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Linus Kennedy

English 1102

Professor Echols

10/03/2021

Rhetorical Analysis

When analyzing the same song performed by two different artists, there are always

differences in the way they perform, the message they are sending, and the audience they are

sending it to. Even though they might have the same lyrics, artists use settings, props, rhetoric,

and appeals to make different claims in their songs. “Your Song” by Ewan Mcgregor is a more

passionate version than the original version by Elton John. Ewan uses the original lyrics and

sings them in a way that takes the audience to a more romantic place, while Elton’s version is

much more simplistic, however still very touching.

Elton John’s version of “Your Song” has a more simplistic feel to it. The way he sings

makes it feel this way because his voice has a softer tone. Additionally, it was filmed in 1971, so

the quality of the video reflects that, which makes the tone and video itself more simple. The

lyrics tell the story of the singer who is in love with a girl. He doesn’t have much money but still

wants to give her the world, but the only thing he has to give is this song. In the video, it is just

Elton sitting at a piano singing the song. As a result, no one knows who the song is directed

towards which makes it less intimate but still touching nonetheless.

Elton’s version of the song uses pathos to captivate the audience and inspire romance.

There is really not an appeal to logic or credibility in the video because it is really more about

emotion. His use of pathos stems from the lyrics “And you can tell everybody. This is your song.

It may be quite simple, but now that it's done. I hope you don't mind. I hope you don't mind. That
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I put down in the words. How wonderful life is while you're in the world” (Elton John 1971).

The audience that Elton is appealing to is anyone who has someone they love. There is not a

specific age, race, gender, culture, or religion that this song is directed towards, because

everyone is capable of love. Therefore the claim that he is making is when you have someone

you love, it makes life a lot more wonderful.

The version of “Your Song” by Ewan Mcgregor is more passionate and intimate than the

original version. The video of Ewan singing “Your Song” is part of the musical film Moulin

Rouge, which is a romance movie. So the song is already set in a very romantic

environment. The story being told is that Ewan’s character is gifting a song to the woman he is in

love with. She appears to be taken aback when he starts singing, but halfway through the song,

they start dancing, and at the end of the song they kiss.

Ewan’s version uses a much more romantic emotion to captivate the audience. This is

owing to the fact that the audience the song is appealing to is people who enjoy romantic

musicals. The video uses a more romantic version of pathos than Elton’s because it includes a

character that Ewan is singing the song to. This makes the video seem more like a romantic love

song compared to the way Elton originally sang it. Hence the claim for this video is that life is

much more fulfilling when you’re in love.

These videos have both similarities and differences. They both have very similar claims

about how love makes life more enjoyable. They also use similar appeals with both videos using

pathos (emotion) to connect with their audience. Neither of the videos use ethos or logos though,

which makes sense because in a love song there is more emotion than logic or credibility.

Despite having similar uses of appeals, the audiences for both videos are different. On the one

hand, the version sung by Elton John is appealing to everyone, especially in the specific time of
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1971. On the other hand, Ewan Mcgregor's version only appeals to people who watch romantic

musicals.

The relationship between the two versions is that one is a touching love song and the

other takes that love song and makes it much more romantic. It does this by including the

character that Ewan is singing to, more props, dancing, and more passionate singing. Also, the

scenery in the movie makes it more romantic, with the couple dancing in the bedroom and then

magically on the clouds in the night’s sky. However, the original version has a very genuine

aspect to it. It does a better job at inspiring love because Elton makes the audience reflect on

what their loved ones mean to them with how he sings. In the end, “Your Song” by Ewan

Mcgregor is a more romantic version than the original version by Elton John. Ewan uses the

original lyrics and sings them in a more romantic setting and in a more passionate way, while

Elton’s version is much more simplistic but at the same time still touching.
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Work Cited:

Luhrmann, Baz. “Your Song - Moulin Rouge [hd1080i & Subtitles].” YouTube,

YouTube, 17 Sept. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9soYPNDlq4. Accessed

September 28, 2021.

John, Elton. “Elton John - Your Song (Top of the Pops 1971).” YouTube, YouTube, 11

Nov. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlPlfCy1urI. Accessed September 28, 2021.