10 Song Covers In Different Genres

1. Hurt - Johnny Cash

A track that is often mentioned whenever discussions on successful covers come around, The Johnny Cash version of Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt" has become more famous than the original. Trent Reznor, the only constant member of NIN from its inception until 2016, has been quoted as saying that the song no longer feels like his - a true testament to just how taken he was with the cover.

When Nine Inch Nails performed the song, it was usually with a screen behind Trent showing various images of decaying bodies and atrocities while he sang the haunting and dark lyrics against a deliberately dissonant backing. The Johnny Cash version featured minor lyrical changes and altered the overall sound, but the song fit him far better than anyone would have guessed.

Filmed not long before his death and featuring clips from his younger life, a visibly aged Cash sings every word in a manner that makes you believe it. Every ounce of regret and despair that Reznor poured into the original comes out, fitting The Man In Black perfectly. Johnny Cash died a few months after the songs release.

This music video ought to be compulsory viewing, regardless of taste. Truly phenomenal.

Contributor
Contributor

Matthew is a Marine Engineer to trade who writes sub-standard Scottish crime fiction in his spare time that can be found here:- https://mmacleodwriting.uk/ Originally brought up in the Western Isles of Scotland, he lived in Edinburgh for 18 years but now stay in Aberdeenshire with his partner, sons and dog.