Ordinary World

This is the last song of a trilogy written about the death of Simon Le Bon's friend David Miles in 1986. The first was "Do You Believe In Shame," followed by "Out of My Mind" and "Ordinary World." They all deal with the grief and loss he experienced after the death of his friend. Le Bon had been evasive about the inspiration for the lyric, but revealed its true source as part of an interview included with their 2004 Live from London DVD.

When this song showed up, it was hard to believe it was Duran Duran. They were global superstars in the '80s with an impressive run of hits, mostly uptempo songs, but their 1990 album Liberty stiffed, and they didn't release any new music until the "Ordinary World" single late in 1992. It's far more doleful and introspective than their previous work, but radio stations jumped on it, eager for mature pop songs with no trace of hip-hop or grunge. It made the Top 10 in several territories and did especially well in America, where it went to #3.

Duran Duran's record company tested the waters by leaking "Ordinary World" to a few radio stations in Florida. It got a great response and quickly spread to other stations around the country, while also getting support from MTV and VH1. The next single, "Come Undone," was also a hit, and the self-titled album became their first Platinum-seller since Notorious in 1986. (Their first album was also self-titled; the 1993 album is known as "the wedding album" because the cover shows wedding photos of the band members' parents).