"Come What May" is a song composed by

David Baerwald David Francis Baerwald (born July 11, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and musician. Career Baerwald first came to prominence in 1986 as one half of the duo David & David, with David Ricketts. David and David's sole album, ' ...

and Kevin Gilbert, originally intended for the film ''

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

''. However, it was first heard publicly, and is best known as the

romantic love Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a Interpersonal attraction, strong attraction towards another person, and the Courtship, courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emot ...

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

from

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

's 2001 film ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...

'', where it is sung by

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...

and

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

in their respective roles as Christian and Satine. The song takes its title from a phrase that originates from Shakespeare's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

'' (1601) and later ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' (1606). 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 A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

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 Interlude may refer to: *a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production *''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production *a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...

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 A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of ...

, while the original film version can be found on the follow-up soundtrack. It was released as a single in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

where it became the 8th highest selling single by an Australian artist of 2001. It was also released in the UK, where it charted at #27, and in Germany.

Awards

"Come What May" was nominated for a 2002

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

– Motion Picture, where it lost to

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

's "Until" from ''

Kate & Leopold ''Kate & Leopold'' is a 2001 American romantic-comedy fantasy film that tells a story of a physicist by the name of Stuart (Liev Schreiber), who accidentally pulls his great‑great‑grandfather, Leopold (Hugh Jackman), through a time portal fro ...

''. However, it was ineligible for a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Song An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

because it was originally written with another film in mind: Luhrmann's previous project, ''

''. 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

Certifications

Other versions

* Father daughter duet

Mat and Savanna Shaw Mathew Shaw (born July 26, 1980) and his daughter Savanna Shaw (born August 4, 2004) are an American musical duo based in Utah. They started releasing music videos at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. ''The New York Times''s music crit ...

released this song as a single in June 2020. * Welsh soprano

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Maria Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

recorded the song (also released as a single) for Jenkins' 2011 album '' This is Christmas'' and Domingo's 2012 album ''

Songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

''. They performed it together at the 2012

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

and on the American television program, ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', on October 2 of that year. * The song was recorded as a duet on

Lesley Garrett Lesley Garrett, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 10 April 1955) is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality. She is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music". Early life Garrett was born in the ...

's album ''When I Fall in Love'', with

Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ...

. *

Peter Jöback Peter Arne Jöback (born 4 June 1971 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish singer, actor and musical artist. Biography Early life and education Peter Jöback was born on 4 June 1971 in Stockholm. He spent his childhood in Värmland and Östergö ...

and

Helen Sjöholm Marie Helen Sjöholm (; born 10 July 1970) is a Swedish singer, actress and musical theatre performer who lives in Gamla Enskede in Stockholm. She grew up in Sundsvall and started to sing in choirs at an early age, working, among others, with S ...

performed the song for the Swedish Crown Princess Victoria and her husband

Prince Daniel A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

at a celebratory concert the night before their 2010 wedding. *

Il Divo Il Divo (; ) are a multi-national classical crossover vocal group. The male quartet, which originated in the United Kingdom in December 2003, consists of tenors Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard. It also included baritone ...

recorded a Spanish version of the song titled "Come What May (Te Amaré)" in their 2011 album ''

Wicked Game "Wicked Game" is a song by American rock musician Chris Isaak, released from his third album, '' Heart Shaped World'' (1989). Despite being released as a single in July 1989, it did not become a hit until it was featured in the 1990 David Lynch ...

''. *

Mario Frangoulis Mario Frangoulis ( el, Μάριος Φραγκούλης, Mários Frankoúlis; born 18 December 1967) is a Greek vocalist and theatre actor, famous for his refined tenor vocals. Born in Rhodesia, Frangoulis after his three decade long career has ...

included the song on his 2004 album "Follow Your Heart". *

Jackie Evancho Jacqueline Marie Evancho ( ; born April 9, 2000) is an American crossover music#Classical crossover, classical crossover singer who gained wide recognition at an early age. Since 2009, she has issued a platinum-selling extended play, EP and nine ...

included the song on her 2012 album ''

Songs from the Silver Screen ''Songs from the Silver Screen'' is the fourth full-length album released by American singer Jackie Evancho. It was released on October 2, 2012; at the time of release, Evancho was 12 years old. The album is composed of 12 songs used in popular f ...

''. * In 2013, the song was sung in the musical TV series ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' by

Chris Colfer Christopher Paul Colfer (born May 27, 1990) is an American actor, singer, and author. He gained international recognition for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television musical ''Glee'' (2009–2015). Colfer's portrayal of Kurt received crit ...

and

Darren Criss Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame starring on the television series ''Glee'' (2010–2015) and received Emmy and Golden Globe acting awards for his leading role as spree ...

(as their respectively characters

Kurt Hummel Kurt Elizabeth Hummel is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee''. Series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan initially conceived of him as a fashionable gay countertenor who is routinely bullied a ...

and

Blaine Anderson Blaine Devon Anderson is a fictional character from the American musical comedy-drama television series ''Glee''. Played by Darren Criss, Blaine was introduced in the sixth episode of the second season as the openly gay lead singer of the Dalt ...

), in the 15th episode of the 4th season, titled "

Girls (and Boys) On Film "Girls (and Boys) On Film" is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series ''Glee'', and the eighty-first episode overall. Written by Michael Hitchcock and directed by co-creator Ian Brennan, it aired on F ...

". *

Nick D'Virgilio Nicholas D'Virgilio (born November 12, 1968), often referred to as NDV, is an American drummer, singer and guitarist, best known as a member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He was also one of two drummers chosen to replace Phil Coll ...

, a friend and collaborator of co-writer Kevin Gilbert, recorded a version of the song on his 2001 album, ''Karma''. *

Collabro Collabro were a UK-based musical theatre group and winners of the eighth series of ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2014. The group consisted of Michael Auger, Jamie Lambert, Matthew Pagan and Thomas J. Redgrave. Richard Hadfield left the band in J ...

recorded a version for their debut album ''

Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

''. * Musical theatre performers

Alfie Boe Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe (born 29 September 1973) is an English tenor and actor, notably performing in musical theatre. He is best known for his performances as Jean Valjean in the musical ''Les Misérables'' at the Queen's Theatre in Lo ...

and

Kerry Ellis Kerry Jane Ellis (born 6 May 1979) is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at L ...

duet on a version of this song on Boe's album '' Bring Him Home''. Ellis also performed the song with

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in '' Doctor Who'' and ''Torchwood'', and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrow ...

and

Jonathan Ansell Jonathan Mark Ansell (born 10 March 1982) is an English singer, best known as the high tenor of the vocal group G4 (band), G4. Early life Influenced by his mother's tapes of Pavarotti and the Three Tenors, Ansell joined the West Sussex Boys' Cho ...

on two occasions at BBC Radio 2's '' Friday Night Is Music Night''. *

Luke Evans Luke George Evans (born 15 April 1979) is a Welsh actor and singer. He began his career on the stage, performing in many of London's West End productions such as ''Rent'', ''Miss Saigon'', and '' Piaf'' before making his film breakthrough in ...

featuring

Charlotte Church Charlotte Maria Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed, 21 February 1986) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter and political activist from Cardiff. Church rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching i ...

released a version as a single on 14 October 2022, taken from Evans' second studio album, ''A Song for You''. *The song is featured in the original recording of ''

'' where it is performed by stage actors

Aaron Tveit Aaron Kyle Tveit (; born October 21, 1983) is an American actor. Tveit originated the lead role of Christian the composer in the stage adaptation of ''Moulin Rouge!'' on Broadway, a performance for which he won the 2020 Tony Award for Best Acto ...

and

Karen Olivo Karen Olivo (born August 7, 1976) is an American stage and television actor, theater educator, and singer. In 2008, Olivo originated the role of Vanessa in ''In the Heights'' on Broadway. The following year, they won the 2009 Tony Award for Best ...

, who respectively play the roles as Christian and Satine in the Broadway production.

References

{{authority control 2001 singles Nicole Kidman songs Love themes Songs written for films Songs written by David Baerwald 2001 songs Interscope Records singles Male–female vocal duets Moulin Rouge!