The goal of music has always been to connect with an audience viscerally. Even though most people only listen to catchy tunes, the right song can bring back a lot of memories in the right setting, such as growing up or meeting your first love in the few notes between them. Although Dave Grohl had always had a wide variety of musical tastes, Duran Duran was one of his heroes when it came to opening up to them.
Granted, nobody ever thought of Duran Duran as one of the worst bands ever, or anything. If anything, many of their best moments from the 1980s have endured as timeless pop songs, despite the occasional occasional hint of antiquated production.
When Grohl had his heart broken for the first time, that was not his intention. By then, Duran Duran had become a thing of the past. However, their comeback with the album “Wedding” gave them a new lease on life, and “Ordinary World” was the result. It was easy to see Duran Duran switching from one type of cheesy to another. Though most people saw this as the band maturing.
Half of their monster ballad sounds like something out of a Lifetime movie. They had gone from boys to men in the course of their career. That’s actually not a bad thing in this instance. Simon Le Bon’s voice blends in nicely with the whimsical string arrangement and the gentle guitar line.
Grohl ended up hearing the song at precisely the wrong moment as he was starting to get divorced from his ex-wife. He said, “Every time I think of my ex-wife, I think of that song.” It was because of our honeymoon, when that lovely song was playing while we were touring Ireland. And now that I hear it, I want to fucking throw up! I’m a sucker for crap, I really am. But I wish I was cool and could say I broke my heart to James Brown or fell in love with Goldie’s last single.
That kind of heartache ended up serving as a kind of fuel for Dave Grohl later in his career, even though this easily borders on pop-flavored junk food. Throughout their time apart, Grohl was able to transform his sorrow into his own works of art. Looking through his own old journals, he created songs like “Monkey Wrench” and “Everlong.”
While the production quality of this was far from as flawless as that of Duran Duran. Grohl’s attention to detail made it feel like he was singing to you from the deepest recesses of his mind. The timing of everything suggests that “Ordinary World” may be the reason “Everlong” exists at all. Is the song “Ordinary World” any different from the Foo Fighters ballad? It already talks about being able to relate to someone when they sing along with you.
