Cash has an ability to cover a song and own it even more than the person who wrote it, "Hurt" being perhaps the best example. That wasn't who he was originally. He was a rockabilly/country, and then gospel/mainstream mix, carving out his own niche. That ability to interpret a song on the basis of everyone knowing who he was and what he had been through came much later.
So. He does this song well, even without Fiona Apple. But when she enters at about the two minute mark I go into tears every time. Not only is her harmony and phrasing riveting because it is unusual, but her beautiful and haunting voice is a lot like June Carter Cash. June was already dying when this was recorded, and Johnny would be dead in about a year as well.
Fiona does not simply provide her own depth with the sound, she magnifies his. Like a bridge over troubled water.
3 comments:
The Cash cover of “Hurt” was used perfectly in the trailer for Logan, about an aging Wolverine (X-man, not Michigan) at the end of his life, trying to piece together how it all ends.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Div0iP65aZo
And me with my computer's sound repro dead...
I consider the entire album, American IV, a masterpiece, with many of the covers greatly improving the originals. The music video for Hurt is worth a watch, it’s especially moving considering the deaths of June and Johnny less than a year later: https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=8AHCfZTRGiI
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