Zach Baird

Professor Reynolds

ENG 1201 - 515

11 February 2022

“Your Song” Comparison

“Your Song” by Elton John and “Your Song” in Moulin Rouge sung by Ewan McGregor

are very similar but different in their magical ways. Although "Your Song" by Elton John and

"Your song" in Moulin Rouge share the same theme of finding happiness in life, they differ and

appeal to different audiences. "Your Song" by Elton John was written at the beginning of his

career, showing him singing it now is like him reminiscing on life, while in Moulin Rouge it's

showing them Just starting life and being happy to find love.

In the first “Your Song” by Elton John before his show on his million-dollar piano, he talks

about the process and what he and his producers do to come up with songs, back when he was

just starting his career. He explained the setting of the humble start, at his parent's apartment,

trying to get you to feel for him and how this song was the light that guided him to places he

could only dream about and it allowed him to live the life he wanted. But throughout the years

that song started to attract a different audience than was anticipated. At first, it was meant for all

his rock-loving fans but as it grew it attracted many other fans making it a very substantial hit for

his career. This song also withstood the test of time, it was composed and released back in 1970

and still has fans who adore this song and adore him. This song talks about how he wants to live

this life but in a broader sense-making, it seems very easy to relate to. The video helps the song

give this feeling by explaining how he came up with this song and he gives all his credit to the

life he has been given to live, all to this song. In the video it shows Elton John in a way of him
remembering back to how life was back then, they do this effectively by showing Elton John,

then the hands that made the song and that are also playing the song. This version of the video is

heavily using pathos to get the viewer to feel for the singer and all that he has accomplished in

his life as an artist. These two songs both give off the happiness in the miracles in life and help

build both songs full of emotion making them both great listeners.

To continue, in the second “Your Song” in Moulin Rouge sung by Ewan Mcgregor. It tries

to bring a brighter and more pure feeling to the table. It starts with Ewan McGregor’s character

and a woman dancing together trying to depict that this song is a love letter to the girl. They

show this to get the viewer feeling all happy for these two characters because they have found

the one thing that everyone wants and needs in their life, and that’s a loving partner who makes

you crazy for one another. The video proves this by signifying their love in crazy acts like

example dancing around the Eiffel tower showing he is so excited to be with her or being on the

cloud together showing he doesn’t want anyone else in the world just her because they are the

only two together at that moment. This Video also uses a lot of pathos to get the viewer feeling

for the two lovers but I also think that this video helps give credibility to the growth of these

characters and to give credit to Elton John’s song for being so excellently written. They ended up

keeping half of the original song in this version and just adding a few parts to it. Now I will say

the audience is the biggest change from Elton John's version to this version, the Moulin Rouge

version is much more geared towards people who like theater productions while Elton John’s

version is much more geared towards live show performances. Making the audience differ quite

a bit from one another.

To conclude, ``Your Song” by Elton John and “Your Song” by Ewan McGregor are very

similar in the ways they are trying to get you to feel but in their ways, whether that be in their
audiences or their messages. They both do a very effective job at getting the audience to feel a

certain and or specific way about what is going on at that moment. This song is very good at

bringing out what makes an emotional moment so special in someone’s life making it a very

good and compelling song to listen to.

 Work Cited

EltonJohnVideos, director. YouTube, YouTube, 21 July 2014,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Igc1gRU64. Accessed 11 Feb. 2022.

movie clips. “Moulin Rouge! (2/5) Movie Clip - Your Song (2001) HD.” YouTube,

YouTube, 4 Aug. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgRkMyW_J5U.