Despite Johnny Cash’s version of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” being considered among most to be in the canon of music history’s greatest cover songs, I must confess that I’ve never been too crazy about it. It’s a brilliant performance, for sure, not to mention Mark Romanek’s epic music video, but I’ve always felt that other Cash covers, like “Personal Jesus” or “I See a Darkness”, were more suited to producer Rick Rubin’s sonic aesthetic.
To be clear, I’m not going to say that this cover by the Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer from New Years Eve is better—or even on par—with Cash’s, but there is something about the Boston Pops Orchestra’s arrangement that gets under my skin in the same that Trent Reznor’s original so perfectly punctuates The Downward Spiral.
Watch it here or below: