Analysing music videos - Hurt by Johnny Cash

The video starts with the opening location set in a big house. The next few shots shows Johhny Cash's wealth by showing statues and valuable features in his house. He is wearing black because he is known as the 'Man in black'. He is looking into the distance which represents that he is recalling past events. (He is looking into the camera). Artificial lighting highlights the main features in the shot such as his face and his guitar. The next shot cuts to his museum which shows his level of success. It is closed to the public which could show his fame has dissapeared slowly.

When the word 'I remember' comes up, the flashback occurs and archive footage is shown to the audience. The footage is likely to be documentaries about him and home videos combined. This shows his economic wealth as he could afford a video camera in the 1960's. It goes from close ups of him to flashbacks of him. After the line 'Everyone I know goes away', the shot cuts to his Mother passed away. There are shots of live performances as he is recalling his past. The museum is empty which could link to the fact he is empty inside. This could symbolize his life, and that he is old and not remembered any more.

There are broken records in the museum which are quite valuable. The artifacts of the museum have being brought back to his home. His wealth is highlighted by the fact he has posh food on the table that he hasn't even. This reinforces the fact he doesn't care about his wealth. - 'My empire of dirt'. He sees his wife when he says 'My sweetest friend'. He pours red wine on the food which is a connotive of blood, which ultimately shows his past. He purs the wine (blood) on the food which could represent his last supper whcih also refers to the fact he was pretending to be a Godly figure in his time of fame. - 'I wear this crown of thorns'. He was a religious man but is reflecting on the negative points in his life. At the end it shows lots of scenes of when he was young. - His first live performance. At the end the lights go out which symbolizes the end of his life. He then shuts down the piano lid whcih also signifies it is the end of his music career and possibly his life.