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No Ordinary Love
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = No Ordinary Love
| cover = Sade - No Ordinary Love.png
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Sade
| album = Love Deluxe
| B-side = "Paradise" (remix)
| released =
| recorded = 1992
| studio = The Hit Factory, New York City
| genre =
| length = 7:20
| label = Epic
| writer =
* Sade Adu
* Stuart Matthewman
| producer = Sade
| prev_title = Haunt Me
| prev_year = 1989
| next_title = Feel No Pain
| next_year = 1992
| misc =
}}
"'No Ordinary Love'" is a 1992 song by English band Sade, released as the lead single and opening track from their fourth studio album, 'Love Deluxe' (1992). It was a success in Europe and New Zealand, reaching number four in Italy, number 17 in New Zealand, number 19 in Finland and the Netherlands, number 20 in France and number 26 in the UK. In January 1993, the song peaked at number 15 in Canada and number 28 in the US. When re-released in June 1993, "No Ordinary Love" reached a new peak of number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and number 21 in Australia. In the accompanying music video, Sade Adu plays a mermaid who wants to be a bride.
American magazine 'Rolling Stone' included "No Ordinary Love" in their list of "500 Best Songs of All Time" in 2021.
Critical reception
The song received positive reviews from music critics. Justin Chadwick from Albumism described it as "insistent and intimate", adding that it is "evoking the desperation of trying to secure an elusive love". He noted that the song begins with "one of the most devastating intros ever". Larry Flick from 'Billboard' stated that it shows Sade and band "in fine form, sounding, as always, cool and sexy." He also said that her "famously smoky voice is the highlight of a spare arrangement, supported by percussive guitar and even a ghostly metal solo." The Daily Vault's Mark Millan deemed it "intoxicating". He added that it "is Adu's lament of a one-sided love affair", noting that it "harbors a serious groove, but the underlying anger of love gone bad is represented with a subtle but powerful guitar riff that helps get the job done." Amy Linden from 'Entertainment Weekly' wrote that Sade, "the high priestess of understated cool, heats up on the fabulous "No Ordinary Love", which surges with emotion."
Dave Sholin of the 'Gavin Report' stated that "her extraordinary songstyling is hotter than ever." Another editor, John Martinucci said, "At last, the sensual vocals of Sade return with a hypnotic beat underlined by an occasional, crunching guitar." Sophie Heawood of 'The Guardian' commented, "The band reached their peak of opulent sound design on the aptly titled album 'Love Deluxe'; its seven-minute epic of a lead single is as bleak as it is sensual, casting heartbreak as the greatest luxury of all." Pan-European magazine 'Music & Media' wrote that "the grande dame of sophisticated soul has updated her beats a little bit and added a more wiggly guitar sound." A reviewer from 'Music Week' called it "a stylish, sophisticated, subdued and superior song." The reviewer also added, "It's also extremely subtle". Jeff Silberman from 'The Network Forty' noted its "languid beat and the cool, cool melody" A writer for 'People Magazine' viewed the song as "a baby-making slow jam that comes on like musical Viagra." Frank Guan of Vulture added, "'There's nothing like you and I,' she sings; the emphasis falls on 'nothing' no less than on 'you' or 'I.' Sade songs, at their very best, ignore the distinction between songs about flawless love and love betrayed; the promise of the first and the inevitability of the other are contained in one another. The softly puncturing bass, the deep-sea synths, the chugging, almost accusatory guitar that kicks in during the pre-chorus even among other perfect songs, this one stands out. It's the longest song on any of her albums; it's also one you wish would last forever, but can't, just like the love in the title."
Awards
Sade won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1994.
Impact and legacy
In 2012, 'Complex' placed "No Ordinary Love" at number 43 in their ranking of "The Best 90s R&B Songs". In 2017, 'Spin' ranked the song at number 15 on their list of "The 30 Best '90s R&B Songs".
In 2021, 'Rolling Stone' included "No Ordinary Love" in their list of "500 Best Songs of All Time" at No. 459.
Music video
A music video produced to promote the single, directed by English music video director Sophie Muller, features Sade as a mermaid and a bride.
At the beginning, Sade sits on the bottom of the ocean as a mermaid. Flashbacks reveal a young sailor, who has fallen into the water, meeting the mermaid in a kiss and embrace. Back in the present, the mermaid browses in an old weekly magazine and sews a white wedding dress. She swims up to shore in the finished dress with human legs, reaching land and throwing rice on herself like a newlywed bride. Obviously looking for the young man, she walks into a bar and drinks water with salt for survival. Devastated at not finding the sailor, she runs through the busy city streets, with a bottle of water, down to the quay. Again there are flashbacks of the mermaid with her sailor on the sea floor. As the video ends, she sits alone on the dock in her wedding dress looking down and waiting for her tail to reappear.
Track listings
*'UK, European and Australian CD single'
#"No Ordinary Love" 5:22
#"Paradise" (remix) 5:40
#"No Ordinary Love" (album version) 7:20
*'US CD single and Japanese mini CD single'
#"No Ordinary Love" 5:21
#"Paradise" (remix) 5:40
*'7-inch single'
:A. "No Ordinary Love" 5:22
:B. "Paradise" (remix) 5:40
*'12-inch maxi single'
:A. "No Ordinary Love" (album version) 7:20
:B1. "Paradise" (remix) 5:40
:B2. "Paradise" (drums and Sade) 5:40
*'Cassette single'
#"No Ordinary Love" 5:22
#"Paradise" (remix) 5:40
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
In popular culture
Media
* "No Ordinary Love" was featured prominently in the 1993 film 'Indecent Proposal', though it was not included on the film's soundtrack album.* The song was also featured in an early 1993 episode of the daytime soap opera 'Days of Our Lives'.
* "No Ordinary Love" appeared in the second-season episode of NBC's '30 Rock', "Jack Gets in the Game", when Kenneth Parcell tried to seduce Tracy Jordan's wife, Angie Jordan.
* The song was featured in the 'American Dad' episode "Stan Goes on the Pill" when Stan Smith turns into a woman after taking a pill and his boss Bullock tries to seduce him.
* This song was featured in the trailer of 'Good Boys'.
Cover versions
* Serbian rock band Night Shift covered the song on their 'Undercovers' album in 2002.* American rock band Deftones covered the song with Jonah Matranga. The cover was initially featured as a track on the 2000 release of the single "Change (In the House of Flies)". It was later included on Deftones' 2005 B-side collection 'B-Sides & Rarities' and their 2011 cover compilation, 'Covers'. Vocalist Chino Moreno often cites Sade as one of his favourite artists.
* Pinoy rock band Urbandub also did a cover of the song, which was included on the EMI Music Philippines 2005 compilation 'Full Volume: The Best of Pinoy Alternative'.
* The song was also covered instrumentally by trumpeter Chris Botti on his album 'When I Fall in Love in 2004.'
* Marcia Hines covered the song on her album "Life" in 2007.
* Vesta Williams covered the song on her album "Distant Lover" in 2007.
* The Civil Wars covered it live in their album 'Live at Eddie's Attic', available on their website as a free Internet download.
* Richard Marx covered the song as "Ordinary Love" on his 2008 album titled 'Sundown'.
* A cover of "No Ordinary Love" is featured as the tenth and final track of Dallas Green's and Alecia Moore's You+Me debut album 'Rose Ave.' in 2014.
* Joanna Marie covered the song in English and Spanish as "Ordinary Love" and "Amor Ordinario" on her 1999 album "Simply Irresistible", released by Kariang Music.
*Liam Frost released a solo cover on his EP The Wild Places in 2014.
* Walden and Havana Brown released a dance version as a single in 2015.
* Lovi Poe is the second Filipino music artist to revive this song after Urdandub, her own rendition was used as soundtrack of her film 'The Escort'.
* Rare Essence covered the song for their 2001 live album 'Doin' It Old School Style'.
References
Category:1990s ballads
Category:1992 singles
Category:1992 songs
Category:Epic Records singles
Category:Music videos directed by Sophie Muller
Category:Richard Marx songs
Category:Sade (band) songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Mike Pela
Category:Songs written by Sade (singer)
Category:Songs written by Stuart Matthewman
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