Ordinary World (song)

1992 single by Duran Duran

"Ordinary World" is a song by English rock band Duran Duran, released in December 1992 by Parlophone, EMI and Capitol as the first single from their self titled album (1993), commonly known as the Wedding Album. The ballad, both written by the band and co produced with John Jones, reached No. (Number) 1 on the US Billboard Top 40/Mainstream chart, the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart, and the Italian Singles Chart. It also peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 2 in Iceland and Sweden, and No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart. The song's music video was directed by Nick Egan and filmed in California. The song was nominated for Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically in May 1994. Lead vocalist Simon Le Bon sang the song with Luciano Pavarotti at a benefit concert for War Child. "Ordinary World" remains one of Duran Duran's most popular songs and, in October 2021, was their second most streamed song in the UK.

The song was apparently leaked to a Florida radio station prior to its release. Their label had no choice but to move up the release date due to the positive reception it received. In the United Kingdom, the song was released on 18 January 1993. The keyboards in the song were arranged and performed by Nick Rhodes and John Jones. The drums were played by Steve Ferrone at Maison Rouge. The guitar solo that characterises this song was arranged and performed by Warren Cuccurullo, former player with Frank Zappa. His instrumental rock trio version became a staple of his solo shows and was included on one of his solo albums "Roadrage". Le Bon noted the song lyrics are about "trying to get over the death of a best friend. And putting it into words freed me, absolutely. It really worked for me emotionally and mentally. Everyone who heard it could apply it to something in their life, but for a different reason." Le Bon later performed the song with Luciano Pavarotti at a WarChild benefit. On stage, during the 2023 tour, Le Bon introduced the song stating enigmatically that it had 'saved the life of the band'.

In a retrospective review of "Ordinary World", AllMusic journalist Donald A. Guarisco praised the song for having what he described as "a warm ballad feel, matching elegant verses full of entrancing repeating note hooks with a rousing chorus built on soaring runs of ascending notes." Guarisco described Simon Le Bon's vocal as being "rich in emotion but tastefully restrained". Upon the release, J. D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun said the success of "Ordinary World" "is nothing short of miraculous — who'd have thought these pretty boys would still be producing memorable singles at this stage of the game?" The Independent praised it as "a classic of transcendent beauty". Cathi Unsworth from Melody Maker declared it as "as sober, melancholy and absurdly touching as you might expect". She added, "Duran Duran lurk in the shadow between the bright lights of now and then. Some of you might find the idea of the pampered, rich, porky Simon Le Bon detailing the world's injustices a mite unpalatable, but somehow the fat boy sounds neither pompous nor patronising, just down on his luck and depressed." Tony Fletcher for Newsday stated that the "excellently crafted" ballad shows the group "to be capable of delivering the goods. And as an added irony for a band that was introduced by MTV when radio wouldn't touch it, this particular song exploded across radio's many formats before a video was even made." Ann Powers from New York Times declared it as "a smooth yet pathos ridden ballad". Sam Wood from Philadelphia Inquirer called it a "sober ballad". Andrea Odintz from Rolling Stone felt the "dreamy" song "achieves the almost spiritual effects" of Duran Duran's 1982 hit "Save a Prayer". Peter Howell from Toronto Star remarked that the "ethereal" debut single "has all the earmarks of an unstoppable radio hit". Mark Jenkins from The Washington Post found that such ballads as "Ordinary World" "achieve melodic sufficiency".

The accompanying music video for "Ordinary World" was directed by British director Nick Egan at Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California, and the song later featured in the soundtrack to the film Layer Cake in 2004. The music video was nominated for MTV’s Best Cinematography in a Video in 1993. The music video for "Ordinary World" centers around a woman in a white dress; she's seen attending a photoshoot and exploring the surreal, dreamlike landscape of Huntington Gardens while switching to Simon Le Bon and the band's other members performing the song in a studio. Wedding photos of the members' parents, also featured on the album cover, are shown in the video.

"Ordinary World" is one of two Cuccurullo era songs ("Come Undone" being the other) during Duran Duran's reunion tour with Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor. Cuccurullo was brought in to teach Andy Taylor how to play it.

"My Antarctica", a song from the band's previous album Liberty, featured as the main B side of the "Ordinary World" single. Many other older singles were also used as B sides. To capitalise on the success of "Ordinary World" and the new Duran Duran fans it was finding, EMI used the single's release to lure these new fans to the band's back catalogue. This mini Decade was spread over the two CD singles released during the campaign.

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref. (Reference)United StatesDecember 1992CD, cassetteCapitolUnited Kingdom18 January 19937 inch vinyl, CD, cassetteParlophone, EMI Records, EMI

British electronic music group Aurora released a trance version of "Ordinary World" featuring Irish singer songwriter Naimee Coleman in 2000. This version, released on 11 September that year, charted at No. 5 in the United Kingdom, No. 6 in Ireland, and No. 47 in Germany. In the United States, it appeared on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, peaking at No. 37 in June 2001.