Wow! I can't believe it's been almost two months since my last post. Things have finally settled enough for me to have some time to write ... and of course now I can't think of a bloody thing to write about! So I think I'll just ramble a little and see what comes to mind ...
Actually, I saw a commercial earlier this morning on HIFI promoting their movies. The Godfather, Coming To America, The Thin Red Line, and one of my personal favorites, Moulin Rouge! One of my favorite songs from that film is the Elephant Love Medley. I used to sing it all the time -- well, who am I kidding? I still do! It's a collection of love songs that Christian and Satine sing to each other at a point in the film in which he's trying to convince her to follow her feelings and love him, which she doesn't want to do because she is a prostitute. I know lots of younger people who know Moulin Rouge! and the Elephant Love Medley, but some of them aren't even aware of the songs as a whole, as performed by the original artists. So I was thinking, now might be a bit of an opportunity for anyone under the age of, let's say ... 20? ... to discover the original versions of some of the songs they love. For the rest of us, it's just a chance to hear some of our favorite music from years gone by; a greatest hits love song playlist, if you will.
First up: The Beatles, "All You Need Is Love"
This is Christian's opening statement. It's all-encompassing. When he sings the chorus from this song, he is basically telling Satine that when she opens herself to love and its endless possibilities, the world will become wonderful and magical. It adopts the Beatles' original intention of World Love and transfers it to the romance -- in essence, condensing a message intended to unite all the souls of the world in peace and harmony into a simple, pointed mantra designed to bring love and light into a human's life. Which, if you think of it, is one and the same. John, Paul, George & Ringo wrote this song in 1967 -- smack dab in the middle of the Summer Of Love. And while their message to the world turned out to be a bit of a pipe dream, its meaning still echoes through the generations, giving hope to optimists, young people who haven't yet been crushed by life's realities, and the simply naive -- of which, I proudly call myself the first and last!
The second song is KISS' "I Was Made For Lovin' You"
Frankly, I'm not a huge fan of this song. Disco KISS has always rankled me a little bit, but thankfully in the Elephant Love Medley, it just kind of blends in with the rest of the songs. Christian tells Satine they were made for each other, to which she replies that a relationship is impossible unless he pays her -- that's all she knows. He's having a tough time breaking down her barriers. It plays off the duality of black and white that both their characters and, to a more subtle extent, KISS' makeup and wardrobe represent.
Next we have "One More Night" by Phil Collins.
Here Christian sings the title notes; however, instead of "one more night" he says "just one night" -- just give me one night with you and I will show you what true love really is. The man is completely besotted with her, but she is still hung up on the sexual aspect of it, as she replies "there's no way if you can't pay." It's a very 80s song, complete with saxophone solo and keyboards; you don't even have to download it off iTunes to listen to it; just visit any supermarket! This is swiftly followed by "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" by U2.
This is a very interesting choice for Christian to sing. The symbolism is incredibly significant here. U2 wrote the song about the Civil Rights movement in the United States, and more specifically, it details the shooting of Martin Luther King. Christian is basically setting himself up as a martyr here, as the late Reverend was (Dr. King was a Christian leader -- again with the heavy-handed allegory). And like Dr. King, whose efforts slowly began to change the hearts and souls of his antagonists who were set in their bigoted ways, Christian is slowly thawing Satine's resolve. Notice how when she responds to him this time she says "you crazy fool ... I won't give in to you" -- almost as if she's trying to convince herself to keep control of her emotions.
Next, Christian sings "Don't Leave Me This Way." This is one of a couple of songs on here that were hits by more than one artists. It was first performed in 1975 by Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes, which was swiftly covered by Thelma Houston the next year. Ten years after that, The Communards did a version. Theirs is the one I'm most familiar with, so that's the one I'm linking to. You can find them all on YouTube, though.
Continuing the martyr theme, Christian tells Satine he can't survive without her love. She replies not in the same tune, but with a completely different one, "Silly Love Songs" by Wings.
By now she's definitely weakening in her resolve. She tells him he's being silly, that love songs are love in general are silly. He replies that it's everywhere, and besides, what's so wrong with that? It's interesting how Baz Luhrmann and company turned one of the catchiest, upbeat pop songs of the 1970s into a minimalistic, slowed down dialogue that explores and actually give depth and heart to Paul McCartney's sometimes inane lyrics. By the end of this snippet, Christian realizes his persistence is starting to pay off, so he launches into another song:
Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes, "Up Where We Belong"
Christian is so taken by the fact that he's wearing Satine down that he jumps on top of the elephant's head in what for me is the most epic, magical moment of the song, as the music swells and the camera revolves around him in the most awesome way imaginable. He's in love, and dammit he feels like he's on top of the world where he belongs! Satine still has her hesitations, telling him he's acting like a fool, and she doesn't want to throw her life away for one perfect day.
David Bowie, "Heroes"
Christian replies that it's not about throwing your life away, it's about living in the moment. And what artist knows more about living in the moment than David Bowie, who's gone through how many looks now? Troubadour, Ziggy Stardust, crooner, Weimar, New Wave, steampunk ... the man constantly changes his look and sound. Christian is trying to convey the same message to Satine: it may not last, and while we may not be able to control our destiny, we have power over the here and now. We can be heroes just for one day. And taken one day at a time, we can be heroes forever and ever. By the end of this segment of the Love Medley, Satine has finally drank the Kool-Aid, and she's just as vociferous as Christian by the time it segues into:
Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You"
Yes, I know Dolly Parton originated the song in 1974, but Whitney's version is the one everybody knows, and is referenced in the film. This is a purely magical moment of Moulin Rouge!, with the camera swirling and the lights flashing all around. They have finally found true love together, and all we can do is just sit back and savor the moment as our two lovers unite in song. If you choose to look at it in a Freudian way, this can be considered the sexual climax of the song, as the camera, lighting, and actors (not to mention the music) all flow together in a giant orgasm of sensory experience. After this comes the post-coital bliss, as it were, with a reprise of:
Elton John, "Your Song"
Everything comes full circle, as Satine reprises "Your Song," which Christian sang to her when he first revealed his love with her. "How wonderful life is," she says ... as he joins her and they sing together "now you're in the world." Then it gets all crazy with the man in the moon doing a whole bunch of operatic shit from no song I've ever heard of, but you get the point. And that, my friends, is the story of the Elephant Love Medley as told through the music's original artists. Before I go, here is a little bonus video: "Love Is Like Oxygen" by Sweet, which Christian references (but doesn't sing) at the very beginning of the song.
