With this sheet music, you can play "Hurt" by Johnny Cash on piano!

It's an accurate, carefully created piano arrangement of the full song.

The entire melody is included in the piano part, so it makes for a perfect instrumental / piano solo cover.

"Hurt" was written by Trent Reznor. He recorded it with his band Nine Inch Nails for their second studio album "The Downward Spiral" (released in 1994).

In 2002, the song was covered by the late Johnny Cash, and included on his last album "American IV: The Man Comes Around".

In February 2003, "Hurt" was released as the album's second single - just seven months before Johnny Cash passed away.

The accompanying music video won both a Grammy and a CMA Award for best video of the year, and was named the best video of all time by NME!

"Hurt" became one of Johnny Cash's most popular songs, with critics praising his deep voice, and the sincerity of his performance of Reznor's dark lyrics (which include references to self-harm and heroin addiction).

Trent Reznor was blown away by Johnny Cash's version of the song:

"I pop the video in, and wow... Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps... Wow. I felt like I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore... It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning ? different, but every bit as pure."

Needless to say, "Hurt" is a wonderful, emotional song to play on the piano!

Captures the soundtrack vibe

In addition to the main theme, this comprehensive adaptation also includes the way jazzy but oft-excluded bridge section as well as a fully-notated jazz solo that sounds improvised.

Pages: 5 with cover
Level: Late intermediate
Playing time: About 2:20

Technique: Reinforces switching in and out of even and swing eighth notes, handling big jazz chords, interpreting syncopations, and playing right-hand melodies independently over ostinato bass lines.