flattered when Johnny Cash and his team expressed interest in covering one of their most popular songs.
It’s no secret that Cash’s version of “Hurt” is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, cover song of all time. NIN originally released the song in 1994, and at the age of 71, Cash recorded his now famous cover in 2003 just months before he passed away.
Lead man of NIN Trent Reznor was hesitant to allow for Cash to cover the song that was so personal to him, but has since come around to the idea and recognized the cover’s importance. When the song’s powerful and emotional music video came out, Reznor even said that “Hurt” wasn’t his song anymore.
Former Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna also took a while to warm up to Johnny Cash’s cover. On the Talkin’ Rock with Meltdown show, Vrenna discussed how he was initially shocked by cover song, only because the track was so personal to Reznor and the band:
“I was shocked when I first heard it because I had been out of the band for quite some time when I first heard the Johnny Cash thing. I just… it was weird, because it brought back a lot of memories. I remember when we did ‘Hurt,’ it was the last song added to the album.
Trent (Reznor) thought it needed one more thing and he had been playing with this piano idea. We went back in, we were already out of the tape house. We were living out of suitcases getting ready for the tour. We went into the studio that night, and I remember singing it and we were all in tears.”
It’s obviously a poignant song when sang by either Reznor or Cash, and has certainly connected with the masses no matter whose voice was behind it. After Chris got past the emotions that were there from when NIN originally brought the song to life, he was able to recognize how compelling Cash’s version ended up being:
“It brought back all of those memories, which were kind of melancholy. I just thought it was a beautiful version of it. I know he was doing a lot of those covers at that time, ‘Personal Jesus,’ ‘Rusted Cage,’ and ‘Hurt.’
I’m not a country music fan at all. Don’t even get me started. Everything since Garth Brooks has been garbage. But Johnny… that’s country music. So when I heard it, I thought, ‘Wow man, what a crazy idea to do that.’”
Vrenna went on to say that the cover was made that much more meaningful because of Cash’s passing shortly after its release. The performance, and that incredible music video that accompanied it, ended up being one of the last things that the country star did before he passed away.
You can hear more about Vrenna’s thoughts on the cover in the interview below:
Turn it up: