Christian has written it as a sign of their love. The first performance of it shows him start to sing it when she visits his apartment, the night after she collapses due to her tuberculosis. After he asks her where she was the previous night, she only tells him that she was sick, hiding what happened to her.
The song was released as a single remixed by Josh G. Abrahams. It peaked at #10 on the ARIA charts.
Rachel Stewart is a staff writer at 25YL. She has written fandom commentary and critique for sites like The Sartorial Geek, FangirlConfessions.com, Nerdy Minds Magazine , and ESO Network, among others. Her work has also appeared in print in the kOZMIC Press anthology “Children of Time: The Companions of Doctor Who" and the ATB Publishing anthology "OUTSIDE IN TRUSTS NO ONE."
Luhrmann films can feel a bit like emotional whiplash. While Moulin Rouge could be called an operatic tragedy, it’s full of mad humor and campiness. I think it’s those qualities that make it easy for viewers to connect to characters quickly—you sort of get a feel for what everyone’s about and will be over the course of the film. The campiness also balances out the impending darkness we’re spiraling towards. For example, the sequence where Zidler and the Duke sing “Like a Virgin” is earmarked between scenes where Zidler tells Satine to leave Christian (for the first of many times) and her diagnosis of consumption, which Zidler hides from her. Satine tries to do right by her family and tries to end things with Christian. Instead, he suggests he write a song to put in the show. It’ll be their song—so they know they love one another, no matter what.