I always felt I could relate to so many aspects of this song – Ordinary World – both its lyrics and its sound seem to echo something familiar. The song captures the experience of loss – not just losing someone, but the kind of loss that leaves your world so changed, so fractured, that trying to piece it back together becomes a new kind of journey. It’s about navigating the aftermath, finding your footing in a version of life you never planned for, but finding semblance to the Ordinary World which perhaps you had taken for granted.
Two phrases come to mind whenever I hear this song: “The little things… there’s nothing bigger, is there?” and the reminder that “Every Passing Minute is Another Chance to Turn it all Around.” These lines (both from the movie Vanilla Sky) speak to the quiet, often overlooked moments that carry the most weight – and to the hope that change (because we are blessed with amazing grace) is still possible, even after everything’s come undone. Ordinary World simply carries a quiet wisdom: that “less is more”. It feels like a pause, a breath.
Ordinary World was released by the English pop rock band Duran Duran. It is from their second self titled album (image inset), known in fan circles as the Wedding Album. The single reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 in the UK. According to the Duranie web site below: it’s part of a trilogy of “ghost songs” about Simon Le Bon’s friend David Miles who died of a drug overdose in 1986. (The trilogy includes “Do You Believe in Shame?” (1988) and “Out of My Mind” (1997).
Ordinary World came just in the nick of time because by the early 1990s, Duran Duran’s career was in decline following the underwhelming reception of their 1990 album Liberty. Also their drummer departed and bassist John Taylor and keyboardist Nick Rhodes faced personal difficulties, and singer Simon Le Bon considered stepping away from music. Amid these struggles, guitarist Warren Cuccurullo took the lead in revitalising the band, converting his Battersea home into a makeshift studio to provide creative control without the high costs of a traditional studio they used to record all of their albums.
The development of Ordinary World became a turning point, restoring confidence in their musical direction following the uprising of other genres like grunge. It was one of the first ideas they worked on in the studio.
Simon recalls the chorus basically writing itself, and the rest of the song followed in record time.
Once the core of the track was nailed down, the band dove headfirst into the recording process. Under the watchful ear of producer-engineer John Jones, the band was able to push the boundaries, layering sounds, tweaking arrangements, and revisiting ideas until the track crossed the rooftops and run away to become a hit. – DuranDuranies.com
Ordinary World remains one of Duran Duran’s most popular songs and, in October 2021, was their second-most streamed song in the UK.
[Verse 1]
Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly
I turned on the lights, the TV and the radio
Still, I can’t escape the ghost of you
[Pre-Chorus]
What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some’d say
Where is the life that I recognize?
(Gone away)
[Chorus]
But I won’t cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
[Verse 2]
Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say
“Pride will tear us both apart”
Well now, pride’s gone out the window, ‘cross the rooftops, run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart
[Pre-Chorus]
What is happening to me?
Crazy, some’d say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
(Gone away)
[Chorus]
But I won’t cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
[Guitar Solo]
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, Ah-uh-huh
[Verse 3]
Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and greed
Fear today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here beside the news of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk (Just blown away)
[Chorus]
And I don’t cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
[Outro]
Every world is my world (I will learn to survive)
Any world is my world (I will learn to survive)
Any world is my world
Every world is my world
References:
1. Ordinary World (song) – Wikipedia
2. Ordinary World by Duran Duran: The Story Behind the Hit Song – DuranDuranies
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
While I’ve never paid very close attention to Duran Duran, they definitely had some great songs, and “Ordinary World” undoubtedly is one of them. Essentially, I only know Duran Duran from listening to the radio back in Germany. Two other Duran Duran songs I’ve always liked are “New Moon on Monday” and “A View to a Kill.” The fact the latter was a theme songs of one of the 007 movies, which I was crazy about at the time, added to its attractiveness.
I too hardly paid attention to them until, like you, I heard ‘View to a Kill’ in the Bond movie. I don’t know when or how I first heard ‘Ordinary World’, but I was an adolescent and it swept me away – especially the atmospheric chorus.
It’s a great-sounding song. Another one I recall hearing frequently on the radio back in Germany is “The Reflex.” They had catchy songs!