10 Greatest Cover Songs In Rock Music History

Trent Reznor really left a piece of his soul on Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral. Arriving as the last track on the record, Hurt feels like a stream of consciousness from a man that knows he really screwed up his life and has no hope of returning back to where he once was. That kind of pain is nearly impossible to duplicate, but we definitely saw a different shade of darkness from the Man in Black.

After having a mini renaissance right at the end of his life, Johnny Cash's series of American Recordings reached its climax on this song, which is absolutely heartbreaking if you knew what he was going through. Considering this was a man that was months away from death, Cash's interpretation of Trent's words has the potential to shred your soul away, as he comes to grips with the fact that his prime has past and wants to abandon all of the things that he thought could satisfy him.

And it would seem that Reznor agreed with the Man in Black too, saying that the song no longer belonged to him once he heard Cash's version. Granted, Cash probably didn't know what it was like to be in Trent's shoes during the making of the Downward Spiral, but he doesn't really need to. When it comes to this song, you need to understand that kind of pain, and you'd better believe that Johnny Cash is a man who understood hurt.