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Hurt - Johnny Cash / Nine Inch Nails Cover


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I find this song difficult to play live without getting swept up in the emotion of it, and haven't done so for nigh on ten years. In the meantime my voice has changed a bit so I've had to rearrange it and drop it down a tone. I've played it here on my big Maccann duet instead of anglo.

 

https://soundcloud.com/lachenaliamusic/hurt

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Thanks for your feedback Ruediger. I always incline towards minimal accompaniments, even if using more instrumentation - and yes, I acknowledge that some people find that unpalatable.

 

You'd hate my 18-minute version of Barbara Allen ;)

Edited by StuartEstell
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I must agree with Ruediger on this one. But before I will add my two cents, I want to be clear - I definately appreciate your concertina playing here, what I have to say is about emotional content of the arrangement itself (and this is of course purely personal opinion).

 

Hurt is one of my favourite NIN songs and the original Johny Cash version is playing right now as I'm writing this post (I didn't knew that NIN rendition was a cover). And I must say, that I haven't ever even focused on lyrics before (I'm not a native english speaker and I focus mostly on musical content when listening to songs in foreign languages) but still, both NIN and Cash versions have VERY strong choruses, and in both cases the overall construction of the melody tells a very strong emotional story with the music layer itself (NIN IMHO even stronger than Cash). For me, it could even be in Suahili or Chineese and it would make the exactly same emotional impact. Your version has no such effect - it makes me completely indifferent to the meaning of the lyrics. One reason for this is that you have dropped a very significant, steady beat in the chorus that builds up the tension and instead you slow down at the begining of the chorus, loosing the grip you have build up on the listener. And the second reason is that your vocals are very smooth and ornamental - very "polite" compared to strong and harsh "cry" in Cash and NIN versions.

But nevertheless, I'm (as always) very glad to hear any non-traditional concertina repertoire, so keep it coming :)

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Hey, Stuart.

I much enjoyed your treatment of this powerful song and the duet accompaniment. I thought concertina accompaniment worked well; the song is cry from the heart and I heard that.

It's a song that has resonance for me for a number of reasons but to be brief, I was playing Cash's version of it only a month ago and my 27 yr old son (who has always been a NIN fan since he was a lad) heard it and came across and told me that Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) was the composer.

He stayed and listened to all of it and was moved too.

It was one of these parent /child moments that makes up for the shouting match I had with my daughter 13yrs ago about the merits of the Spice Girls v the Beatles.

Thank you for sharing Stuart, and yes, I am still embarrassed by the last bit.

Robin

 

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Lukasz, might I humbly suggest that you listen to it again, trying to avoid comparing it to the NIN or Cash versions. On my first listen I had much the same reaction as you -- it didn't seem to have the same intensity and bite as I expected. On listening to it again, however, I'm finding that I appreciate Stuart's interpretation, which evokes in me a different sensibility than the other versions, but is still very emotive.

 

Thanks for posting this Stuart.

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Lukasz, might I humbly suggest that you listen to it again, trying to avoid comparing it to the NIN or Cash versions. On my first listen I had much the same reaction as you -- it didn't seem to have the same intensity and bite as I expected. On listening to it again, however, I'm finding that I appreciate Stuart's interpretation, which evokes in me a different sensibility than the other versions, but is still very emotive.

 

 

I did listen to Stuarts version couple of times to get a clear view on why his version didn't had such impact on me as other versions prior to posting my opinion. But I see I must stress one thing more clearly: I don't think, that Stuarts version is bad or shouldn't be enjoyed :) And I truly think that this is a very fine piece of concertina playing. I was just trying to describe what differences made his version so different in its effect on me. Not to change anyone's taste or musical choices, but to just give some feedback from another angle - as a not native english speaker - as I think this changes a lot in percieving songs, focusing emotions more on music than on lyrics.

 

And I must admit that not comparing it to NIN version is hard for me, as this is indeed one of the very few NIN songs I like and had listened to it over and over again at some point in my life, so it's now "embossed" in my mind very, very deep as a "blueprint" for this song.

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Thank you all for listening - glad to have generated some discussion.

 

Audiences' expectations of cover versions are interesting. I like to try and put a different spin on things, otherwise for me listeners might as well be hearing existing versions. But of course, when it's a song that people hold dear (and this is definitely one of those), there's always the chance of out-and-out dislike for a version that doesn't accord with their emotional expectations of it.

 

Lukasz, you're keen for the chorus to be delivered strongly, however for me, it's the chorus where the emotional collapse happens in the lyrics - "What have I become, my sweetest friend?" - the language is gentle and questioning, and full of regret. Although you're referring to the audience's attention, it's interesting that you use the phrase "losing the grip" in describing my approach to the chorus, because that's exactly what I think the lyric does at that point. As for my singing being "polite" compared with either Cash or Reznor - I'd prefer "laconic" or "neutral" but I take your point, and that's very much a conscious decision on my part, influenced by my admiration for the likes of Shirley Collins and Nic Jones.

 

Robin - lovely story, thanks. I think it's one of those songs that Cash truly made his own.

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that's very much a conscious decision on my part, influenced by my admiration for the likes of Shirley Collins...

 

...which (or better: whose style) is pretty much my background for appreciating what you've been doing here, Stuart. Really well done as for me!

 

Best wishes - Wolf

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Happily, I had never heard this song before, so could make no comparisons with the original(s) (JC was never my cup of tea). I really like it Stewart - a great accompaniment and nicely performed. I suppose the only comment I would dare to make, is that your voice betrays you as far too nice a bloke to ever get involved in the subject matter!

I think doing cover versions are always problematic, because of the expectations (and often memories) that recorded songs ignite, so I suppose unless you have a repertoire of completely obscure popular music, there will always be people who will compare your version unfavorably. Another approach would be to do a song in such a different atmosphere and arrangement, that even if listeners have a strong affinity to the original, direct comparisons are almost impossible, for example things like Seu Jorge's Bowie covers, or Ásgeir's version of Wrecking Ball.

 

 

Adrian

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Thanks Adrian - glad you enjoyed it, and yes, my only experience of needles is entirely medical!

 

I agree - covers that are complete deconstructions can be more successful/acceptable for exactly the reasons you describe. I would also include the group Nouvelle Vague who do lounge versions of just about anything, or madcap Finns Elakelaiset, who turn everything into "humppa".

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I remember the Johnny Cash version, but it doesn't overshadow my appreciation for this one. This sounds good to me, my only comment is that I'd like it a little better if the concertina volume was slightly softer, it seems to fog over the vocal element at times.

 

Good work.

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I think most can appreciate your recording situation for this tune. Not optimal, but it is convenient, it works and that's what we are after most of the time. Really, a setup involving tracks inputting to a mixer is needed to get the proper control but that requites more equipment and gets more complicated than a quick on-the-spot grab. To be clear, I'm not suggesting any fault in your method, and that aside, this recording is clearly good stuff - I enjoyed it.

 

I don't know if this would be of interest to you, but I recently improved my phone recording capabilities by plugging a small set of quality microphones into an iPhone. They connect right onto the phone via the lighting-connector port and bypass the phone's native recording circuits entirely. While I don't do vocals I've found that I can utilize the 90 degree mic offset (Left and Right) to capture two tracks and afford some degree of level control when recording two instruments a few feet apart and I could see it possibly working for a concertina and vocal set-up with a little fudging. The mics rotate both horizontal and vertical, so maybe tilt one down to the concertina and the other towards the singer's head?

 

With some other on-phone inexpensive Apps (software) I can level adjust and mix the two tracks and estabilish a better balance between them, then port it out to a final result. Big improvement over using the built-in mic of my iPhone, the initial sound quality is noticable better as well as the edited result. Of course, if you want to optimize the results it takes some time to fiddle with adjusting and mixing the recorded tracks to get them just as you want.

 

This latter topic is really off-thread though and it's not my intent to redirect to another subject.

Edited by Bruce McCaskey
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Hello Bruce,

 

Thanks for this.

 

For better quality recordings, if multi-tracking I use a four-input USB interface into my Mac so that I can strategically position microphones all over the place, and use Logic for processing the audio. Other than that I have a Zoom hand-held digital recorder which in the right venue and with a cannily-positioned mic-stand is remarkably effective given how little it cost.

 

But for zero latency between recording and uploading to the interweb the phone wins every time if the recording's just a "sketch" - in which case I'm unlikely to do any post-processing at all. I wonder, actually, if I position the phone the way I would the Zoom, whether that might offer an improvement without buying any additional kit.

 

Thanks for getting me thinking. I'll get the gaffa tape out ;)

Edited by StuartEstell
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