Music 2- 'Hurt' Johnny Cash

At the beginning of the music video Johnney cash is sat in a dim lit room dressed in black with his guitar. This is symbolic as he is known as ‘the man in black’ and always carrying around his guitar. There are close up shots of the gold statues which surround him, tis shows he is a very wealthy man. These statues have a religious meaning there is a large bown of fruit which in the olden days showed wealth, as the working class wouldnt be able to afford these luxurys.  The video cuts to the American Flag, with ‘House of Cash Museum’ infront of it. The American flag symbolises freedom and the The Museam has a big closed sign on it, this could indicate that his fame is running out.

The piano in the house is closed this could show that he no longer has a music career, and doesn’t want to have one anymore.Then the video seamless edits into actual footage of him past life and the experiences he had, it shows a train this could show maybe his career took him places. He starts to open up the piano. On the 2^nd verse the piano is now open symbolising his starting up his career again.

‘Everyone I know goes away In the end’ as Johnny Cash sings this line the camera zooms in to a close up shot of a photograph of his mother. This gives the viewer the idea that he may have been very close to his mother and would have wanted to have more time of her but his career pulled him away.  The lyrics say “Empire of dirt” and the camera cuts to panning around his museum which appears to have empty counters, no one is willing to spend money on walking around his museum any longer and buying his records. His museum is empty and there are broken records thrown on the floor, this indicates his career is over. The broken record which has been smashed on the floor is gold, this is only given to the artist when they have made over 1 million songs, no body else gets it except for that artists, this could show that he donated all his meaningful items to the museam and they didnt take care of them, like they haveent taken care of his career. The camera then cuts back to him playing the piano it zooms into his face showing the emotion and the old age. “ I will make you hurt” The video then shows a quick clip of a prison door shuting, In johnny Cash's history he had gone to prison these lyrics could be linking in with this, as it took some of his time away which made his lose alot of fans. The video then fades to black, showing th dark side to it. 'Room Comes alive' when he left prison he went back to do free gigs for all the prisoners, he was the voice for a lost generation.

The lights are turned back on in the room with all his career memories are place, the camea cuts to close up shots of statues of his head, this shows that he was very powerful in his day.
Then the camera cuts back to the very first scene where he is sat in the middle of all the gold statues and the wine glasses. Zooms into his face which shows the emotion and the old age, this makes the lyrics his telling seem more realistic, he turns to look at the light which brightens his face up, this could indicate that his looking at heaven and saying good bye to his career and sending it away. Old footage is shown of him going to somebodies home and realising no bodys there. This could show that nobodies there for him, when he needs them the most. The camera then cuts to a photograph on the wall of a young man and women, the man was in the footage that was shown earlier, this showsa that it is him n the photograph with his wife, they both look happy together, maybe Johnny Cash is regretting having a career as it took him away from family life, and he wasnt always there for his wife.  There is then actual footage shown of memoriess he had with his wife they both look happy together, the hiden meaning behind this could be that with out the gold, money, career, he wouldnt of been able to have the life he did. 'Empire of dirt'- it means nothing to him, his family means more than the money and fame. The video then fast tracks through loads of different actual footage of his life and then comes back to him sitting on the piano singing after a couple of videos have been shown, it gets slower as the beat of the song gets slower. The last footage shown is him just finishing a gig and looking down. It then cuts to him back on the piano ending the song and closing the piano up, this shows that his finished his career now and his going to concentrate on spending time with his family.

Overall, 'Hurt' shows how meaningful a music video can be and how itcan make the audience emotional if the right effects are used, as the video was filmed in a dim light this already created a dark depressing atmosphere. The audience will be able to relate to this video in many different ways, it doesnt have to be the way the artist has told it.