Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side

I had two signs today about what this post should be about (maybe what I was planning for today will be tomorrow). It's a little unusual, compared to what I normally post; I would never have guessed that I would ever write about these songs, but I do adore them--completely and totally. The first sign was when I turned on the TV to find it on the channel playing the movie these songs are from, with twenty minutes left (and if you know the movie, I couldn't very well not watch it from there once I'd seen even a couple seconds of a broken-hearted Nicole Kidman watching as her lover walked away from her in front of a packed auditorium; I couldn't stand to watch the very end, though--as is, this is my favorite movie, but it's not one I can stand to watch all that often because of the ending). The second sign was when I went to see the movie Happy Feet (I think I was the oldest non-parent in the theater, but it had adorable dancing penguins in it--really, I had to see it--and I was surprised at how much I ended up liking it; I may even say more about it tomorrow), which also has Nicole Kidman singing in it.

There are so many reasons to love Moulin Rouge--the music, the visuals--but it's all centered around a love story. In my eyes, it's an absolute must-see. As a musical, it adopts the interesting strategy of incorporating both classic popular music and original music (there's far and away more of the former than the latter, though rearrangements may sometimes make it difficult to identify the originals). It may have launched the inescapable reworking of "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya, and Pink, but if that's the only music from it you know, you're missing out.

Elephant Love Medley--this is one of the cases in which the movie incorporates classic pop songs, here in the form of a medley and duet between Nicole Kidman's Satine and Ewan McGregor's Christian, with Christian trying to convince Satine that she should give him (and love) a chance. As a warning, all of these songs are even better when watched in the context of the movie, both so you can understand the characters and so you can see the absolutely stunning and stylized visuals accompanying them. The one trouble with it being a medley is that I'd love to hear even more of their versions of each of these songs.

Your Song--another cover (of the Elton John song), this time sung by just Ewan McGregor (with some backing). In the movie, this song does precede "Elephant Love Medley." It's a lovely cover, too, though, of course, it's done up to be more showy in parts. Still, there's a disarming simpleness about Ewan McGregor's singing that, despite all the orchestration and operatic background singing, keeps this song grounded and sweet.

Come What May--another duet between Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, but this time an original song. Of course, it's a love song, and a ballad, but I still love it. Once again, I'm not sure how much power these songs will have out of context, but I'd really, really encourage you to go rent the movie if you haven't seen it. It may have a simple love story at it's heart, and that alone is reason enough to love it--that it tells a love story beautifully--but there are so many other levels on which to appreciate it that you're almost sure to find one on which it can resonate with you. Random trivia: this song was originally written for another of director Baz Luhrmann's films, Romeo + Juliet (starring Claire Danes and a pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio), but it wasn't used in the film.

To buy the soundtrack for Moulin Rouge (there are actually two, but for the "main one"), go here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: maybe another sort of left-field post.