“Hurt” is a song by American band Nine Inch Nails from its second studio album, The Downward Spiral (1994), written by Trent Reznor. It was released in April 1995, as a promotional single from the album. The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Song in 1996. The music video for Nine Inch Nails’ original version of “Hurt” is a live performance that was recorded before the show in Ohama, Nebraska, in February 1995. The audio portion appears on the UK version of Further Down the Spiral. The version released on Closure differs slightly from the video originally aired on MTV. In addition to using an uncensored audio track, the Closure edit shows alternate views of the audience and performance at several points during the video.
In 2002, Johnny Cash covered the song for his album, American IV: The Man Comes Around. Its accompanying video, featuring images from Cash’s life and directed by Mark Romanek, was named the best video of the year by the Grammy Awards and CMA Awards, and the best video of all time by NME in July 2011. Cash’s cover is widely considered one of his best works. In 2017, Billboard ranked the song number four on their list of the 15 greatest Johnny Cash songs, and in 2021, American Songwriter ranked the song number three on their list of the 10 greatest Johnny Cash songs.
“Sweet Jane” is a song by American rock band the Velvet Underground; it appears on their fourth studio album Loaded. The song was written by Lou Reed, the band’s leader, who continued to incorporate the piece into live performances as a solo artist. When Loaded was originally released in 1970, the song’s bridge was cut. The box set Peel Slowly and See and reissue Loaded: Fully Loaded Edition restored the missing section.
The Cowboy Junkies recorded Sweet Jane on The Trinity Session. This version’s arrangement is based on the slower version of the song released on 1969. Lou Reed was often quoted as saying that the Cowboy Junkies’ version was his favourite. It features on the soundtrack of Oliver Stone’s 1994 movie, Natural Born Killers.
“Red Red Wine” is a song originally written, performed and recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967 that appears on his second studio album, Just for You. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person who finds that drinking red wine is the only way to forget his woes. When Diamond left the Bang Records label in 1968, the label continued to release his singles, often adding newly recorded instruments and background vocals to album tracks from his two albums for Bang. For the “Red Red Wine” single, Bang added a background choir without Diamond’s involvement or permission. Diamond’s version reached #62 on the Billboard chart in 1968. Billboard described the single as a “compelling, original folk-flavoured ballad.”
UB40 recorded a version of “Red Red Wine” for their album of cover versions Labour of Love. According to UB40 member Astro, the group’s former vocalist and trumpet player, the band were only familiar with Tony Tribe’s version and did not realize that the writer and original singer was Neil Diamond. Astro told the Financial Times, “Even when we saw the writing credit which said ‘N Diamond,’ we thought it was a Jamaican artist called Negus Diamond.”UB40’s version features a lighter, reggae-style flavour compared to that of Diamond’s somber, acoustic ballad. The UB40 version adds a toasted verse by Astro, opening: “Red Red Wine, you make me feel so fine/You keep me rocking all of the time,” which was edited from the single that reached No.1 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1983 and No.34 in the U.S. in March 1984.
