Cover songs can be many things. They can be lazy album filler. They can be ho-hum recordings that do nothing to advance a band’s catalog. But, once in a while, they can be truly epic. For my next five entries, I’m highlighting five of my favorite cover songs of all time. Each of these tracks, in my opinion, have reinvented and, in many ways, exceeded the original recordings.
When I think of all the great cover songs, some of the best ones are adored and revered by the original writers and recording artists. Johnny Cash’s rendition of Nine Inch Nail’s “Hurt” is one of those songs. It’s the very first song that comes to mind when I think of great cover songs. Of Cash’s rendition, Trent Reznor famously said, “That song isn’t mine anymore.”
Cash elevated “Hurt” into the stratosphere. Powerful. Gripping. Even more haunting than the original, which seems impossible. Recorded the year before he died, this was like Cash’s swan song. The most impressive thing about the cover is that Cash took emotions and thoughts so deeply personal to Reznor and gave it new meaning without changing the lyrics. Toward the end of his life, this recording represents one of Johnny Cash’s crowning achievements.
“What have I become? My sweetest friend. Everyone I know goes away in the end.”