By the early 1990s, Duran Duran's popularity had faded. Their album Liberty had proved a commercial failure, its two singles failing to make a significant showing on the British or American charts. It was not until Capitol leaked "Ordinary World" to a radio station in Jacksonville, Florida during the second half of 1992 that it seemed like Duran Duran would find a resurgence in popularity. To their surprise, the single proved so popular that Capitol had to push the US release date up, ultimately releasing it in December. 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". The music video was filmed by director Nick Egan at Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California and the song later featured in the soundtrack to the film Layer Cake in 2005. Simon LeBon later performed the song with Luciano Pavarotti at a WarChild benefit. The performance featured new lyrics in Italian, written especially for the show by producer Michele Centonze, most of which were a very free adaption of LeBon's original lyrics; the title "Ordinary World" was rendered as "mondo umile", i.e. humble world. The duet, along with the whole show, was released on home video as Pavarotti & Friends: Together for the Children of Bosnia. Later on, in an interview featured on the DVD release of the show, LeBon stated that he loved singing in Italian because of the very open vowel sounds in the language. The lyric to "Ordinary World" were written by Simon Le Bon as the second of a trilogy of songs for his late friend David Miles; the others being "Do You Believe in Shame?" and "Out of My Mind".
Critical reception
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 LeBon's vocal as being "rich in emotion but tastefully restrained".
Live versions
"Ordinary World" is one of two Cuccurullo-era songs which were played when Duran Duran did their reunion tour, both Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor insisting on playing it. Cuccurullo was brought in to teach Andy Taylor how to play it. It has remained in the set listever since.
"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- was spread over the two CD singles released during the campaign.
Other mixes
There were several other versions of "Ordinary World" released:
The "Single Version" or "Single Mix" was a differently mixed and edited version, sent to radio stations, used for the promotional video, and available on the CD single release in certain countries outside the US.
The "Acoustic Version" was more correctly the "Acoustic Mix" and was created using the studio guitar & vocal tracks and adding specially arranged string orchestration. An alternative live acoustic performance was recorded at the 15 May "No Ordinary Tour" live performance at Tower Records in Hollywood, which was simulcast to Hard Rock Cafés around the world. This live version was found on a number of "Ordinary World" releases outside the UK, most notably the Canadian and American cassette single and featured additional musicians, Gerry L and AD'A. It would eventually be released in the UK on the first CD single for "Come Undone".
The "AC Edit" was featured on a US promo CD that came packaged with the album.
A live version recorded on Simon Mayo's Radio 1 show featured as a B-side to the band's later 1995 single "White Lines".
An extended version recorded at Sony Studios in New York City for Hard Rock Live was included on a promotional 2-track CD in June 2000 by the band's new label Hollywood Records, running at 6:08.
Live version released on From Mediterranea with Love, a promotional EP digital release in December 2010
Formats and track listing
7": Parlophone / DD 16 United Kingdom
"Ordinary World" – 4:41
"My Antarctica" – 5:06
CD: Parlophone / CD DDS 16 United Kingdom
"Ordinary World" – 5:49
"Save a Prayer" – 5:25
"Skin Trade" – 4:25
"My Antarctica" – 5:00
This CD comes in a 2-CD case that also houses CD DDP 16.
Apart from the single, "Ordinary World" has also appeared on: Albums:
Duran Duran
Greatest
Singles Box Set 1986-1995
Layer Cake OST
Singles:
"Come Undone"
"White Lines"
EPs:
From Mediterranea with Love
In Italy, the song is used as background music during the opening and closing credits of Rai 1's documentary magazine LineaBlu, which focuses on seafaring and underwater diving.
