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Duran Duran - Ordinary World

Music Video | 1993
ArtistDuran Duran
SongOrdinary World
AlbumThe Wedding Album
DirectorNick Egan
GenreBallad
GenrePop
IntroNo
OutroNo
Sound MixStereo
Technical Specificationscolour - format unknown
Release date

Wiki

Synopsis

Set in the Huntington Botanical Gardens, the video places Duran Duran's performance inside a dreamlike wedding tableau. Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Warren Cuccurullo appear among themed gardens, while projected images of the band seem to hover over the ceremony and its guests. A bride in an elaborate white tuxedo-style dress, an eccentric hat and the surrounding flowers give the clip a surreal, romantic atmosphere. The band's restrained performance contrasts with the elaborate setting, reflecting the song's themes of loss, memory and finding stability in everyday life.

Factoids & Trivia

  • Filming took place at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, during December 1992. The production was completed in two stages, with the band performance filmed first and the garden scenes shot later.
  • The video uses projections of the band within the garden environments. The concept was intended to give the group an omnipresent, almost dreamlike presence over the wedding.
  • The garden's international plant collections provided much of the visual variety, including English roses and Australian cacti.
  • Production ended during a sudden rainstorm that flooded the set with nearly a foot of water. Crew members had to protect the electrical cables and filming equipment.
  • The visual style drew inspiration from Federico Fellini's 1965 film "Juliet of the Spirits." The bride's unusual hat was influenced by the film and was not designed as a lampshade, despite a common interpretation.
  • The bride's tuxedo-style dress was based on a Giorgio Armani design. It was originally planned in black before being changed to white, and the resulting look became a frequently requested recreation for the stylist.
  • An unused sequence featured an older wedding band meant to suggest Duran Duran performing later in life. The idea was dropped because the band did not want its future legacy associated with playing weddings.
  • The video came together under significant time pressure after two previously planned directors were unable to make the project. The band later said the simpler final approach suited the song particularly well.

Lyrics

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 say
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away

But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
...
© Duran Duran - Ordinary World. This is an excerpt, provided as citation under fair-use.
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