Spectacular, Spectacular: the Relationship of Soundtrack and Story in Moulin Rouge!

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return,” we hear again and again in the film “Moulin Rouge!”. Originally lyrics from the song “Nature Boy,” which also features on the film’s soundtrack, this line encompasses the central story of the film like no other. “Moulin Rouge!” is, if nothing else, a film about love. The 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama, directed by Baz Luhrmann, which most often comes to mind because of its remarkable production design and costumes (for which it has won two Oscars) or Luhrmann’s typical fast-paced filmmaking style, also offers a fantastic soundtrack which includes songs by David Bowie, Madonna, Elton John and many more.

Christian and Satine singing Come What May during the finale

The “Moulin Rouge!” soundtrack, brought to us by music director Marius DeVries, Composer Craig Armstrong, and music supervisor and executive music producer Anton Monsted, is a colourful mix of pre-existing songs (often covered by the cast) and songs explicitly recorded for this film. It spans different genres, styles, and even cultural influences to create a rich tapestry that is oftentimes as unexpected as it is delightful. Frequently, each key scene in the film has its own designated song to accompany it.

Comparable to recitative musical films such as “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (dir. Jacques Demy, 1964) or “Annette” (dir. Leos Carax, 2021), where the songs and lyrics are essentially part of the dialogue and not separate entities, the soundtrack of “Moulin Rouge!” follows similar guidelines with some of its records. Without it we would miss a good chunk of the story – and that makes it an irreplaceable storytelling device just like regular dialogue and actions.

Since the music is so strongly connected to the story, let’s recap what happens in “Moulin Rouge!”:

Paris, 1899: a theatre group crashes into the life – and apartment – of young writer Christian (Ewan McGregor) and together, they decide to bring their new play to the people at the Moulin Rouge in hopes of getting it produced. There, through a misunderstanding, Christian meets the courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman), who he falls in love with immediately. However, another man – the duke, also the investor for their new play– is equally interested in Satine, who is set to play the main role. Yet, Satine falls for Christian and begins a secret affair with him behind the back of the duke. Between all the hiding from the duke, keeping their play alive and health issues, Christian and Satine’s love is repeatedly put to the test.

The story is told by Christian a year later in 1900 as he puts it down on paper with his typewriter. This narrative frame gives the illusion of a story within the story, adding to the theatrical quality of the film that we can also find in the production design and editing, and that is also supported by the soundtrack and dancing sequences.

Without further ado, let’s have a look at some of the key records, their arrangement, and what they mean for the story.

Nature Boy

The original record of “Nature Boy” is from 1948, but the film features different covers by the character Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo), David Bowie, and a Massive Attack remix. The song both opens and closes the film. In the beginning, it introduces us to the protagonist, Christian, as well as the Parisian world that he lives in. This rendition of the song is quite mellow and melancholy, befitting the grey and bleak images of Paris and Christian’s grief, and sets an emotional tone for Christian’s 1900 retelling sequences. The song fades out with the lyrics: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return,” essentially an omen of what is to come, and we dive into the story of the year 1899. 

Toulouse-Lautrec opens the film by singing Nature Boy

Sparkling Diamonds

“Sparkling Diamonds,” performed by Nicole Kidman, is Satine’s very own introductory medley. It is a cover of the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” and Madonna’s “Material Girl.” We meet and get to know Satine and her place in the Moulin Rouge – her ordinary world. The music is fast, bubbly, and exciting, quite literally like the show she is putting on. It is a superficial but pretty performance which shows us that she knows the role she has to play and her place in the world. Just a few moments later, still during the same scene, the song starts again, but this time it is a more tragic and slower reprise that she cannot finish because she faints. This is a hint at her illness, which is also part of her ordinary world, one she cannot escape from. 

The song reappears much later toward the end of the film during “Hindi Sad Diamonds” as part of the premiere of the play. Here, she has just left Christian after learning that she is dying and that Christian will be killed if she does not end their relationship. The use of the song here symbolizes her return to her ordinary world. She has accepted that performing in the Moulin Rouge is all she will ever do, that it is her rightful place and that hoping for anything more than that has always been foolish. Reality has caught up with her and she cannot escape.

Satine’s first appearance in the film, singing Sparkling Diamonds

Your Song

One thing Christian does repeatedly throughout the film, including with this Elton John song, is to speak in song lyrics. Because of the inherent poetry of lyrics, this gives Christian’s speech a very romantic feel and ultimately serves to portray him as a talented writer. In this scene, Satine thinks that Christian is the duke she was told to seduce, while Christian just tries to convince her to get involved in his play. After a while of ridiculous seduction attempts on Satine’s part and stammering on Christian’s, he finally breaks out into the opening lyrics of “Your Song.” He recites them softly and truthfully, a perfect embodiment of Christian’s character. Then he becomes surer of himself, and the arrangement grows with piano, background vocals, and strings. The song transports them to a dream-like world, a fantasy which is then broken as the truth about Christian’s lack of a noble status comes out. However, this is the moment Christian first expresses his feelings and Satine first starts to fall for him. The words evidently resonate with Satine because she recites them to the real duke a few moments later.

Singing Your Song transports Christian and Satine away from the Moulin Rouge

The Pitch: Spectacular, Spectacular

“The Pitch: Spectacular Spectacular” establishes Christian as the writer and Satine as the main actress of the play that the duke invests in. After being caught by the duke with Christian in her room, Satine, Zidler and the theatre group around Toulouse-Lautrec launch into this improvised pitch for their new play. It is both a magnificent diversion and a serious pitch for the project, all wrapped up in Jacques Offenbach's "Can Can.” The lyrics, which are literally about the plot of the play, work both together with and against the music which originally does not leave a lot of room for lyrics, but they still make it work – just like the improvised pitch. The “Can Can” melody gives the whole piece a fast and distinctive rhythm that, together with their over-the-top dancing and demonstrations become almost overwhelming. They certainly manage to convince and entrance the duke. 

Christian, Satine and the theatre group successfully pitch their play

Elephant Love Medley

Another medley on the “Moulin Rouge!” soundtrack is the “Elephant Love Medley,” and it uses a whole assortment of songs in the following order: "Love Is Like Oxygen" by Sweet, "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" by The Four Aces, “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles, “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” by Kiss, “One More Night” by Phil Collins, “Pride (In The Name of Love)” by U2, “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, “Silly Love Songs” by Wings, “Up Where We Belong” by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, “Heroes” by David Bowie, “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton, and “Your Song.” The arrangement keeps the original melodies, so the songs are easily recognizable.

Christian and Satine take turns quoting lyrics from these songs to express their thoughts on love: Christian, forever the bohemian idealist tries to convince her to give their love a chance, while Satine is reluctant, saying she cannot afford love. In the end, during “I Will Always Love You” and of course “Your Song,” they finally find common ground: Satine gives in: “You’re gonna be bad for business, I can tell,” and they kiss.

Like A Virgin

One of the most hilarious songs on the soundtrack has to be the cover of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin.” After Satine cannot show up to dinner with the duke due to her illness, Zidler tries to convince the angry duke that Satine is confessing her sins to a priest, that the duke makes her feel “like a virgin.” Zidler starts off quoting the lyrics, before launching into the song. The arrangement differs from the original in that it is very heavy on the strings, has a faster tempo, and misses the staccato-like electronic beat (although the staccato comes back in this arrangement through the strings). Also, since he sings about Satine and not himself, the song is sung from the third-person point of view. Eventually, even the duke joins in, singing in that creepy way of his that underlines his personality perfectly. Zidler goes as far as wrapping a white tablecloth around himself to imitate the virgin look, but he manages to save the production and Satine by lying to the duke.

Zidler posing as the virgin for Like A Virgin

Come What May

“Come What May” was initially supposed to be on the soundtrack for Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” film but has found a home in “Moulin Rouge!” instead. This big, romantic ballad is the result of a deal Christian and Satine make: no matter what is pulling them apart, if one of them sings this song it means that they still love the other. Thus, this song has a few important comebacks, like during the “El Tango de Roxanne” performance or during the finale, when Christian is about to walk out on Satine forever. Here, Toulouse-Lautrec screams our favourite quote (yes, “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return,”) from behind the stage, prompting our protagonists to break out into “Come What May” and find their happy ending for a few precious minutes until Satine’s death.

El Tango de Roxanne

Take the song “Roxanne” by The Police, “Tanguera” by Mariano Mores, and some tango rhythms and instrumentation and you get “El Tango de Roxanne.” This song is loaded with meaning. It arrives just as Satine has to go seduce the duke to convince them to let the play keep its ending while Christian is struggling with his jealousy. The Unconscious Argentinian (Jacek Koman) starts this performance with a great monologue layered over some tango music about why you should not fall in love with a courtesan, then seamlessly transitions to “El Tango de Roxanne.” 

Soon, Christian starts singing to a melody that goes against the main melody – a nice musical counterpoint and symbol for Christian struggling with all these obstacles that he is up against. There are breaks in the song when we switch from the dancing scene to the scene between the Duke and Satine. These pauses in the music go to show how out of Christian’s hand the future of the play and Satine’s actions are, and all he can do is wait and see where this leads him. In one of those pauses, Satine sees the dejected Christian from a balcony and cannot help but sing a line from “Come What May.” She realizes that she cannot go through with her seduction. The duke notices, becomes furious, and attempts to rape her. There is also some modulation here – the same part of the song is repeated several times over different keys and with increasingly bigger arrangements after each pause to lead up to a musical climax during which Satine is saved. 

A little later in the film, there is a reprise of the melody from “El Tango de Roxanne:” It plays again when Christian goes to the Moulin Rouge in anger after Satine’s final rejection to pay her for her services. The reprise here reaffirms his insecurities about his relationship with Satine, as well as his jealousy and anger.

The Unconscious Argentinian dancing to El Tango de Roxanne

Satine’s death once again brings us back to “Nature Boy.” As we jump back to the year 1900 at the end of the film for the last time, this song picks up again, very softly, almost like an afterthought. Only now the image is not grey and bleak anymore – the sun is coming out and the sky is clearing up, and this juxtaposition between beautiful image and sad music, coupled with the just recent death of Satine, illuminates perfectly the process of grief and passing time and leaves us with a bittersweet feeling of melancholy and hope. The last line of the song is simultaneously the last line of the film, and if you do not know it by heart yet, here it is one last time: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

By Jenna Wiedorn