TASK 2: Johnny Cash - Hurt

Johnny Cash was born in Arkansas in 1932, and was one of seven children. His family struggled during the great depression and this inspired many of his songs. He was very religious and was brought up in a Christian family.


Johnny Cash's Hurt has become one of his most famous songs. It was the last music video he starred in, and the video itself received critical acclaim, with it winning a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video. The video is performance based, with the use of archive footage. The archive footage is used because the lyrics of the song suggest that Johnny Cash is looking back on his life, and therefore cutting to footage that associates with the lyrics give them power and meaning.

Below is some analysis I annotated on the lyrics of 'Hurt' before I watched the video. I looked at deeper meanings to the lyrics and how it could be presented in the music video.

'The needle tears a hole' could have multiple meanings. It could be a link to Johnny Cash's drug problem that he suffered for a large part of his life, which is supported by the next line, 'The old familiar sting', or it could have a deeper meaning. 'The needle' could symbolise all of Cash's mistakes and 'tears a hole' could be the damage that they have caused.

'Try to kill it all away But I remember everything' could show that he is trying to leave his past in the past but cannot escape the memories and that they are tearing him up inside. He uses the word 'kill' as this implies that the memories will be dead and will not return, but this word could also represent the negative side of Cash, as to kill is evil.

'And you could have it all My empire of dirt' shows how little Johnny Cash values his success, and that he would give it away with no second thought. 'empire of dirt' is an oxymoron, as 'empire' shows how large the legacy is that Cash has created, but 'of dirt' shows that it doesn't matter to Cash, because he made sacrifices for that legacy that he regrets and wishes that he hadn't hurt those close to him.

'I wear this crown of thorns Upon my liar's chair' has religious connotations to it and we know that Cash was a very religious person. The religious symbolism of the crown of thorns is sacrifice and linking this to Johnny Cash's 'Hurt', it could reinforce that he has made sacrifices for his career, and we see that he is not proud of it when he says 'Upon my liar's chair'.

'I am still right here' is a very powerful line, as it shows that Cash has been left in the past while everyone has moved on, and shows that all he has left is his music career. The fact that he says it in the present tense could show that he foolishly felt that everything would stay the same during his career.

The last stanza concludes the song with Cash implying that he would chose differently if he could start again, 'I would keep to myself' shows maybe that he disliked the fame that came with producing his music, and 'I would find a way' shows that he would maybe have chosen a different career to provide for his family.

Then I watched the video and analysed it, noting down how it presented the lyrics visually. In a way, it was similar to what I predicted in that it used archive footage from Cash's past, however the performance of him looking towards the sunset and eating a feast on his own I didn't predict, but I thought it was the best feature of the music video.

 The first shot features Johnny Cash wearing the iconic black with his guitar. We see him looking out into the distance and judging by the yellow glow we can assume that he is looking at a sunset. This could represent Cash's career coming to an end, as 'Hurt' was his final performance before his death.

 This shot is of the sign to Cash's museum. We see on the sign that it is 'closed to the public' and this could represent Cash's career no longer means anything to him. Behind the sign we see the United States flag, which could connote that Cash was very patriotic, which we know as he was enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1950.

 This shot is one of many archival footage shots that is used in the music video. It shows Cash at the height of his career and could represent all of the good memories that Cash has. Few of this footage features his family and this could be the reason for producing this song, because spending time with his loved ones was maybe sacrificed for his career.

 This next shot coincides with the lyrics 'everyone I know goes away in the end' and is a shot of a photo of his mother framed on his wall. This shows how close Cash was with his mother and could indicate that this song is addressed to her. The fact that they show a photograph indicates to the viewer that she has passed away.

 This shot has lots of religious connotations to it, as we see him sitting at the foot of the table with a feast. It could represent the last supper, again indicating that this will be Cash's last performance. Unlike earlier, he is now facing the viewer directly, which could show he is now addressing it to them rather than his family. The way the camera is situated is like the viewer is on the table with Cash, which shows the importance of his fan base to his success.

The final shot shows him closing his piano and stroking it. This concludes both the song and Cash's career. We can see the reflection from the sunset the strongest here, with Cash's hands being a silhouette, which shows the progression of the song leads him closer to the end.