Ordinary World (song)

"Ordinary World" is the first single from Duran Duran's self-titled 1993 album, commonly known as "The Wedding Album". The single reached number one on the US "Billboard" Mainstream Top 40, the Canadian "RPM" Top Singles chart and the Italian Singles Chart. It also peaked at number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100, number two in Iceland and Sweden and number six on the UK Singles Chart.
The song won an Ivor Novello Award in May 1994. Lead vocalist Simon Le Bon sang the song with Luciano Pavarotti at a benefit concert for War Child.
Background.
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". Simon 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." 
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 (rather than a translation) 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?" (1988) and "Out of My Mind" (1997).
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 ("Come Undone" being the other) 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 list ever since.
B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes.
"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: 
Formats and track listings.
7-inch: Parlophone / DD 16 United Kingdom
CD: Parlophone / CD DDS 16 United Kingdom
CD: Parlophone / CD DDP 16 United Kingdom
MC: Parlophone / TCDD 16 United Kingdom
CD: Capitol Records / C2 0777-7-15894-23 United States
CD: Capitol Records / DPRO-79607 (Promo) United States
MC: Capitol / 4KM 0777-7-44908-49
12-inch: Parlophone / 8-80457-6 Italy
CD: part of "Singles Box Set 1986–1995" box set
Other appearances.
Apart from the single, "Ordinary World" has also appeared on:
Albums:
Singles:
EPs:
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.
Aurora version.
In 2000, British electronic group Aurora released a cover version featuring Irish singer-songwriter Naimee Coleman. This version, released on 11 September 2000, 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.
Track listing.
German maxi-CD