My Father knew he was dying and told me while we had our last hunt together. He made me promise to take care of my mother once he was gone. Less than a month later he was gone. This song hits home every time I hear it.
The videobwas recorded in Feb 2003. Released start of May 2003, with June Carter Cash (his wife on the stairs watching him in the video) passing away 2 weeks later (mid May). Johnny passed away Sept 2003 a few months later. "God's Gonna Cut You Down" was only studio recorded, around the same time as this, in late 2002, which is what he was recalling at the start. The video was put together by Justin Timberlake & features many of the artists who attributed Johnny to their music influence.
Trent Reznor had this to say about it: "Having Johnny Cash, one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time, want to cover your song, that's something that matters to me. It's not so much what other people think but the fact that this guy felt that it was worthy of interpreting."
Yup, that is how a true musician thinks about his work imo. The honor of being covered is a real testament to your ability as a musician. You are good enough that someone want to cover you. And to have that being Johnny Cash? Just wow.. How could one not be proud and humbled?
4:05 His wife is the lady standing behind him on the stairs... she died about 3 months after the video recording and he died four months later. The lady in the picture is his mom.
Guys.. I'm a 6'1", Hells angels-looking, old guy who is a musician. I've seen this video a hundred times and watched a hundred reaction. I STILL have tears run down my face every.singel.time I see this. What twists the knife every time, as a musician, is that last moment where he closes the piano and lovingly caress the lid as if saying goodbye to the music that made his entire life.
John lost his wife right after this video,she is standing on the stairs,within 3 months he died . Everyone knew he followed June ,he was completely in love with her. A few of his songs are about his desire to be with her and then getting together. That shack was his childhood home and if you listen closely you will notice many of his songs have a train like rhythm. Johnny Cash lived a hell of a life and was a solid human being.
Back in the 60s, Johnny was having a ROUGH time. He had receded from the spotlight and was struggling hard with drugs, alcohol, he was distanced from his family and his wife. My late husband was a young teen and rolling down the road and saw a dude walking, (this was literally rural dirt roads for miles and miles), and stopped and offered him a ride. He said it was about 2 min from dropping him off that he really accepted who he picked up. He ended up running into him another dozen or so times and gave him rides frequently, but one day he just never showed back up, but that was a good thing because Johnny had gotten better and went back to his family. When Johnny closes the piano and lightly rubs the wooden top, it reminds me of when someone closes a casket of a loved one and caresses the lid, knowing that's the last time ever with their loved one.
The Cash family lived down the road from us in Tennessee. We went to school with his daughter who was a cheerleader. They invited all her friends to their home for her Birthday party. Johnny came downstairs and sang for us. It was a time I’ll never forget. He was a great man and a loving husband and father besides being such a giant talent. 💜💕
His wife, June Carter Cash, snuck down the stairs to check on Johnny. She was worried about him as this song is so raw. They left her in the video because her worried reaction to seeing Johnny. She died a few months later. Then, Johnny died about 6 months after her.
I'm 74 now, in the winter of my life and my whole family is gone on both sides but for a few cousins I hardly know. This is where you were, where you are and where you are going. Make the pictures of your life and times be what you want to see to the best your ability because they always come back to you in the end. The time you waste feeling sorry for yourself or judging others could be used for good, and for uplifting family and friends.
Drop some wisdom on us to help us live a more fulfilling life, what did you put off during your life that you wished you had done or tried when you were younger? I'm hitting 40 next year and I really wish I had started to fund my retirement fund when I was 18. The $3K/year seemed like a lot then, but now I realize I could have made sacrifices that would have started the ball rolling earlier and would be worth eating some extra ramen. In this spirit my answer would be... Kids, open an account that you forget you have access never check the balance and as soon as you can start a Roth IRA. That $3K can but a crappy car now or be worth a sports car when you're wise and experienced enough to enjoy a sports car without getting yourself killed. Or, you know, property taxes on the house you pay off (because even when you own the house outright, the government is going to expect $10K/year to live on your own land).
Wow. Thank you for that. At 55 I understand your thoughts and feelings in life and you remind me to not waste any time on things that just don’t matter. Every day is so important.
June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash’s wife died after this video was made and John followed her within a month or 2. If you get a chance you should check out Johnny Cash’s music.
A lot of people die shortly after their spouse dies. Some don’t. My husband died in February of 2021 and I don’t think that is going to be my story because I was single until I was 46 years old and I am pretty settled with the fact that my husband died. I’m more unsettled that my son is not getting along with his wife and I can’t help him very much. But I know God will make a way for him. He always has for me. As I have become older God has become so important to me. It’s amazing how much more important God has become to me. I cry easier now. I think about Jesus more than ever before. I used to struggle to think about Him during the day but now that is not the case.
That's what it is, that's what always hit me so hard and that of which I could not put to words. "Closed like a coffin". Yup, that's the phrase I'm looking for. The pure emotional punch in that scene beats anything Hollywood has done, because that "feel" is real.
Johnny was only 71 years old when he passed away. He suffered from Shy-Drager disease and also complications from diabetes. Despite his early years as a drug addict (which he recovered from with encouragement from his wife, June), he was a man among men! Would love for you to react to "Man in Black". Thank you for this reaction.
Trent was interviewed after it dropped. "Having Johnny Cash, one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time, want to cover your song, that's something that matters to me. It's not so much what other people think but the fact that this guy felt that it was worthy of interpreting. He (Cash) said afterwards it was a song that sounds like one he would have written in the '60s and that's wonderful".
The original Hurt is excellent as well, but its a young man singing it with the opportunity to turn things around. Cash's version really captures the last regrets in life.
Yep. Its a young man trying to fight for the right to grow old. Johnny is an old man knowing he has grown old saying sorry and goodbye to a life well lived.
Reznor's original version was his recollection of battling heroine addiction and depression. Johnny's version it saying goodbye after a long life full of ups and downs. You can hear the pain in both of their voices, despite being wildly different interpretations.
Yeah Tool and Johnny both were great performances of this song, Johnny had a life of addictions aswell just like the original writer and singer of this song well before the original writer of this song was even born, but i guess Johnny could never find the words to express it until he heard Tool sing it and he felt that just like we all did… Tools version is still the best to me but Johnny did it great aswell
Twenty years later and this is one of the few songs that I get goosebumps every time I hear it. I would say react to the NIN version too because the song has a different meaning when sung by Trent Reznor. This song is probably the best example of the same song having completely two different meanings when sung by two different artists.
Absolutely. NIN did this song, and it was great. Cash took this song and completely changed it (he only chatted a couple of words) into something completely different and so much deeper. I loved it before, and consider it an opus now. You should hear the original, though.
For me, Trent's version sounds like that first time an addict looks around at their life and goes "I have a problem." Cash's version feels like a cross between an elder saying goodbye, and when an addict is finally getting back on their feet, but still living in fear of relapse.
There's a magnet on my refrigerator that states: "Good health simply means that you're dying at the slowest rate possible". The knowledge of *that* has helped me understand that nobody gets out of Life alive and we all have faults and regrets. To me, JC's cover of this song only goes to prove that *everybody* has made mistakes along the way. That's the reason I continue to concentrate on kindness because *that's* the memory I would like to leave behind when my time comes.
Whoever edited this video should have won every award possible for editing. Maybe they did, I don’t know, but it’s absolutely perfect how they captured the meaning of the song and Jonny’s life. Great reaction guys!! Thank you!! 👏👏🫶
I was 12 years old, almost 13 when Johnny Cash died in September of 2003. I remember that North America just completely stood still. I remember the heartbreak on the faces of my Grandparents who loved his music. I remember how silent the week following was. It's been 20 years now since he passed, and his music is still beloved world wide. I have heard Metalheads, Gangster Rappers, Hip hop artists, Rock and roll legends etc state "there will never be another Johnny Cash." I have never once heard anyone speak Ill of him. His covering of this song was 100% His Goodbye not only to his Children and Wife, but to all of us. One last song, Steeped in Pain and the hells he endured over his life, as a gift to us.
Johnny Cash was a very unique person. Not always a good person or good man, but willing to own that and keep living his life. Everyone should know his story and know that it’s ok to mess up.
I'm with ya. I like them both. I've had the opportunity to see NIN live twice. They were really great concerts (Fragility and With Teeth tours). I'm not sure which version of Hurt they will review... whether it will be the album version or a live video version. Usually, the black and white live version from the Closure disc [on YT "Nine Inch Nails: Hurt (live) (1995)"] is the popular live version one.
The reason they sound like they have different meaning is because they do. NIN is a young man singing about addiction and depression wondering if he has something to live for. Jonny is reflecting on a life lived.
That moment at the end, when he closes the piano, it just gets me every time. He's closing the final chapter, and he knows it. The woman on the stairs was his life and she passed a few months before he did. When his daughter heard this, she told him it wound like he was saying goodbye and he said he was. One of the greatest performances I have ever heard.
This is a song should resonate with every man. I'm 72, have four grandkids and great wife. But I look back and I can see my failures and small successes. I need to spend more time with my grandkids. If they remember me as a good grandpa then my legacy is established.
The song "hurt" was written by Trent reznor of nine inch nails. Who after Johnny re-recorded it said it was no longer his song. This song was also recorded 7 months before Jonny Cash died the lady in the video was June Carter Cash who died 3 months after the video was shot. And 4 months after that Johnny died. Hurt was Johnny Cash's swan song he was 71 . Years active in music from 1954-2003 his death
This song is painful to listen to every time. As a drug addict myself, I feel Reznor's original lyrics, but it hurts even worse seeing a late legend reflect on his life regrets with the same words. Brilliant and heart breaking. Keep up the amazing work!! ❤
Johnny Cash is a Legend, and will be missed for a long time, i grew up on Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, Man in Black, Folsom Prison Blues, and Even the Devil Went Back Down to Georgia, and now Hurt will forever be apart of the Johnny Cash Legacy
"The Devil Comes Back to Georgia"* This was a Mark O'Connor song that featured Cash as the narrator. Also, "apart" means separated, "a part" is inclusionary.
Absolutely you should react to the original. They're both great songs but you gotta listen to them not as two versions of the same song, instead separate them and listen to them each as a separate song unto it's own. The reason for this is because they are preformed with two entirely different perspectives. Johnny Cash was seeing it as a closing to a long, difficult yet amazing career and possibly even to his life. Whereas Trent Reznor was seeing it through the eye's of a man struggling with drug addiction and trying to cope with new found success and fame, which Trent is notoriously antisocial, so being in the public eye while dealing with his addiction was almost too much for him.
He has had such a rough life. He is an amazing man. I don’t even think anyone remembers that he saw his brother die at an early age in a tragic accident when he was 12 years old. He even helped dig the grave. How he even managed to keep it together is beyond me.
When Johnny Cash played this for his daughter she said “It sounds like you’re saying goodbye”, and he told her “I am”. Such a beautiful, heartbreaking song.
Johnny is referring to his own heroin addiction when he says " the needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting. Try to kill it all away, but I remember everything ". Yiu should check out his biography. He was a tortured soul and a great artist.
The longer you live the more you feel this song... because ppl you loved will pass away, personal relationships will fade away with both friends & lovers and its weird to out live your love ones & watch em die and you almost have survivors guilt.
My husband loved Johnny Cash and he played this cd with this song over and over right before he died. The picture was John's mom and the lady on the stairs was his wife not long before she died.
His wife June passed before he did. Some of the sadness in the song came from losing her. Thank you both for a heartfelt reaction. Happy holidays to you both and I hope you get to see your respective families very soon.
My favourite line, is everyone I know goes away in the end. I think it has a double meaning, sure everyone eventually dies and goes away, but also, an addict can push people away until they end up giving up on you and they are gone.....Another great performance of another writers song is: Ultralight Beam performed by Stan Walker and the Levites - perfection
My father-in-law was a session player for the Grand Ole Opry and He-Haw and knew Johnny Cash. We have a picture of my husband at about three years of age sitting on his lap with the guitar. He and a couple of his friends as teenagers helped Johnny move. A scene that is in Walk the Line.
He was a rebel and never caved to the music industry. He did pass away shortly after he recorded this song. He is a LEGEND!! No if ands or buts. I have all of Johnny Cash's songs. Love this man, and yes he loved his wife so very much. Look into his history, you would be amazed of what kind of man he was. Love this man.
I remember when his wife passed, I told my husband that he wasn’t going to be with us much longer. He did this right after she died. He was his life, and he died in a year💖🙏🏻😇he made this song his!
There's a handful of covers that truly surpass the originals and embody what the song is really about. "All Along the Watchtower", "House of the Rising Sun", and "Hurt" are the ones that come to the forefront - NIN put the words together, but Cash was the one that crafted it into something truly remarkable.
So I listen to this song a lot. Combat in Afghanistan, seeing my brothers die over there, a parent dying on my birthday 2 days after I got back, my first wife leaving me after the funeral, siblings passing, brothers in the military ended their lives, and now me possibly having cancer. And I don’t know what it is but watching you to listen to this hit an emotion in me. Not sure what it is. But keep y’all’s brother ship. Don’t loose it. It’ll help when you hit a low point in life, trust me I know. Good video brothers keep them coming.
Boy named Sue, Ring of Fire, Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues, Riders in the Sky, God is gonna cut you down. This guy had so many great songs and to be anyone in music and have someone like him do a cover of your song is just one of the greatest things imho. Shit I should be doing reactions I get so emotionally involved. Think peeps would like to see a 50 year old metal head Lebowsky looking dude cryin like a baby? I associate so many songs with people and situations that meant a lot to me.
Boy named Sue , Ring of Fire, Riders in the Sky and even God is gonna cut you down all covers he did and made his own that was something he was good at is taking somones els song and making it into his own story
IMO... this was Johnny Cash's good bye gift to all of us ... to see reactors who doesn't know his life get it is so powerful ... he wanted to set the record straight and he did ... mic drop .....
This song was filmed in his home. Not long after the song was recorded his wife, June Carter Cash passed away. And within six months, Johnny was gone. She was his wife. She was his lifeline. And in a twist of irony the house that you see in this video ended up burning down to the ground. Everything in that housewas destroyed. The plaques, the gold records, the platinum records, all of it burn to ashes. If that’s not irony, I don’t really know what is.
The music video was filmed in February, his wife June passed away in May, and Johnny passed away in September. I personally feel this song was Johnny saying goodbye to everyone and June quietly doing the same. The look she gives in the music video you can see she knows this is their farewell.
Picture was of his mother-in-law. June his wife you will see on the stairs. She died about 4-5 months after this. He died a couple of months later. When he closed the piano after the end, it was the last time that he played it. When his daughter was watching this, she said to her Dad, It feels as if you are saying goodbye. He replied, I am.
the song is so different between the original and this version. the Nine inch nails is about regret, but from a younger person perspective. But Cash's version is regret from an older person's perspective. They are both so good.
I Met Johnny Cash in the early 80's, I got there early & he saw me walking around outside holding some records I was hoping to get signed, I was 17, He spent a few minutes with me, he was so kind & warm, I've forgotten that short time
As he was recording this song, his daughter Rosanne Cash was crying and she looked at him and said daddy you sound like you’re saying goodbye and he looked up at her and smiled and said I am. He died within a month and went home to heaven to be with his wife, June Who proceeded him in death by four months.
Love this cover. It belongs to only him. Grew up with Johnny Cash and it breaks my heart to see him in this video. Cry every time. Thank you for your reaction to this! Linda 💜
Simply an amazing song . Cash has a big list of music from his earlier stuff all the way to this some will leave you speechless. My favorite cash song is 13 and that’s a must 🔥🔥🔥🙌🏼🙌🏼🐐
You gouts don’t realize Rick Rubin(aka def jam records) was the producer for this and all of johns last recordings. Rick had ask John a number of times before he recorded this cover. Two legends came together!
I think it's important to note that Johnny Cash crossed musical genres in ways no one else has. When he had his TV show the network told him that he could not do a gospel song. Well, he did it anyway. He had all kinds of musical artists on his show. He worked with Bob Dylan. He had been there and done that - from losing his brother at a young age, being blamed by his father, drugs, alcohol, children, broken marriage, new love, second chances. Johnny Cash - is a real man.
This song was released in Nov of 2002. June Carter Cash passed in May of 2003 & Johnny passed in Sept of 2003. This video really was a goodbye to his fans. Trent Reznor wrote this song about his addiction & his own demons he was dealing with at the time. Johnny sang this song & suddenly it was about all those regrets someone may have when their time comes & the people they will leave behind. I can't hear this song w/o tearing up. The NIN version is great too, but this one hits you in the gut!
The picture was of Cash's mother not his wife, his wife was the lovely lady standing on the stairs watching over him. I really love all the 3 versions. I have listened the original version Trent Reznor sang and it translates very different from the Cash version (second version), then the 3rd version is what Trent Reznor currently sings which you can tell has been influenced by Cash's interpretation as well as his own life experiences in the decades since he original wrote the song.
This was also after his wife; June Carter Cash had died - only a few months before. And it totally felt like a response, -deep abject pain, to that loss. The man who wrote this song was so 'on' to this emotion in the song. But there is a world of difference how it made me feel for the vocal artist who sang it in NIN and how it made me feel for Johnny. Because the two men are in very different places in their lives; it gives the song a different reflection. To me, that is kind of the miracle of songs - how they can mean something so different and speak to or for people -where they are. The way NIN did it, I didn't really catch all the lyrics, but I liked the song a lot, it made me envision a younger person who had really hit bottom, but I felt hope for them. When I first heard Johnny perform it, I was in a patient's room while I was working, and I had to turn it off from my conscience so I could do for my patient. -It was like, uh oh, no can't hear this now. I found it later that night & cried. When Johnny sang it - there was no hope. But I love the song and do take heart because we all will end; and this song is very much a tribute to our existence. IMHO
This was Johnny's last release... at 70, I understand exactly what he is saying. We look back at our lives and you realize that friends you had, are gone from your life and I wish some of them back really hard.. It just will never happen again and that hurts....
I did (and still do) love the Nine Inch Nails version of this song. But they're looking at the song from different lenses, and I think that's what makes a perfect cover. Make it transformative in some way. Johnny's version is obviously about an old man looking back on his life, his regrets, his losses, and what (if anything) he would do differently. Trent's original is about an addict who has done nothing but push people away and self sabotage. Both are great for the story they're telling.
Nine inch nails was talking about letting people down as far as the drug life. Johnny made it sound like dying and letting people down. Great song either way. The house he was looking into his his childhood home. The picture on the wall was his mother. His brother died at the house from a bad accident when they were children
Trent said in an interview “listening to Johnny performing this song is like seeing your ex with a new boyfriend, and realizing that he is better for her than you ever could be”.
Wow! That was a powerful song and a goodbye to his fans by a great man. He considered his empire was built on dirt, but in the end, he is and will be singing in Gods choir when He comes to take His believers home. RIP Johnny.🙏
Every time I see him in this one it brings me to tears as I’ve been a fan since I was a kid in the 80s. The Man In Black will live forever. Trent Reznor said that this song is now Johnny’s.
I grew up listening to Johnny Cash. My Dad introduced me to his music when I was a kid. I have a Johnny Cash tattoo. I visit his museum when i can. This song just guts me. It reminds me of my Dad. RIP Johnny.
4:00 this was written by Trent Reznor of NIN and Rick Rubin wanted Johnny to sing it. If you see at the end he closes the piano and that was the last time he played the piano. Cash released this March 2003 & he passed away September 2003. An interesting fact his daughter Roseanne Cash wrote a song called “September when it comes” when Johnny was dealing with a health crisis. He recorded it with her. Kinda scary that she wrote September as the time of reckoning and she had to deal with her dad passing away in September. 8:06 that’s his wife June Carter Cash. She was upstairs staying out of the way and decided to come down and see how her husband was doing and she was mesmerized watching him sing. The director saw her and had the cameraman widen the shot to get her in the frame. They shot this in February 2003 and she passed away 3 months later. 9:24 His daughter Roseanne said her dad closing the piano was him saying goodbye.
My Father knew he was dying and told me while we had our last hunt together. He made me promise to take care of my mother once he was gone. Less than a month later he was gone. This song hits home every time I hear it.
The way he closes that piano in the end is absolutely heartbreaking. He knew he wouldn't be playing it again. R.I.P.🙏
The videobwas recorded in Feb 2003. Released start of May 2003, with June Carter Cash (his wife on the stairs watching him in the video) passing away 2 weeks later (mid May). Johnny passed away Sept 2003 a few months later.
"God's Gonna Cut You Down" was only studio recorded, around the same time as this, in late 2002, which is what he was recalling at the start. The video was put together by Justin Timberlake & features many of the artists who attributed Johnny to their music influence.
Moby "run on" is the same song
Interesting
Trent Reznor had this to say about it: "Having Johnny Cash, one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time, want to cover your song, that's something that matters to me. It's not so much what other people think but the fact that this guy felt that it was worthy of interpreting."
I think Trent sings it this way now. A quote I read from Trent was, "I was born to write this song. Johnny Cash was born to sing it."
Beautiful
@@JeshuaSquirrel You are correct Trent did say that.
Someone told me that Trent doesn't perform it anymore, "its his song now"
As a recovering addict it might be a tough song to perform any.
Yup, that is how a true musician thinks about his work imo.
The honor of being covered is a real testament to your ability as a musician.
You are good enough that someone want to cover you.
And to have that being Johnny Cash?
Just wow..
How could one not be proud and humbled?
The piano closing at the end kills me. That’s not a “I’ll close it and come back later and play” that’s a “Well, goodbye”
That hit me hard. Saying goodbye
And it was the last time that piano was played, at least to my knowledge.
The first time I ever saw this, I swear it looked like he was running his hands over a coffin...I still think that every time I see it.
Same. It’s so foreshadowing. It’s like he knew.
💯💯😔
4:05 His wife is the lady standing behind him on the stairs... she died about 3 months after the video recording and he died four months later. The lady in the picture is his mom.
If there was a perfect audience for Johnny to sing this to, it was June.
The House of Cash was destroyed less than a year later.
Yep
I have seen several reactions to this song and people keep calling his mother his wife. How people don’t know about June Carter Cash is beyond me.
@@718EngrCoI concur but remember not every knows country music even tangentially.
Johnnys doughter heard this song and asked him:
"Are you singing your goodbyes dad?"
And he said "Yes, I am."
So, so heartfelt.....
The actual quote is:
"Dad, it sounds like you're saying goodbye."
"I am."
No he didn't
@@dalemoore435Rosanne Cash said that he said it. I watched the interview. I saw and heard those words come out of her mouth.
@@dalemoore435 , in fact his words were actually "maybe I am" when his daughter said that to him.
I honestly think Johnny recording this cover is one of the best things that happened in the history of music
Its the confirmation of both versions and both artists.
@@eloerch7 I'm sure Johhny Cash did his best, so when you include Trent Reznor's reaction to this video, you are pretty much emrpically correct.
It was the perfect way for one of the greatest musicians to ever live getting to say goodbye the way ge wanted to.
Oh, for sure!!! 💯💔
Guys.. I'm a 6'1", Hells angels-looking, old guy who is a musician.
I've seen this video a hundred times and watched a hundred reaction.
I STILL have tears run down my face every.singel.time I see this.
What twists the knife every time, as a musician, is that last moment where he closes the piano and lovingly caress the lid as if saying goodbye to the music that made his entire life.
Good thing you aren't 6'2" cause then it would be weird.
@@IndyMotoRider😂😂😂😂😂😂
I've got a couple inches on you, and I'm not a musician, but otherwise I'm exactly the same. This song is a goddamn gut punch.
That's called art.
@@ipezmusic As an old man who also happens to be a musician.... I would agree. 😁🍻
John lost his wife right after this video,she is standing on the stairs,within 3 months he died . Everyone knew he followed June ,he was completely in love with her. A few of his songs are about his desire to be with her and then getting together. That shack was his childhood home and if you listen closely you will notice many of his songs have a train like rhythm. Johnny Cash lived a hell of a life and was a solid human being.
Wow.
That was way more eloquent than the usual “RIP” most people slap in the comments.
👍🏻
You nailed it right on the head. RIP..
He couldnt live without her he was old but he really loved her
Back in the 60s, Johnny was having a ROUGH time. He had receded from the spotlight and was struggling hard with drugs, alcohol, he was distanced from his family and his wife. My late husband was a young teen and rolling down the road and saw a dude walking, (this was literally rural dirt roads for miles and miles), and stopped and offered him a ride. He said it was about 2 min from dropping him off that he really accepted who he picked up. He ended up running into him another dozen or so times and gave him rides frequently, but one day he just never showed back up, but that was a good thing because Johnny had gotten better and went back to his family.
When Johnny closes the piano and lightly rubs the wooden top, it reminds me of when someone closes a casket of a loved one and caresses the lid, knowing that's the last time ever with their loved one.
The Cash family lived down the road from us in Tennessee. We went to school with his daughter who was a cheerleader. They invited all her friends to their home for her Birthday party. Johnny came downstairs and sang for us. It was a time I’ll never forget. He was a great man and a loving husband and father besides being such a giant talent. 💜💕
what a treasured memory.
What an amazing memory to have!
His wife, June Carter Cash, snuck down the stairs to check on Johnny. She was worried about him as this song is so raw. They left her in the video because her worried reaction to seeing Johnny. She died a few months later. Then, Johnny died about 6 months after her.
Fits so well too. I thought it was like older footage to fit her in. I thought she was dead at that point. RIP to both.
I'm 74 now, in the winter of my life and my whole family is gone on both sides but for a few cousins I hardly know. This is where you were, where you are and where you are going. Make the pictures of your life and times be what you want to see to the best your ability because they always come back to you in the end. The time you waste feeling sorry for yourself or judging others could be used for good, and for uplifting family and friends.
Drop some wisdom on us to help us live a more fulfilling life, what did you put off during your life that you wished you had done or tried when you were younger? I'm hitting 40 next year and I really wish I had started to fund my retirement fund when I was 18. The $3K/year seemed like a lot then, but now I realize I could have made sacrifices that would have started the ball rolling earlier and would be worth eating some extra ramen.
In this spirit my answer would be... Kids, open an account that you forget you have access never check the balance and as soon as you can start a Roth IRA. That $3K can but a crappy car now or be worth a sports car when you're wise and experienced enough to enjoy a sports car without getting yourself killed. Or, you know, property taxes on the house you pay off (because even when you own the house outright, the government is going to expect $10K/year to live on your own land).
74 is a new beginning mate, live, every day, you could have 20 years left and thats a very long time.
@docdurdin Thank you for taking the time to offer your wisdom and to uplift even complete strangers.
Wow. Thank you for that. At 55 I understand your thoughts and feelings in life and you remind me to not waste any time on things that just don’t matter. Every day is so important.
Doodurdin: you made me cry. Thank you for your words sir.
The lady in the picture is his mother, the lady standing on the stairs is his wife. Great reaction guys!
June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash’s wife died after this video was made and John followed her within a month or 2.
If you get a chance you should check out Johnny Cash’s music.
I wonder why everyone gets it wrong
@@securityeagle9144 Because they're not familiar with the music and his life, that's why. Not everyone knows everything about everyone.
The lady in the photo with the red shirt is Mabel Carter, June's mother and a huge influence on Johnny's life.
Nine inch nails version was moving, but seeing Johnny in this state, and his historical imagery deepens the meaninfulness.
Nine Inch Nails wrote this song and after hearing Johnny’s version, he felt it was written for Johnny to sing. Rest in Peace, Johnny. 💔
Really interesting fact. Johnny's wife, June Carter Cash died on May, 15th 2003. Johnny Cash passed away 4 months later on September 12th, 2003.
September 12th 2003 not the 11th.
A lot of people die shortly after their spouse dies. Some don’t. My husband died in February of 2021 and I don’t think that is going to be my story because I was single until I was 46 years old and I am pretty settled with the fact that my husband died. I’m more unsettled that my son is not getting along with his wife and I can’t help him very much. But I know God will make a way for him. He always has for me. As I have become older God has become so important to me. It’s amazing how much more important God has become to me. I cry easier now. I think about Jesus more than ever before. I used to struggle to think about Him during the day but now that is not the case.
@@Aldo32ify I remember saying that he wasn’t going to be with us much longer because she was his life! 💖he died of a broken heart 💔
The most powerful goodbye recorded in song.
David Bowie also sung goodbye in Lazarus
Closing the piano like a coffin gets me every time
That's what it is, that's what always hit me so hard and that of which I could not put to words. "Closed like a coffin". Yup, that's the phrase I'm looking for. The pure emotional punch in that scene beats anything Hollywood has done, because that "feel" is real.
Johnny was only 71 years old when he passed away. He suffered from Shy-Drager disease and also complications from diabetes. Despite his early years as a drug addict (which he recovered from with encouragement from his wife, June), he was a man among men! Would love for you to react to "Man in Black". Thank you for this reaction.
I still get goosebumps watching Johnny Cash close that piano for the very last time. "It is done."
Trent was interviewed after it dropped.
"Having Johnny Cash, one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time, want to cover your song, that's something that matters to me. It's not so much what other people think but the fact that this guy felt that it was worthy of interpreting. He (Cash) said afterwards it was a song that sounds like one he would have written in the '60s and that's wonderful".
The original Hurt is excellent as well, but its a young man singing it with the opportunity to turn things around. Cash's version really captures the last regrets in life.
Yep. Its a young man trying to fight for the right to grow old. Johnny is an old man knowing he has grown old saying sorry and goodbye to a life well lived.
Reznor's original version was his recollection of battling heroine addiction and depression. Johnny's version it saying goodbye after a long life full of ups and downs. You can hear the pain in both of their voices, despite being wildly different interpretations.
Yeah Tool and Johnny both were great performances of this song, Johnny had a life of addictions aswell just like the original writer and singer of this song well before the original writer of this song was even born, but i guess Johnny could never find the words to express it until he heard Tool sing it and he felt that just like we all did… Tools version is still the best to me but Johnny did it great aswell
Twenty years later and this is one of the few songs that I get goosebumps every time I hear it.
I would say react to the NIN version too because the song has a different meaning when sung by Trent Reznor. This song is probably the best example of the same song having completely two different meanings when sung by two different artists.
Two meanings. Exactly. Trent's performance is of an addict looking back on that turmoil. Johnny's performance is of an elder looking back on a life.
Absolutely. NIN did this song, and it was great. Cash took this song and completely changed it (he only chatted a couple of words) into something completely different and so much deeper. I loved it before, and consider it an opus now.
You should hear the original, though.
I more often than not I tear up hearing Cash’s version
For me, Trent's version sounds like that first time an addict looks around at their life and goes "I have a problem."
Cash's version feels like a cross between an elder saying goodbye, and when an addict is finally getting back on their feet, but still living in fear of relapse.
There's a magnet on my refrigerator that states: "Good health simply means that you're dying at the slowest rate possible". The knowledge of *that* has helped me understand that nobody gets out of Life alive and we all have faults and regrets. To me, JC's cover of this song only goes to prove that *everybody* has made mistakes along the way. That's the reason I continue to concentrate on kindness because *that's* the memory I would like to leave behind when my time comes.
well said
TY needed that laugh!
Whoever edited this video should have won every award possible for editing. Maybe they did, I don’t know, but it’s absolutely perfect how they captured the meaning of the song and Jonny’s life. Great reaction guys!! Thank you!! 👏👏🫶
Freddie Mercury and Queen sang a good bye song too. The last line is, I still love you. He had to be helped to stand by then. This is a great song.
I was 12 years old, almost 13 when Johnny Cash died in September of 2003.
I remember that North America just completely stood still. I remember the heartbreak on the faces of my Grandparents who loved his music. I remember how silent the week following was.
It's been 20 years now since he passed, and his music is still beloved world wide.
I have heard Metalheads, Gangster Rappers, Hip hop artists, Rock and roll legends etc state "there will never be another Johnny Cash." I have never once heard anyone speak Ill of him.
His covering of this song was 100% His Goodbye not only to his Children and Wife, but to all of us.
One last song, Steeped in Pain and the hells he endured over his life, as a gift to us.
❤
One of the best covers of all time.
Johnny Cash was a very unique person. Not always a good person or good man, but willing to own that and keep living his life. Everyone should know his story and know that it’s ok to mess up.
Definitely do 9 inch Nails version. Both versions are amazing and both feel like they have different meanings in a way
I agree . You need to listen to both versions
I'm with ya. I like them both. I've had the opportunity to see NIN live twice. They were really great concerts (Fragility and With Teeth tours). I'm not sure which version of Hurt they will review... whether it will be the album version or a live video version. Usually, the black and white live version from the Closure disc [on YT "Nine Inch Nails: Hurt (live) (1995)"] is the popular live version one.
I agree with this. I'm always a little bummed when reactors don't do reactions to the original and the cover.
don't have to be a reaction, just for yourself
The reason they sound like they have different meaning is because they do.
NIN is a young man singing about addiction and depression wondering if he has something to live for.
Jonny is reflecting on a life lived.
Him closing the piano and the way he touches the cover is heart breaking!
After Johnny Cash died... the Grammy's had lots of people including rappers dedicating their grammy's to Johnny Cash including Snoop Dog
the original you feel the pain of a young man. Johnny sings this and you feel the pain of an old man.
That moment at the end, when he closes the piano, it just gets me every time. He's closing the final chapter, and he knows it. The woman on the stairs was his life and she passed a few months before he did. When his daughter heard this, she told him it wound like he was saying goodbye and he said he was. One of the greatest performances I have ever heard.
This is a song should resonate with every man. I'm 72, have four grandkids and great wife. But I look back and I can see my failures and small successes. I need to spend more time with my grandkids. If they remember me as a good grandpa then my legacy is established.
The song "hurt" was written by Trent reznor of nine inch nails. Who after Johnny re-recorded it said it was no longer his song. This song was also recorded 7 months before Jonny Cash died the lady in the video was June Carter Cash who died 3 months after the video was shot. And 4 months after that Johnny died. Hurt was Johnny Cash's swan song he was 71 . Years active in music from 1954-2003 his death
This song is painful to listen to every time. As a drug addict myself, I feel Reznor's original lyrics, but it hurts even worse seeing a late legend reflect on his life regrets with the same words. Brilliant and heart breaking. Keep up the amazing work!! ❤
Johnny Cash is a Legend, and will be missed for a long time, i grew up on Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, Man in Black, Folsom Prison Blues, and Even the Devil Went Back Down to Georgia, and now Hurt will forever be apart of the Johnny Cash Legacy
"The Devil Comes Back to Georgia"*
This was a Mark O'Connor song that featured Cash as the narrator.
Also, "apart" means separated, "a part" is inclusionary.
Its an Epic song, Sung by two geniuses, One who brought it to life, the other who remade it as his final goodbye. Johnny was a legend RIP
Thank y'all for paying respect to the legend Johnny Cash. God bless you.
Trent Reznor's amazing lyrics and Johnny's scar battled face and voice are magic together. We feel every word deep in our souls.
Absolutely you should react to the original. They're both great songs but you gotta listen to them not as two versions of the same song, instead separate them and listen to them each as a separate song unto it's own. The reason for this is because they are preformed with two entirely different perspectives. Johnny Cash was seeing it as a closing to a long, difficult yet amazing career and possibly even to his life. Whereas Trent Reznor was seeing it through the eye's of a man struggling with drug addiction and trying to cope with new found success and fame, which Trent is notoriously antisocial, so being in the public eye while dealing with his addiction was almost too much for him.
This is amazing ! Wrote by Trent reznor ( NIN ) . He said after JC released it that it was no longer his song lol x
Trent's got maybe a decade or so before he can maybe reclaim it.
@@xheralt he wont do it...some people have what is called "respect"....even if he reclaims it...people wont let them have it
He has had such a rough life. He is an amazing man. I don’t even think anyone remembers that he saw his brother die at an early age in a tragic accident when he was 12 years old. He even helped dig the grave. How he even managed to keep it together is beyond me.
When Johnny Cash played this for his daughter she said “It sounds like you’re saying goodbye”, and he told her “I am”. Such a beautiful, heartbreaking song.
Your silence after the song ended said so much. Amazing reaction video.
Johnny is referring to his own heroin addiction when he says " the needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting. Try to kill it all away, but I remember everything ". Yiu should check out his biography. He was a tortured soul and a great artist.
The longer you live the more you feel this song... because ppl you loved will pass away, personal relationships will fade away with both friends & lovers and its weird to out live your love ones & watch em die and you almost have survivors guilt.
It is really sad that this song was released in March 2003 and by the middle of September 2003 he was gone. One of the best covers ever done.
His wife June died in May Johnny died in Sept. The same year.
Johnny cash is in the rock &, roll hall of fame, the country music hall of fame and the gospel music hall of fame.
And all that was way before hurt.
My husband loved Johnny Cash and he played this cd with this song over and over right before he died. The picture was John's mom and the lady on the stairs was his wife not long before she died.
His wife June passed before he did. Some of the sadness in the song came from losing her. Thank you both for a heartfelt reaction. Happy holidays to you both and I hope you get to see your respective families very soon.
I tend to come back to this song when Ive lost someone, it helps...
My favourite line, is everyone I know goes away in the end. I think it has a double meaning, sure everyone eventually dies and goes away, but also, an addict can push people away until they end up giving up on you and they are gone.....Another great performance of another writers song is: Ultralight Beam performed by Stan Walker and the Levites - perfection
My father-in-law was a session player for the Grand Ole Opry and He-Haw and knew Johnny Cash. We have a picture of my husband at about three years of age sitting on his lap with the guitar. He and a couple of his friends as teenagers helped Johnny move. A scene that is in Walk the Line.
He was a rebel and never caved to the music industry. He did pass away shortly after he recorded this song. He is a LEGEND!! No if ands or buts. I have all of Johnny Cash's songs. Love this man, and yes he loved his wife so very much. Look into his history, you would be amazed of what kind of man he was. Love this man.
I remember when his wife passed, I told my husband that he wasn’t going to be with us much longer. He did this right after she died. He was his life, and he died in a year💖🙏🏻😇he made this song his!
The picture on the wall was of his mother. This song was released in Nov. 2002, his wife passed May 15 2003 soon followed by Johnny in Sept of 2003.
There's a handful of covers that truly surpass the originals and embody what the song is really about. "All Along the Watchtower", "House of the Rising Sun", and "Hurt" are the ones that come to the forefront - NIN put the words together, but Cash was the one that crafted it into something truly remarkable.
He also covered "Ring of Fire" which was recorded originally by his future sister in law Anita Carter.
I cry every time. Johnny Cash did an indescribably beautiful job. Yes, please watch nine inch nails to experience the contrast. Thanks for this one.
So I listen to this song a lot. Combat in Afghanistan, seeing my brothers die over there, a parent dying on my birthday 2 days after I got back, my first wife leaving me after the funeral, siblings passing, brothers in the military ended their lives, and now me possibly having cancer. And I don’t know what it is but watching you to listen to this hit an emotion in me. Not sure what it is. But keep y’all’s brother ship. Don’t loose it. It’ll help when you hit a low point in life, trust me I know. Good video brothers keep them coming.
Most people don"t even hear it. The shakiness of his voice, over the progression of the song. One of the best covers ever.
Notice the table full of food but no one there when he says " you are someone else, I am still right here"...
Boy named Sue, Ring of Fire, Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues, Riders in the Sky, God is gonna cut you down. This guy had so many great songs and to be anyone in music and have someone like him do a cover of your song is just one of the greatest things imho. Shit I should be doing reactions I get so emotionally involved. Think peeps would like to see a 50 year old metal head Lebowsky looking dude cryin like a baby? I associate so many songs with people and situations that meant a lot to me.
Boy named Sue , Ring of Fire, Riders in the Sky and even God is gonna cut you down all covers he did and made his own that was something he was good at is taking somones els song and making it into his own story
IMO... this was Johnny Cash's good bye gift to all of us ... to see reactors who doesn't know his life get it is so powerful ... he wanted to set the record straight and he did ... mic drop .....
This song was filmed in his home. Not long after the song was recorded his wife, June Carter Cash passed away. And within six months, Johnny was gone. She was his wife. She was his lifeline. And in a twist of irony the house that you see in this video ended up burning down to the ground. Everything in that housewas destroyed. The plaques, the gold records, the platinum records, all of it burn to ashes. If that’s not irony, I don’t really know what is.
The music video was filmed in February, his wife June passed away in May, and Johnny passed away in September.
I personally feel this song was Johnny saying goodbye to everyone and June quietly doing the same. The look she gives in the music video you can see she knows this is their farewell.
I heard that Barry Gibb had purchased the house
Picture was of his mother-in-law. June his wife you will see on the stairs. She died about 4-5 months after this. He died a couple of months later. When he closed the piano after the end, it was the last time that he played it. When his daughter was watching this, she said to her Dad, It feels as if you are saying goodbye. He replied, I am.
the song is so different between the original and this version. the Nine inch nails is about regret, but from a younger person perspective. But Cash's version is regret from an older person's perspective. They are both so good.
I Met Johnny Cash in the early 80's, I got there early & he saw me walking around outside holding some records I was hoping to get signed, I was 17, He spent a few minutes with me, he was so kind & warm, I've forgotten that short time
As he was recording this song, his daughter Rosanne Cash was crying and she looked at him and said daddy you sound like you’re saying goodbye and he looked up at her and smiled and said I am.
He died within a month and went home to heaven to be with his wife, June Who proceeded him in death by four months.
Crazy how amazing this cover is and how both artists respect both versions of it
Love this cover. It belongs to only him. Grew up with Johnny Cash and it breaks my heart to see him in this video. Cry every time. Thank you for your reaction to this!
Linda 💜
Walk the Line is ICONIC!!!
Simply an amazing song . Cash has a big list of music from his earlier stuff all the way to this some will leave you speechless. My favorite cash song is 13 and that’s a must 🔥🔥🔥🙌🏼🙌🏼🐐
You gouts don’t realize Rick Rubin(aka def jam records) was the producer for this and all of johns last recordings. Rick had ask John a number of times before he recorded this cover. Two legends came together!
Trent Rezner wrote it in 1994r Was bad ass then and it's bad ass now
I think it's important to note that Johnny Cash crossed musical genres in ways no one else has. When he had his TV show the network told him that he could not do a gospel song. Well, he did it anyway. He had all kinds of musical artists on his show. He worked with Bob Dylan. He had been there and done that - from losing his brother at a young age, being blamed by his father, drugs, alcohol, children, broken marriage, new love, second chances. Johnny Cash - is a real man.
His wife, the love of his life, had passed away from cancer, and he never really recovered. The man literally died of a broken heart.
This song was released in Nov of 2002. June Carter Cash passed in May of 2003 & Johnny passed in Sept of 2003. This video really was a goodbye to his fans. Trent Reznor wrote this song about his addiction & his own demons he was dealing with at the time. Johnny sang this song & suddenly it was about all those regrets someone may have when their time comes & the people they will leave behind. I can't hear this song w/o tearing up. The NIN version is great too, but this one hits you in the gut!
The picture was of Cash's mother not his wife, his wife was the lovely lady standing on the stairs watching over him.
I really love all the 3 versions. I have listened the original version Trent Reznor sang and it translates very different from the Cash version (second version), then the 3rd version is what Trent Reznor currently sings which you can tell has been influenced by Cash's interpretation as well as his own life experiences in the decades since he original wrote the song.
This was also after his wife; June Carter Cash had died - only a few months before. And it totally felt like a response, -deep abject pain, to that loss.
The man who wrote this song was so 'on' to this emotion in the song. But there is a world of difference how it made me feel for the vocal artist who sang it in NIN and how it made me feel for Johnny. Because the two men are in very different places in their lives; it gives the song a different reflection. To me, that is kind of the miracle of songs - how they can mean something so different and speak to or for people -where they are.
The way NIN did it, I didn't really catch all the lyrics, but I liked the song a lot, it made me envision a younger person who had really hit bottom, but I felt hope for them.
When I first heard Johnny perform it, I was in a patient's room while I was working, and I had to turn it off from my conscience so I could do for my patient. -It was like, uh oh, no can't hear this now. I found it later that night & cried. When Johnny sang it - there was no hope.
But I love the song and do take heart because we all will end; and this song is very much a tribute to our existence. IMHO
His wife is in the video. She's on the stairs watching him. She did pass away shortly after the video was released.
@@sallyphillips9175 thank -you, I got it mixed up.
Both Trent and Johnny's versions of this song get me with every listen. Definitely watch the original. Its beautiful in an entirely different way.
this song always makes me cry....you can have it all...my empire of dirt! RIP Johnny Cash!
He is saying "goodbye". When he played it for his daughter, she said "daddy, it sounds like you are saying goodbye". He said, "I am".
This was Johnny's last release... at 70, I understand exactly what he is saying. We look back at our lives and you realize that friends you had, are gone from your life and I wish some of them back really hard.. It just will never happen again and that hurts....
I did (and still do) love the Nine Inch Nails version of this song. But they're looking at the song from different lenses, and I think that's what makes a perfect cover. Make it transformative in some way. Johnny's version is obviously about an old man looking back on his life, his regrets, his losses, and what (if anything) he would do differently. Trent's original is about an addict who has done nothing but push people away and self sabotage. Both are great for the story they're telling.
Closing the piano at the end gets me every time 😢
This is considered by many to be the best music video ever.
Nine inch nails was talking about letting people down as far as the drug life. Johnny made it sound like dying and letting people down. Great song either way. The house he was looking into his his childhood home. The picture on the wall was his mother. His brother died at the house from a bad accident when they were children
Trent said in an interview “listening to Johnny performing this song is like seeing your ex with a new boyfriend, and realizing that he is better for her than you ever could be”.
Wow! That was a powerful song and a goodbye to his fans by a great man. He considered his empire was built on dirt, but in the end, he is and will be singing in Gods choir when He comes to take His believers home. RIP Johnny.🙏
Don't miss the flashes of Christ and the cross. Johnny lived a hard life, but gave his life to Jesus, and this song is part of his dedication to God.
How that when this song a remake of nine in nails who made this song about his best friend dying to drugs.. so I don't see how god in it lol..
❤
Fairy tales are cute but let's leave Harry Potter or whatever your book is out of real life, k?
@@Aarygon Let’s see if you have the balls to say that to a Muslim, but you won’t in real life because you’re a coward!
Every time I see him in this one it brings me to tears as I’ve been a fan since I was a kid in the 80s. The Man In Black will live forever. Trent Reznor said that this song is now Johnny’s.
I am a recovering addict, and this song brings tears to my eyes everytime.
I grew up listening to Johnny Cash. My Dad introduced me to his music when I was a kid. I have a Johnny Cash tattoo. I visit his museum when i can. This song just guts me. It reminds me of my Dad. RIP Johnny.
I cry every time I hear this song and Karen Carpenters last song NOW !!! It never fails..I listen to them anyway..they are so beautiful.
4:00 this was written by Trent Reznor of NIN and Rick Rubin wanted Johnny to sing it. If you see at the end he closes the piano and that was the last time he played the piano. Cash released this March 2003 & he passed away September 2003. An interesting fact his daughter Roseanne Cash wrote a song called “September when it comes” when Johnny was dealing with a health crisis. He recorded it with her. Kinda scary that she wrote September as the time of reckoning and she had to deal with her dad passing away in September. 8:06 that’s his wife June Carter Cash. She was upstairs staying out of the way and decided to come down and see how her husband was doing and she was mesmerized watching him sing. The director saw her and had the cameraman widen the shot to get her in the frame. They shot this in February 2003 and she passed away 3 months later. 9:24 His daughter Roseanne said her dad closing the piano was him saying goodbye.