"The Beast in Me" is a song by English musician Nick Lowe and first recorded by American singer Johnny Cash. The song features slow, mournful music and lyrics describing the narrator's struggle with destructive habits and personality traits: "The beast in me / Is caged by frail and fragile bars".
The recording debut for "The Beast in Me" was by Johnny Cash from his American Recordings album released in April 1994. Cash was Lowe's stepfather-in-law from 1979 to 1990, during Lowe's marriage to singer Carlene Carter. A live version of the song by Cash appears on his 2005 DVD Live at Montreux 1994.
Lowe's first recording of the song appeared in his album The Impossible Bird (November 1994). A live version by Lowe appears on his 2004 live album Untouched Takeaway.
Covers
Year Singer/Group Album Comments 1994 Johnny CashAmerican Recordings 1996 Camisa de Vênus Quem é Você? Retitled to Portuguese "O Mal que Habita em Mim" ("The Evil/Darkness Within Me") 1998 Trevor Harrison (as “Eddie Grundy”) The World of Eddie Grundy previously appeared on the various artists compilation album Doing It Right in 1996 2006 Jim Byrnes (actor) House of Refuge 2007 Remate No Land Recordings 2007 Marc Vincent Secrets of a Bedroom Artist 2008 Martin Kitcher Band Eyes to the Left 2008 Mark van den Berg Sings the Hits of Johnny Cash tribute album to Johnny Cash 2011 Skeggs Shades of Cash tribute album to Johnny Cash 2011 Mark Lanegan The Hangover Part II: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2011 Willie Carmichael Patched and Pulled Together 2011 Farrell Spence Song for the Sea 2012 The Vaccines Please Please Do Not Disturb 2014 Delaney Davidson Swim Down
Appearances in other media The Lowe studio version of the song features over the closing credits of the pilot episode of US television show The Sopranos. The song features on the commercially available soundtrack CD.
Lowe's version also features in series 4 episode 2 of Being Human.
Johnny Cash's version appears in the 2011 film The Hangover: Part II but Mark Lanegan did a version for the soundtrack.
Melwood Cutlery's version of the song features over the closing credits of Project Grizzly, a 1996 National Film Board documentary about Canadian inventor Troy Hurtubise and his quest to create a suit in which to meet a grizzly bear.
The Lowe version plays over the closing credits of season 2's episode 6, of the Epix series Get Shorty and of episode 3 of the 2023 BBC serial about the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery and its aftermath, The Gold.
The Cash version featured in the season 1 finale of MobLand (episode 10, also titled "The Beast in Me").
Lowe's version is a reoccurring thematic song in the 2023 Elijah Bynum film, Magazine Dreams.
References