Johnny Cash - Hurt

Cash's representation for his song 'Hurt' was of the personal genre. 

It is in sort the narrative of his life and how it was coming to an end. 

Most of the video is shots filmed in his own house. His age is emphasised by close ups of his face, the faded use of sepia colour as well as the fruit used as props to suggest the theme of decay.

Cash plays guitar in the clip, even as an old man. This could have been done to remind everyone that he still has the 'music in him'. The music video cuts from shots in the present (as an old man), to clips from the past when Cash was only beginning his career as a musican. We are shown a couple of concerts and performances and these have been either been faded or converted into black and white to imply the passing of time.

The visuals are linked with the lyrics on frequent occasions. For example, 'Everyone I know, goes away in the end', we are shown a picture ,hanging on the wall, of his mother who has passed away. The song refers to religious matters and so pictures of Jesus have been edited into the clip. Cash's wife is shown both in the old clips of his life but also participated in the making of the music video and can be seen as an older woman at 2:36.

The last minute of the song speeds up and through editing, the pictures cut from one another much faster. This could imply we are coming to the end of the song (and also the end of his life and music).

The music fades, however the visual still continues and the camera follows Cash bow his head and close the lid on the piano. This is very dramatic and upsetting. The video, I presume must have been painful for not only Cash himself but for for all his fans.

Music Video Analysis

I have chosen Nickelback's Rockstar to analyse as a similar concept to my own music video.

Throughout the whole song, you find complete strangers or celebrities lip singing to the rock song all in different settings.

I believe that the band is more interested in expressing their music and less in expressing a particular image of themselves. The song's memorable chorus and its up beat tempo makes it catchy and fun to sing. 

The main singer of the band is shown a couple of times throughout the clip in form of medium shots. This could have been done to simply remind the audience that it is their song.

On occasional lines, the visuals link with the lyrics e.g ''Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion" at 1:58 where you see the beached blond hair women on their loungers in the sun. 

On the last phrase, the representation of the clip changes into a performance where it cuts to a establishing shot of an audience all singing along to the song. The camera then pans round to see the band and the instruments on stage.