No Ordinary Love

"No Ordinary Love" is a song by English band Sade, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Love Deluxe (1992). The song was a modest success in Europe and New Zealand, reaching number four in Italy, number 17 in New Zealand, number 19 in the Netherlands and number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. In January 1993, the song peaked at number 15 in Canada and number 28 in the United States. 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.

"No Ordinary Love"
Single by Sade
from the album Love Deluxe
B-side"Paradise" (remix)
Released28 September 1992 (1992-09-28)
Recorded1992
StudioThe Hit Factory, New York City
Length7:20
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Sade singles chronology
"Haunt Me"
(1989)		 "No Ordinary Love"
(1992)		 "Feel No Pain"
(1992)
Music video
"No Ordinary Love" on YouTube

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard commented that the song shows Sade and band "in fine form, sounding, as always, cool and sexy." He noted that her "famously smoky voice is the highlight of a spare arrangement, supported by percussive guitar and even a ghostly metal solo."[1] The Daily Vaults Mark Millan wrote that the "intoxicating "No Ordinary Love" is Adu's lament of a one-sided love affair. He added that the song "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."[2] 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."[3] Dave Sholin of the Gavin Report stated, "Music has the remarkable ability to stir the senses and transport the listener to any destination imaginable. No artist makes that happen quite like Sade, who returns after a four-year absence. No doubt, her fans can't help but feel the time away was much too long, but she leaves little doubt that her extraordinary songstyling is hotter than ever."[4]

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."[5] Music & Media wrote that "the grande dame of sophisticated soul has updated her beats a little bit and added a more wiggly guitar sound."[6] The Network Forty noted the song's "languid beat and the cool, cool melody"[7] People Magazine said that the song is "a baby-making slow jam that comes on like musical Viagra."[8] 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."[9]

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".[10] In 2017, Spin ranked the song at number 15 on their list of "The 30 Best '90s R&B Songs".[11]

Music video
Sade as a mermaid on the bottom of the ocean in the music video of "No Ordinary Love".

The music video for "No Ordinary Love" was directed by English music video director Sophie Muller.[12] It is filmed in slow motion and features Sade as a mermaid and a bride.

At the beginning of the music video, 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 her herself like a newlywed bride. Obviously looking for the young man, she walks into a bar and drinks water with salt in order to survive. 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.[13]

Track listings

Charts

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 for the band's 2005 B-side collection B-Sides & Rarities. 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.[36]
  • The song was also covered instrumentally by trumpeter Chris Botti on his album When I Fall in Love in 2004.[37][38]
  • 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.[39]
  • 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.
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References
  1. "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. 31 October 1992. p. 95. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  2. "Sade - Love Deluxe". The Daily Vault. 30 December 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  3. "Love Deluxe". Entertainment Weekly. 13 November 1992. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  4. Sholin, Dave (6 November 1992). "Gavin Picks: Singles" (PDF). Gavin Report. No. 1930. p. 48. Retrieved 16 April 2018 – via American Radio History.
  5. Heawood, Sophie (13 March 2012). "Why Sade is bigger in the US than Adele". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  6. "New Releases" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9 no. 41. 10 October 1992. p. 8. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 5 February 2018 – via American Radio History.
  7. "Top 40: Music Meeting" (PDF). The Network Forty. No. 137. 6 November 1992. p. 24. Retrieved 21 February 2018 – via American Radio History.
  8. "Picks and Pans Review: The Ultimate Love Mix". People. 15 February 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  9. Guan, Frank (26 October 2017). "All 73 Sade Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best". Vulture. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  10. "The Best 90s R&B Songs". Complex. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  11. Johnston, Maura; Reeves, Mosi (8 August 2017). "The 30 Best '90s R&B Songs". Spin. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  12. "No Ordinary Love (1992) by Sade". IMVDb. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  13. "Sade - No Ordinary Love (Official Music Video)". YouTube. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  14. "Australian-charts.com – Sade – No Ordinary Love". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  15. "Ultratop.be – Sade – No Ordinary Love" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  16. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1839." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  17. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 1729." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  18. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9 no. 48. 28 November 1992. p. 27. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via American Radio History.
  19. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  20. "Lescharts.com – Sade – No Ordinary Love" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  21. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sade – No Ordinary Love". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  22. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9 no. 44. 31 October 1992. p. 22. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 20 March 2018 – via American Radio History.
  23. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9 no. 49. 5 December 1992. p. 18. OCLC 29800226. Retrieved 23 November 2019 – via American Radio History.
  24. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 46, 1992" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sade – No Ordinary Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  26. "Charts.nz – Sade – No Ordinary Love". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  27. "Swedishcharts.com – Sade – No Ordinary Love". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  28. "Swisscharts.com – Sade – No Ordinary Love". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  29. "Sade: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  30. "Sade Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  31. "Sade Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  32. "Sade Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  33. "Sade Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  34. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending February 6, 1993". Cash Box. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  35. "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 1993". Billboard. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  36. "EMI Philippines – Urbandub". EMI Music Philippines. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
  37. "When I Fall in Love overview". AllMusic.
  38. "Chris Botti dating Katie Couric". SmoothVibes.com.
  39. "No Ordinary Love (Walden Vs Havana Brown) – Single". iTunes Store. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
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