Come What May (2001 song)

"Come What May"
"Come What May"
Single by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor
from the album Moulin Rouge!
Released	24 September 2001
Recorded	March 2001
Genre	Pop, musical
Length	4:48
Label	Interscope
Songwriter(s)	David Baerwald, Kevin Gilbert
Producer(s)	BLAM, Marius de Vries, Josh G Abrahams
Nicole Kidman singles chronology
Music video
	"Come What May" on YouTube

"Come What May" is a song written by David Baerwald and Kevin Gilbert,^[1] originally intended for the film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.^[2] However, it was first heard publicly, and is best known as the romantic love theme from Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film Moulin Rouge!, where it is sung by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman in their respective roles as Christian and Satine.

The song takes its title from a phrase that originates from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1601) and later Macbeth (1606).^[3]

The song plays an important role in the film. When the forbidden strong and close romantic relationship between Christian and Satine has been discovered, Christian pens this romance song and includes it in the musical he is currently writing. Each time either of them sings this song, they can secretly declare their equally deep and true romantic love for each other.

The version of the song on the soundtrack album differs slightly from the version heard in the film. The lyrics "Every day I love you more and more" and "Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing / Telling me to give you everything" can be heard on the soundtrack version. In the movie, they are replaced by a musical interlude the first time, and, the second time, Satine sings instead of the latter part, "Come back to me and forgive everything." The single version can be found on the original soundtrack, while the original film version can be found on the follow-up soundtrack.

It was released as a single in Australia where it became the 8th highest-selling single by an Australian artist of 2001.^[4] It was also released in the UK, where it charted at #27,^[5] and in Germany.^[6]

Awards

"Come What May" was nominated for a 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song – Motion Picture, where it lost to Sting's "Until" from Kate & Leopold. However, it was ineligible for a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Song because it was originally written with another film in mind: Luhrmann's previous project, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.^[7] The song was ranked on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs at number 85.

Track listing

UK CD Single

"Come What May (Josh G. Abrahams Radio Remix)" – 4:01
"Come What May (David Foster Album Version)" – 4:48
"Come What May (Josh G. Abrahams Extended Mix)" – 4:41
"Come What May (Film Version)" – 4:38
"Elephant Love Medley (Karaoke Version)" – 4:13

Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA Charts)^[8]	10
Germany (Media Control Charts)^[9]	95
Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[10]	65
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)^[11]	97
UK (Official Charts Company)^[12]	27

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[13]	Gold	35,000^{^}
United Kingdom (BPI)^[14]	Silver	200,000^‡
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Other versions

Father–daughter duet Mat and Savanna Shaw released this song as a single in June 2020.
Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins and Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo recorded the song (also released as a single) for Jenkins' 2011 album This Is Christmas and Domingo's 2012 album Songs. They performed it together at the 2012 Royal Variety Performance and on the American television program, Dancing with the Stars, on 2 October of that year.
The song was recorded as a duet on Lesley Garrett's album When I Fall in Love, with Michael Ball.
Peter Jöback and Helen Sjöholm performed the song for the Swedish Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel at a celebratory concert the night before their 2010 wedding.
Il Divo recorded a Spanish version of the song titled "Come What May (Te Amaré)" in their 2011 album Wicked Game.^[15]
Mario Frangoulis included the song on his 2004 album Follow Your Heart.
Jackie Evancho included the song on her 2012 album Songs from the Silver Screen.
In 2013, the song was sung in the musical TV series Glee by Chris Colfer and Darren Criss (as their respective characters Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson), in the 15th episode of the 4th season, titled "Girls (and Boys) On Film".
Nick D'Virgilio, a friend and collaborator of co-writer Kevin Gilbert, recorded a version of the song on his 2001 album, Karma.
Collabro recorded a version for their 2014 debut album Stars.
Musical theatre performers Alfie Boe and Kerry Ellis duet on a version of this song on Boe's album Bring Him Home. Ellis also performed the song with John Barrowman and Jonathan Ansell on two occasions at BBC Radio 2's Friday Night Is Music Night.
Luke Evans featuring Charlotte Church released a version as a single on 14 October 2022, taken from Evans' second studio album, A Song for You.^[16]
The song is featured in the original recording of the 2018 jukebox musical Moulin Rouge!, performed by stage actors Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo, who played Christian and Satine, respectively, in the Broadway production.
The song is performed as a duet by Siôn Daniel Young and Fra Fee in Duck Soup Films' limited series Lost Boys and Fairies, episode 2, entitled "With or Without You."^[17]

References

^ "Intellectual Property practice Phillips, Erlewine, Given & Carlin LLP". Archived from the original on 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
^ Alex's Oscar Column #09 for the 74th Annual Academy Awards Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
^ "'Come What May', Meaning & Context". No Sweat Shakespeare. 16 January 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
^ ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top Australian Singles 2001
^ "everyHit.com UK Top 40 Hit Database". Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
^ Charts-Surfer
^ Alex's Oscar Column #09 for the 74th Annual Academy Awards Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Australia - "Come What May" with Ewan McGregor". ARIA Charts. ARIA. australian-charts.com. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
^ "Germany - "Come What May" with Ewan McGregor". Media Control Charts. Bundesverband Musikindustrie. officialcharts.de. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
^ "Netherlands – "Come What May" with Ewan McGregor". Single Top 100. MegaCharts. dutchcharts.nl. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
^ "Switzerland – "Come What May" with Ewan McGregor". Singles Top 75. Swiss Hitparade. hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
^ "UK – Nicole Kidman – Singles". UK Singles Chart. Official Charts Company. officialcharts.com. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 182.
^ "British single certifications – Nicole Kidman – Come What May". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
^ "Il Divo - Come What May (Live in London)(HD)". YouTube.
^ "Luke Evans Teams Up with Charlotte Church". Entertainment Focus. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
^ "Lost Boys and Fairies - The Playlist". BBC. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.

[1] "Intellectual Property practice Phillips, Erlewine, Given & Carlin LLP". Archived from the original on 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2016-08-27.

[2] Alex's Oscar Column #09 for the 74th Annual Academy Awards Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine

[3] "'Come What May', Meaning & Context". No Sweat Shakespeare. 16 January 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.

[4] ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top Australian Singles 2001

[5] "everyHit.com UK Top 40 Hit Database". Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2017-05-24.

[6] Charts-Surfer

[7] Alex's Oscar Column #09 for the 74th Annual Academy Awards Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine

[8] "Australia - "Come What May" with Ewan McGregor". ARIA Charts. ARIA. australian-charts.com. Retrieved June 30, 2014.

[9] "Germany - "Come What May" with Ewan McGregor". Media Control Charts. Bundesverband Musikindustrie. officialcharts.de. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.

[10] "Netherlands – "Come What May" with Ewan McGregor". Single Top 100. MegaCharts. dutchcharts.nl. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.

[11] "Switzerland – "Come What May" with Ewan McGregor". Singles Top 75. Swiss Hitparade. hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.

[12] "UK – Nicole Kidman – Singles". UK Singles Chart. Official Charts Company. officialcharts.com. Retrieved June 30, 2014.

[ARIA-13] Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 182.

[United_KingdomNicole_KidmanCome_What_MaysingleCertRef-14] "British single certifications – Nicole Kidman – Come What May". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 21 July 2023.

[15] "Il Divo - Come What May (Live in London)(HD)". YouTube.

[16] "Luke Evans Teams Up with Charlotte Church". Entertainment Focus. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.

[17] "Lost Boys and Fairies - The Playlist". BBC. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.

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v t e Nicole Kidman
Awards and nominations Filmography Discography
Singles	"Come What May" "Somethin' Stupid" "One Day I'll Fly Away"
Related articles	Blossom Films Chartreuse Dior dress of Nicole Kidman

v t e World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song
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2010s	"The Weary Kind" – Written by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (2010) "We Belong Together" – Written by Randy Newman (2011) "Lay Your Head Down" – Written by Brian Byrne and Glenn Close (2012) "Skyfall" – Written by Adele and Paul Epworth (2013) "Happy" – Written by Pharrell Williams (2014) "The Apology Song" – Written by Gustavo Santaolalla and Paul Williams (2015) "None of Them Are You" – Written by Carter Burwell and Charlie Kaufman (2016) "City of Stars" – Written by Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul (2017) "Black Panther" – Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Spears, Kevin Gomringer, Tim Gomringer, and Matt Schaeffer (2018) "Shallow" – Written by Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando, and Mark Ronson (2019)
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