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

What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some'd say,
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away

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.

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.

What is happening to me?
Crazy, some'd say,
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away

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.

Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and greed
Feared today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here besides the news of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk

(Just blown away)

And I don't
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.

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



Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21

Track duration: 04:20

"Ordinary World" as written by Ildiko Basa, Mattias Voss, Ildiko Basa, Mattias Voss

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Ordinary World song meanings
Add your thoughts

54 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +3
    General Comment:It's about losing someone and learning to cope. When you have someone in your life who is your everything, your world is special; it's wonderful; it's Nirvana. When that person leaves or is taken from you, your world is no longer wonderful or special. It's just "ordinary". This song is about learning to deal with a new life, a new world that is ordinary and making the resolution that "I will survive".
    Flag KinksFanon March 07, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:i'ts about the one that got away... or rather who was never yours for to take... but you know the chemistry existed... just that the timing was horribly wrong... or maybe it was never meant to be... still i can't escape the ghost of you... i wont cry for yesterday.. there is an ordinary world.. and ill have to learn to survive... such a sad song.. connects with me so well...
    Flag troubledon March 06, 2013   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning:This has always been my favorite Duran Duran song, and my Mom's as well. I always thought I "got" what it was saying, but it never made more sense as when my Mom passed away. I was looking for a song to use for her picture slideshow and this was perfect. I could sense her saying to me, "you will be okay, life will go on" through this song. I know Simon wrote this for a friend that died, and it makes perfect sense. Also seems like their was some sort of strain on their relationship, maybe things that could have been different. Maybe things that were always lingering with a thought of "we can fix that later." Maybe that is why Simon took this particular loss so hard. That's how I felt with my Mom. I kept telling myself, our relationship will get better when X, or I will try harder later. Now I don't have that chance. But all I can do is move on, and know that she loves me and I love her flaws and all, and that is enough. Nothing is perfect, but we have to get through and power on. And we never have to forget.
    Flagged alinichole9on October 12, 2012   Link
  • +1
    Memory:This song brings back a very sad time in my life.

    3 days before I was supposed to get married, it all blew up.

    All my fault, I screwed up bad.

    This song was just coming out at the time, and I saw the video.. it forever became the anthem of this screwed up time in my life in upstate new york. I remember being in a hotel room, waiting for my new apartment to be ready, and this video came on. It was the first time I really listened to the words.

    I lost the person I love and my best friend as well, because I did something so amazingly wrong. I knew I screwed up, I knew I would never see her again, and I knew that some how I had to learn from this huge mistake, move on, and be a better person after learning this lesson. I had to find my "Ordinary World" so to speak.

    Well, I moved on, found my place in the world, got married, and lived happily ever after, she did as well. Ours truly was just a little sorrow, but man did it hurt.

    I guess we all live and learn, it was really hard to hear these lyrics at that time.
    Flagged DarkStarson March 29, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"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."

    Each an everytime i hear this song it reminds me of the stuggle to survive this life.
    Been living on the darkside of live, the wrong side of the line, where using drugs was normal & the normal rules of society don't count. After losing some dear friends, i realized i wasn't gonna last for long if i would keep up that way of living.

    So i made the step over to find an normal life in the ordinary world, knowing i had to start learning all over, to survive the ordinary world, wich is, in some ways, just as hard. But the memories of that other life stil haunts me, and i can't forget.
    Flag jhpon February 19, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Saw them last night....Simon said "this song was about finding inner peace" :)

    My favorite line= "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, runaway. Left me in the vacuum of my heart...."

    Altho the whole song is amazing<3
    Flag Erika144on October 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:So much pain for the lost love - "where is my friend when I need you most ? " Its as simple as that .......
    Flag baitnswitchon August 05, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:With regard to Layer Cake, the choice of this song and its subsequent use in the cafe scene is genius.

    "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."

    It fits the juxtaposition of Morty and XXXX (Craig) perfectly. Morty, confronted with the man who denied him 10 years of his life, carried the sentiment of these lines for a decade until his release from prison. Whereupon he rejoined the underworld. This violent, illegal and brutal existence is his ordinary world.

    XXXX, on the other hand, finds himself now trapped in the underworld and his sole desire throughout the film is to escape it. To return to what we identify as the the 'ordinary world'.

    Both men have seen the same journey but from opposite ends of the path. Morty has completed his, but XXXX has just begun. This is why their fates are so intertwined.

    The mortality of their plight is brought home via the jump cuts of the execution of the protagonists to their dilemna.

    God I'm drunk...
    Flag exaltoon October 22, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Red covered this song for their album Innocence and Instinct that came out this year and in my opinion they did it very well. Go check it out.
    Flag Kammikazeon May 12, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:This has probably been my favorite song ever since I was a little kid. As other users have said I think the song is all about moving on and adjusting to a new life after a tragic loss. In the first two stanzas, the singer seems to imply that someone he loved dearly has recently died (perhaps his wife or girlfriend) and that his grief is taking over his life. However, he realizes that he can't dwell on his loss forever and must instead learn to cope with it and return to his normal life. This is probably what the "ordinary world" represents.
    Flag bathroomhog1990on April 10, 2009   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain