The Greatest Cover Song of All Time?

 Here's the story of Johnny Cash's iconic cover of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails. 

Music isn’t simply about a songwriter conveying a single message to listeners. People bring their own backgrounds, viewpoints, and opinions to form their own interpretations of a piece of music. For instance, "Born in the USA" can be seen as a patriotic anthem by some, while others view it as an anti-war song. It's rare, though, for two versions of the same song to have entirely different meanings.

In 1994, Trent Reznor produced a deeply dark and disturbing piece that reflected his mindset at the time—a bleak look into the psyche of a young man struggling with identity, drug addiction, and depression. A few years later, a cover of this song emerged, not by another young rock band, but by a man nearing the end of his life, a man who had largely faded from his status as a country music icon. This unexpected cover brought new meaning to Reznor’s original lyrics, adding profound weight and emotion. This man was Johnny Cash, and his rendition of "Hurt" became his own powerful interpretation of the song.