come what may

(ED: By special request. God, the things I will do for a woman. Another song review, by the way.)

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Come What May - Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman

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Never knew I could feel like this
Like I've never seen the sky before
Want to vanish inside your kiss
Every day I love you more and more
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings
Come back to me, and forgive everything
Seasons may change, winter to spring
But I love you until the end of time

Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until my dying day

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste
It all revolves around you
And there's no mountain too high
No river too wide
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side
Storm clouds may gather
And stars may collide
But I love you until the end of time

Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until my dying day

Oh, come what may, come what may
I will love you, I will love you
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until my dying day

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"Moulin Rouge" (the movie) was the brainchild of Austrailian auteur Baz Luhrmann. He envisioned a fairy-tale version of 1900 Paris, centering on the absinthe-fueled artistry of the infamous Moulin Rouge. Yes, the same night club and designated place of debauchery for Toulouse-Lautrec, among others.

But the nightclub itself takes a backseat to the exquisite craftsmanship of the songs and their singers. Ewan McGregor plays the destitute writer Christian, who finds himself in love with the radiant songbird Satine, played by Nicole Kidman. The film tells the story of their forbidden love and the destructive qulaity that artists bring to their own lives.

We're not here to discuss the entire movie, though. We're here to discuss the centerpiece of the film, David Baerwald's "Come What May".

David Baerwald was born in Oxford, Ohio in 1960, the son of a former espionage agent turned professor at UCLA. He broke into the music business in the band David and David, who had the hit song "Welcome to the Boomtown" in 1986. The band was never able to follow up this success, and they split soon after the end of the decade.

David was signed to a recording contract at A&M, where he put out two well-reviewed solo albums. Sadly, the reviews did not translate into sales, and he was soon without a record deal yet again.

It was after this series of isfortunes that he found his true calling. He began to jam with a group of musicians, producers, and songwriters evry Tuesday night in Los Angeles. One of these fellow writers, a former music teacher from Missouri, soon got her own record deal, where she released some of the material the group as a whole had worked on.

Some of the songs? "All I Wanna Do". "Strong Enough". "Leaving Las Vegas".

That's right, David Baerwald found a rebirth of sorts in Sheryl Crow's debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. THe album was sizable hit, and Baerwald soon found himself in demand as a writer.

He wrote a little love song for Baz Luhrmann's second "Red Curtain Trilogy" movie, Romeo+Juliet. This movie was, of course, a dramatic re-telling of Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers who embody romantic tragedy. The twist to this movie was it's use of the play's actual dialogue, but with updated scenery and backgrounds, firmly placing the movie in the present day.

Luhrmann was unable to use the song Baerwald had written, but Baz was still eager to use the song in some capacity in the future.

"Moulin Rouge", the third "Red Curtain" movie, was just that opportunity.

The song was "Come What May".

The delicately tuned opening strains define the rest of the song. The soaring chorus shows the desperation in the characters' voices. Not a note is wasted.

The libretto tells the story simply, yet beautifully. The song is a tale of pure love, unadulterated by the outside world's machinations. Stars may collide, seasons may change, but the love epitomized by this song is unwavering and eternal.

This song earned Baerwald a Golden Globe nomination. It also cemented his status as a jack-of-all-trades in the music business as well as film, as he has been a performer and more notably a composer.

Baerwald, Luhrmann, Kidman, and McGregor all combine to give a fantastic rendition of a lovely song, and that may be why it's the best song ever.