Theatre
By Numbers
Moulin Rouge! By Numbers: Every song in the stage musical
Here’s your breakdown of every song on the Moulin Rouge! The Musical soundtrack
If you like your West End theatre as glitzy as it comes, Moulin Rouge! The Musical won’t disappoint. The adaptation of the 2001 film is a jukebox musical with a difference, packed full of hits from the last several decades, all given a Parisian burlesque spin. Following all the different songs that the show manages to sneak into its soundtrack is far from easy, so if you’re looking for a breakdown, look no further. Here’s your guide to every song on the Moulin Rouge! West End soundtrack.
‘Welcome To The Moulin Rouge!’
We’re first introduced to the glittering world of the Moulin Rouge via Labelle’s ‘Lady Marmalade’, sung by the performers at the Parisian cabaret club before director Harold Zidler introduces himself. The dizzying mega-mashup that follows stitches together pieces of ‘Because We Can’, ‘Minnie the Moocher’, ‘Galop Infernal’, ‘Amores Como El Nuestro’, ‘Mr. Big Stuff’, ‘So Fresh, So Clean’, ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’, ‘Ride wit Me’, ‘Burning Down the House’, ‘Walk This Way’, ‘Where It’s At’, ‘Let’s Dance’ and ‘You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)’. In the middle of all this, we meet the greedy Duke of Monroth, watching the show with the aristocracy, far removed from the peanut gallery. Zidler is more fond of the bohemian section of his audience, the starving artists and musicians who are the real heart of Paris.
Key lyric: “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?”
‘Truth Beauty Freedom Love’
Christian arrives in Paris and meets fellow bohemians Henri and Santiago. The three sing about the ideals that they hold dear. Pieces of ‘Royals’, ‘Children Of The Revolution’ and ‘We Are Young’ are used to express the trio’s lack of interest in material things and their wish to see a different world.
Key lyric: “You won’t fool the children of the revolution”
‘The Sparkling Diamond’
Zidler introduces the Moulin Rouge’s star, Satine, who sings a glamorous medley of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’, ‘Material Girl’, ‘Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’, ‘Brick House’, ‘My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)’, ‘Jungle Boogie’ and ‘Diamonds’. Satine is also a courtesan who is supposed to meet the Duke of Monroth that night and convince him to invest in the club – however, when she mistakes Christian for the Duke, Zidler’s plan goes awry.
Key lyric: “Diamonds are forever/They are all I need to please me”
‘Shut Up And Raise Your Glass’
Satine invites Christian back to her dressing room inside the Elephant with the intention to seduce him, still under the impression that Christian is the Duke. Christian, meanwhile, has already fallen in love with her. The duo sing about the electricity of first meeting and celebrate their youth with a medley of ‘Shut Up and Dance’, ‘Raise Your Glass’ and ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)’.
Key lyric: “This woman is my destiny/She said, “Ooh, ooh/Shut up and dance with me””
‘Firework’
Satine is worried about the financial situation of the Moulin Rouge, but that isn’t the only thing on her mind. She’s hiding a worsening case of consumption from her fellow dancers. Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ is used as Satine’s solo, as the Moulin Rouge’s leading lady resolves to stay strong for her loved ones and do all she can to keep the club from closing.
Key lyric: “Baby you’re a firework/Come on and show ‘em what you’re worth”
‘Your Song’
Christian comes to visit Satine in the Elephant, hoping to impress her by playing her a love song. The song he plays is, of course, really written by Elton John. Satine prepares to seduce him, believing he is the Duke – until Christian’s true identity as a poor writer is revealed.
Key lyric: “My gift is my song and this one’s for you”
‘So Exciting! (The Pitch Song)’
When the Duke interrupts Satine and Christian’s meeting, the two claim they were practicing lines for a new show, which forces them and the bohemians to improvise. They pitch the Duke a play about a gangster attempting to seduce a girl away from her sailor lover, and manage to convince the Duke to invest. ‘Complainte de la Butte’, ‘Milord’, ‘La Vie en rose’, ‘Habanera (L’amour est un oiseau rebelle)’ and ‘Galop Infernal’ are all used to create this frantic mash-up.
Key lyric: “So exciting/The audience will stomp and cheer/So delighting/It will run for fifty years”
‘Sympathy For The Duke’
After Zidler reminds Satine that it’s her job to keep the Duke happy, she rejects Christian and spends the evening with the Duke instead. The two sing a medley of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ and ‘Gimme Shelter’, both talking around what they hope to get out of their connection.
Key lyric: “You can’t always get what you want/But if you try sometimes/You just might find you get what you need”
‘Nature Boy’
Henri reveals to Christian that he fell in love with Satine many years ago, when she was living on the streets, and urges him not to let her go without a fight. He sings Nat King Cole’s ‘Nature Boy’, a song about how love is the greatest force on earth.
Key lyric: “The greatest thing/You’ll ever learn/Is just to love/And be loved in return”
‘Elephant Love Medley’
Inspired by Henri, Christian returns to Satine to convince her that they should be together. She resists, wanting to do right by the Moulin Rouge and fearing what letting herself fall in love with him might mean, but eventually she can’t help but admit her true feelings. The two cycle quickly through a huge number of songs about the joys and trials of love, ‘One More Night’, ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’, ‘Play the Game’, ‘Love Hurts’, ‘Take On Me’, ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’, ‘I Love You Always Forever’, ‘Love is a Battlefield’, ‘Don’t Speak’, ‘Everlasting Love’, ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’, ‘Fidelity’, ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, ‘Torn’, ‘Such Great Heights’, ‘Up Where We Belong’, ‘Heroes’, and ‘Your Song’, before closing the first act with ‘I Will Always Love You’.
Key lyric: “We can be heroes forever and ever/We can be lovers just for one day”
‘Backstage Romance’
With rehearsals for the play underway, Christian and Satine are seeing each other secretly, as are Santiago and dancer Nini. The excitement of these hidden relationships is captured in a tango-tinged medley featuring ‘Bad Romance’, ‘Tainted Love’, ‘Seven Nation Army’, ‘Toxic’ and ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’.
Key lyric: “I want your love and all your lovers’ revenge/You and me could write a bad romance”
‘Come What May’
Afraid of what the Duke might do to her and to the Moulin Rouge if they are discovered, Satine tells Christian that it’s too dangerous for them to be together. Christian responds by slipping this secret ode to his relationship with Satine into the play. ‘Come What May’ was the only original song included in the 2001 film, and was initially intended to be in a different film altogether – the song was written originally for Baz Lurhman’s Romeo + Juliet.
Key lyric: “Come what may/I will love you until my dying day”
‘Only Girl In A Material World’
The Duke suspects that Satine’s heart does not belong to him, and he tells her that it’s not enough for him just to be with her. He wants every part of her. When she counters that she doesn’t fit into his aristocratic world, she becomes the recipient of an unasked-for makeover. The Duke leads a mashup of ‘Only Girl (In the World)’, ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ and ‘Material Girl’ as Satine’s image is overhauled.
Key lyric: “I want to make you feel/Like you’re the only girl in the world/Like I’m the only that you’ll ever love”
‘Chandelier’
When the Duke realises that Satine has lost her heart to Christian, he threatens to pull his funding for the play. Satine rushes to appease him, and Christian’s friends urge him to forget her. Christian responds by getting absinthe, picturing Satine as the green fairy. An altered version of Sia’s ‘Chandelier’ soundtracks the moment.
Key lyric: “Party girls, they don’t get hurt/Can’t feel anything, when will you learn?/You must push it down, you must push it down”
‘El Tango De Roxanne’
As Christian struggles to come to terms with the fact that Satine is with the Duke, Zidler warns him that loving a girl in Satine’s line of work always ends badly. Christian sings ‘Roxanne’ by the Police to explain how difficult it is to stop picturing Satine with the duke, whilst pieces of ‘Tanguera’ and ‘Chandelier’ complete the mashup.
Key lyric: “Roxanne/You don’t have to wear that dress tonight”
‘Crazy Rolling’
As Satine chooses the Duke to save Christian’s life and everything comes to a head, Christian loads a prop gun with real bullets, planning to kill himself on stage during the show. Unbeknownst to anyone else, it’s Satine’s life that is in immediate danger, as her illness dramatically worsens. A mashup of ‘Crazy’ by Gnarls Barkley and ‘Rolling In The Deep’ by Adele raises the tension.
Key lyric: “The scars of your love remind me of us/They keep me thinking that we almost had it all”
‘Your Song (reprise)’
Just in time, Satine sings a little of their secret love song to Christian, convincing him that she has loved him the entire time and preventing him from firing the gun. With her last strength, Satine affirms her love for Christian and tells him to tell their story, before she dies in his arms.
Key lyric: “And you can tell everybody/This is your song”
‘Finale (Come What May)’
With a reprise of ‘Come What May’, Christian tells the audience that he and Satine’s story will be forever told. A snippet of ‘Lady Marmalade’ at the end suggests that life at the Moulin Rouge continues – after all, the show must go on.
Key lyric: “I will love you until my dying day”
‘More More More! (Encore)’
This final mashup sees the performers take to the stage one last time to sing through some of the show’s highlights and send the audience home on a high.
Key lyric: “Everybody can-can!”
Moulin Rouge! The Musical is currently playing at the Piccadilly Theatre – find tickets here
