From around the mid 1990s to the mid 2000s, Johnny Cash and Johnny Cash's estate managed to pull off one hell of a rebranding. For those who only really know the post-American Recordings Johnny Cash, you may not be familiar with 1970s/1980s Johnny Cash, who was significantly less popular and less cooler than he was at the end of his career. Pre-American Recordings Johnny Cash recorded albums like Johnny Cash: Reads The Complete New Testament
It helps to come at the music video we're watching today understanding that Cash wasn't always a legend. Today, we're taking a look at a piece that is one of the pivotal moments of his late career: "Hurt" (2003), directed by Mark Romanek.
The video for "Hurt" starts with the song - the American Recordings records that "Hurt" comes from were produced by Rick Rubin and featured, among other things, Cash covering songs you wouldn't think he'd cover, including "Rusty Cage" by Soundgarden and "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode.
Mark Romanek's concept features Cash himself in his home, playing his guitar and singing "Hurt" alone. He is also featured at a lavish dining room table covered with food. The song is interspersed with archival footage of Cash at various stages of his career.
The extra element that Romanek throws in here is footage of the House of Cash museum in Nashville. When they recorded this video, this museum was shut down and in a state of disrepair. It may seem to odd that a superstar like Johnny Cash wouldn't be able to keep a museum open, but remember that at this point in his career, Johnny Cash was in the middle of a return to relevancy after decades of being essentially irrelevant to American mainstream music. The idea that his museum had failed functioned as a stark reminder that despite his successes, there was plenty of failure to go around. That, of course, is a perfect visualization of the themes of the song.
Johnny Cash's appearance in this video is also a little striking - Cash was close to death at the time of filming, and passed away 11 months later. June Carter Cash, who appears very briefly towards the end of the video, died only three months later.
This video has been placed on many a best of list, and for good reason. Cash's version of "Hurt" is a deeply personal and emotional track, and what Mark Romanek did was essentially show us what Cash was talking about in the song. When he sings about his "empire of dirt", Romanek has plenty of examples of that, and that makes for a powerful video.
My one gripe is that I feel like the crucifixion stuff is a little much. I realize there are reasons for including it, and it fits into the themes of redemption and pain, but we're so wrapped up Cash's story by the time we see Jesus being nailed to a cross that I feel like it takes the viewer out of it in a way.
If "Hurt" hit you in the feels too much this Monday, why not check out Kermit's version.
Actually, nevermind, I think that just made it worse.
