“Hurt” was originally written and performed by Trent Renzor of Nine Inch Nails on the album The Downward Spiral in 1994. This song narrates a life filled with consequences and regrets. Those regrets were drug abuse, getting old and the loss of family. “Hurt” has been recorded by many diverse artists, each artist trying to put their own emotions into the lyrics. Most artists who cover a song attempt to provide an impression on their interpretation while catching the original artist’s intent. The objective of this essay is to focus on three particular artists, Trent Renzor of the band Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash, and Sevendust and their particular recording of the song “Hurt”.
The original recording of “Hurt” was written and performed by Trent
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Renzor of the band Nine Inch Nails in 1994 on the album The Downward Spiral. The song was written about a dark place, whether it is dealing with addiction or life’s circumstances (Moore). In particular Trent Renzor’s recording of “Hurt” takes you into a drug filled haze. He has become lost in drug addiction (Lunney). At the beginning of the song, a solo guitar begins and Renzor sings in a raspy voice. The guitar chords and notes are methodical and flow with his voice as he describes the lyrics. He explains “ I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel” which is referring to past drug use and the toll it took on the body and soul (NineInchNailsVevo). Renzor uses a somber tone at the beginning of the song to draw attention to the seriousness of the lyrics. As the song continues it builds in dynamics with the seriousness of the lyrics becoming more intense and draws in the listener. The song continues to build bringing in more instruments and then goes back to the solo guitar to bring the mood back down again. The use of a single instrument to accompany Renzor’s lyrics shows the simplicity of the song. The original song has a wide range of dynamics which make a significant impact on the listener. These dramatic effects help to compliment the singer and the lyrics, which sets the mood for the listener to understand the seriousness of the song. On the album American IV: The Man Comes Around, Johnny Cash recorded this final album in 2002 which included a cover of the song “Hurt”.
The 71-year-old Johnny Cash recorded an award-winning video to this song just three months before the death of his wife, June Carter, and his own death seven months later. The video chronicled Johnny’s “career of a man who suffered grievous loss and pain in his life, but managed to hang on to the very end with the power of his music and the love of his wife” (Moore). Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt” and the way he sings it brings his soul into the song and almost makes it sound like an original piece. Like in the original Renzor recording, Cash begins with a solo guitar and a somber tone portraying the lyrics. Johnny took some of the same elements from Renzor using the deliberate but soft tone with the guitar to create the environment he is in for the listener. Many people can relate to this song’s lyrics and Johnny Cash really brings that out. As this song continues, it builds in tone and tempo, bringing in more instruments to compliment the lyrics and really drive the pain Johnny went through in his life. In the music video, old videos of Cash are used to really stress his life events, along with the main scene of his museum with Johnny playing his guitar, without any make-up or lighting to make him look younger or enhance his appearance. These scenes play right along with the lyrics, showing a picture of a lost family member, bringing in …show more content…
June to stand behind him as he is singing, and the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross. Those show the pain Johnny is trying to relay through the lyrics. One of the striking dynamics is how he builds the song up then takes it back down to really capture the listener’s attention. This dynamic in volume abruptly goes away at the end of the song when he says “I will find a way” while he closed the piano cover, showing this reflection has come to an end (Leopoldino). When Renzor was shown a copy of the video for the first time he said “By the end I was really on the verge of tears…there was just dead silence. There was, like, this moist clearing of our throats and then, ‘Uh, okay, let’s get some coffee” (Hooten). Cash also changed one word in the song. The original version by Renzor wrote “I wear this crown of shit” and Cash changed the verse to say, “I wear this crown of thorns”. This change made by Cash was done in an effort to accomplish two things. Removing the work “shit” and replacing it with “thorns” took out the profanity and gave a reference to Johnny’s own life as being damaged, but a devout Christian (Moore). This change is referenced in the video with the scene of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns (Leopoldino). Sevendust also covered “Hurt”, but in a slightly different way than Renzor and Cash. Sevendust also uses a solo guitar to begin the song like Renzor and Cash. As the song progresses, several members of the band join in with different instruments. The use of the drums and cymbals really drive a beat to the song and take it more out of a somber tone. This helps to give the listener a better mood. As the lead singer goes through the lyrics, he seems to connect them together more and make it more like a melody even with his raspy voice. Even with the use of the drums and different instruments, the song continues to have the seriousness it was originally intended to have (Adjunior). The different versions of “Hurt” discussed give listeners different perspectives of the song, with Johnny Cash’s rendition being more popular even over the original recording by Trent Renzor.
Johnny Cash’s version seems to really fit into the lyrics as a portrayal of his life. Trent Renzor is also giving a portrayal of his own life, but did not seem to capture that raw emotion which Johnny Cash was able to bring out. Each version is imaginative to the listener, but Johnny Cash made it the best due to the emotion and being very authentic which seems to being the listener in to see his life and possibly reflect on their own life. According to Trent Renzor after hearing Johnny Cash’s version, “Tears started welling up, “he said. “I realized it wasn’t really my song anymore. It just gave me goose bumps up and down my spine. It’s an unbelievably powerful piece of work. After he passed away I remember feeling saddened, but being honored to have framed the end of his life in something that is very tasteful” (Lemley, 259-260). All three versions of this song were imaginative, but Cash’s version had the qualities to make it great. Cash’s version was emotional, thoughtful, and authentic. The inflection and sincerity in his voice draws the listener in and puts them in the moment. Sevendust seemed to only make a recording of the song and didn’t reimagine it. Nothing new or inspiring was conveyed other than the use of the tone and instruments to change the style of the music. This
version was not impressive or helps the listener to really feel the state of mind the lyrics are portraying. As artists cover an original song, they should make it their own work as well, but making it a tribute to the original artist. With Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt”, he did pay tribute to Trent Renzor and the original recording, but made it his own work and impressed many listeners, even Trent Renzor.
Feeling unwanted from the closest people in your life who turn away from you when you need them the most, is the worst feeling a person can endure. I chose the song “My Story” by Sean McGee, because people young and old can relate to his song. People from different backgrounds can relate to each other when there are living homeless or raised as a foster child. Sean McGee wrote “my daddy don’t know, my momma don’t care, it don’t matter if I’m here, it don’t matter if I’m dead” people all around the world have the same issues and share a common culture. A master status is the most important status a person occupies, this is a key factor in determining a person’s social position.
My first song I´ve chosen is Sean McGee, song titled My Story. Mainly the song is about him facing different struggles, obstacles, and all the horrible things and situations he´s been in throughout his life. I can connect to this song and the lyrics for many reasons. One of his lines were ¨Do you know how it feels to be left out in the rain¨? And I have faced times like this when I feel like no one is there or have my back, and in the line he´s trying express how it feels to have nobody and be all alone. Also throughout this song he expresses how everyday you wake up your face with something rather it's just a minor issue or something that will greatly impact your life.
There was a vocal recital on October 19th, 2017 at 7:30PM, held at the performance hall in Mountain view college. Alex Longnecker, a tenor vocalist and Imre Patkai, (pianist) played a series of homophonic textured songs, some being sung in German and others in English. The Three selected songs I will be writing about are, The Lincolnshire Poacher, The Plough Boy, and Im Wunderschonen Monat Mai. This performance played a total of 24 Pieces, composed by 4 composers, being Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ernest Chausson, Benjamin Britten, and Robert Schumann.
“Fire away. Take your best shot, show me what you got. Honey I’m not afraid (Chris, Lines 4-5)…” Strength, love, heartache, all words that many people can identify with, but what about mental illness, depression, and suicide. These words are those that humans avoid, pretend they are not there, but in reality those three words effect many more people that was ever thought possible. Over 18.2% of United States citizens suffer from a mental illness (Depression), 6.7% of United States citizens suffer from depression (Depression), and each year in the United States there are on average 42,773 deaths by suicide (American). Now, many people can relate to the words love and heartbreak, but many more can identify with the three words that the world
“Hurt” a song originally recorded by Nine Inch Nails which portrays self-harm and heroin addiction has been covered by many great artists including Johnny cash. When Johnny cash covered this song I got a deferent message from the lyrics while he sings it, maybe it is because of his voice or how he lived his life, but when he is singing this song I get a sense that he is singing about a loved one that has passed on, growing older, and his legacy.
The song “Most People are Good” by Luke Bryan, describes a theme of hope and seizing the day. This song is clearly directed to an adult audience for it could not be relatable to a younger crowd. The song offers words of wisdom and a recollection of youthful times gone by. The song is told in the first person and portrayed by an ageing man or woman who is expressing their beliefs and personal morals through their experience of youth and forgiveness. The hopeful lyrics are informal but provide bright ideas expressed with a buoyant attitude.
The Dave Matthews Band has been a musical power house for years. They have meshed together almost every type of music together to create their extremely unique sounds and attractiveness towards their music. Dave Matthews, lead singer and guitarist from South Africa has put together a band that no one will ever be able to create again. Dave picked four extremely talented and unique sounding men to join his band and together they have created some amazing music. The members of the band include Stefan Lessard on bass, Boyd Tinsley on violin, Leroi Moore on saxophone and one of the best drummers in the world, Carter Beauford. Together these men will one day leave behind a similar reputation as one of the all time greatest "jam" bands of time.
Song lyrics have set off a great generation of our leisure time than reading poetic devices, therefore song lyrics are better than poetic devices. Song lyrics have dropped numerous lines that attach to us now a days and make us listen to the line over and over unlike poetic devices. Song Lyrics have so much meaning by word choice and by relations.”Mr. Rager” by Kid Cudi, is about people fed up with society and plan on taking a journey. “Dreams” by Edgar Allen Poe, is about a man who dreams of a greater life. Mr. Rager, the song by Scott Cudi, has a better meaning than Dreaming, the poem by Edgar Allen Poe, by personification, allusion, and symbolism.
The main gist of the song is Sting telling his girlfriend that she doesn’t have to be a prostitute anymore. One could say that repeating the words “Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red-light” in the song causes it to become the main idea of this song. As the song is about him trying to persuade his girlfriend to stop being a prostitute, the key –which is in minor–, reflects his sadness of the predicament. The singer executes his voice in this version high pitched as if to be pleading, connecting better to the audience and punctuating his lyrics further. As Sting’s lyrics take precedence, at times the band stops playing which creates dramatical pauses for the instruments and signifies the lyrics of that section more.
Rap music has given me personally something to look up to. Not a role model but hope of continuing my dreams because rappers successfully made it. “For what’s money without happiness, or hard times without the people you love” is from a song called “Love Yourz” by J. Cole. He clearly understands how there is “beauty in the struggle and ugliness in the success” because he’s lived that life. Other songs such as “2Face” or “The Autograph” were instantly relatable to me because he has been through several struggles from the beginning of his childhood. Cole’s father left when he was six leaving his mother and younger brother alone. Cole became “the man of the house” but becoming a rapper is not as easy as it seems. Cole’s messages in these two songs are relative because I too, have had several issues with my mother and father creating a sense of lonesome. Hearing music like Coles helped me overcome my
Ryan, John. “The Seventh Stream: The emergency of rock n roll in American popular music,” (Book reviews) Social Forces (1994): March, p. 927. Star, Alexander. “Hole in Our Soul: The Loss of Beauty and Meaning in American Popular Music” (book reviews)
Danker, Fred. “The Musical Impact of Johnny Cash Lives On.” Examiner. Np. Web. 13 March 2014
...orgettable. Research shows that “There’s this unifying force that comes from the music and we don’t get that from other things.”(Landau) Bruce Springsteen is a great storyteller and has captured some of the experiences of the American working class. Even when the lyrics are dark or the subject matter is depressing, he manages to provide hope, too. For as long as I can remember, my mother has been playing Springsteen’s music. When I hear a song of his now, it reminds me of driving down the road with the windows down belting out a song with my mom. As Dave Marsh from Creem Magazine prophetically wrote in 1975, “Springsteen’s music is often strange because is has an almost traditional sense of beauty, an inkling of the awe you can feel when, say, first falling in love or finally discovering that the magic in the music is also in you.” (Bruce Springsteen Biography 2)
Wood, Jessica. "Pained expression: metaphors of sickness and signs of 'authenticity' in Kurt Cobain's "Journals"." JSTOR. Version
In this essay I will attempt to decipher how Frank Sinatra changed music. I will try to understand what made his music so different, unique, and genuine that we still worship him like a god today. In addition, I expect to discover how he changed as a person over his five decade career. I want to analyze who he associated himself with, assuming the possibility that these people had an effect on his music and persona. I believe that while his music changed as did his personality. I trust that when Sinatra originally started singing with the glee club of Demarest High School, he had no idea of where his life was heading, nor the legend he was going to become. Thus, as his fame progressed and evolved so did his music and disposition. In my own opinion, there is no one archetypal Sinatra song or album; honestly I don’t even believe that there is even one true Frank Sinatra style. His five decade career seemed to divide into three distinctive eras. Nonetheless, in order to reflect on one’s life we must start from the beginning.