Originally Posted by kane

1. The song itself was a hit before Cash died. It was a NIN song that was very popular. It really only became popular for him after he died.

2. No. NIN took the song to #2 on the billboard top 200 charts back in the mid 90's (cash's version made it to #22 on the billboard top 200 and #2 on the country chart.) although it did become a big country hit for Cash.

3. It had been a while since he had a huge hit. He has had some successful records but the last time he had a record go to #1 was in 1969 so it had been a while.

You can argue all day about which version of this song is better. I'm a fan of both Cash And Reznor. I like the sound of Reznor's version and the bleakness of it. Cash's version is raw and emotional and I think both are great.