Grant Willoughby

Professor Hellmers

English Comp.2

6 February 2020

Analyzing Two Music Videos Essay

"I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words

how wonderful life is while you're in the world." This quote shows how "Your Song,"

which was initially written by Elton John and was later on remixed by Ewan McGregor,
was a touching love song. Elton John was very good at finding the right words to

combine into a beautiful song, and Ewan McGregor's outstanding vocals really brought

the song to life. Elton John released the song in 1970, and McGregor didn't remix the

song until 2001 when the movie Moulin Rouge came out.

In John's music video, he is standing out in an open field with a treeline in the

back, and the video is in black and white. You can tell that the video is from the 1970s,

and people were focused more on the vocals and lyrics than the entertainment. In

McGregor's music video, which is a scene out of a movie, the setting is a lot more

vibrant. Mcgregor's video is a lot more entertaining than John's video because there is a

lot more happening in the setting, and they are dancing while John just stood there with

a microphone and sang. Also, in McGregor's version there are a lot more background

vocals which really make the song come to life. "Your Song," by Elton John was a lovely

romantic song that really came to life when Ewan McGregor remixed it for the movie

Moulin Rouge.

Elton John wrote "Your Song" at the breakfast table one day, and later that same

day, he went into his room and started playing the piano to figure out how he wanted the

song to go. About 30 years later the song got remixed by Ewan and was put in the

movie Moulin Rouge. This shows how talented John's ability to write songs was

because the song came back into mainstream almost 31 years later. Also, this shows
McGregor's ability to sing because he took an old song from the '70s and modernized it.

Elton John started by making a fantastic romantic song that became very

popular, but it would never have come back into the mainstream if it wasn't for Mcgregor

remixing the song in 2001. John's version of the song became very popular and peaked

at the number 8 most played song in the US at one point. After the peak the song slowly

declined as it became less and less popular. That was until the release of the movie

Moulin Rouge. The release of the film brought "Your Song" back, and it again became a

very popular song. The music video, which was the scene in the movie where they sang
"Your Song," has 4.2 million views, and that wasn't even released until 2014, which was

13 years after the remixed song came out.

The music video from McGregor really has more excitement, and you can tell

that it is a far more modern video. In Mcgregor's video, he is singing to a girl, and there

is a lot more color and lights in the background then John's old black and white video.

There are background vocals, and there is dancing, while John just stands there holding

a microphone. That makes McGregors music video more appealing to this generation,

and that is why it brought the song back to life.

Both of the songs use pathos to connect to the viewer. While both songs have the same

meaning, John's version really gets the audience to connect through his lyrics and

vocals, while McGregor's version is more entertaining and eye appealing. I believe that

John's version of the song is more appealing to older people because that is what they

grew up listening to, and McGregor's version is more appealing to younger kids

because it is modern and more entertaining.

Overall, Elton John made a very well written song that was brought back into

popularity by McGregor, who remixed it for a movie. Both versions ended up being top-

rated songs that had the same meaning, but different styles and audiences. They were

bound to be different styles because they were written so far apart, but they hold the

same romantic meaning that Elton John originally wrote about. I believe that John's
version of the song was overall more popular, but the song would never have gotten so

popular in the 2000s if it was for McGregor's remix.

Works Cited

John, Elton. “Your Song.” Elton John, Broadcast Music Inc, 2016,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrznwpD-2tk

McGregor, Ewan. “Your Song.” Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge, 2014,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkxj-FBEH1w