"No Ordinary Love" is a song by English band Sade, released in September 1992 by Epic Records as the lead single and opening track from their fourth studio album, Love Deluxe (1992). The song is written by lead singer Sade Adu and Stuart Matthewman, and was a success in Europe and New Zealand. It reached 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 on the US BillboardHot 100. When re-released in May 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, directed by Sophie Muller, 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 2024.[3]
Chart performance
"No Ordinary Love" was a sizeable hit on the charts across several continents. It was most successful in Europe, entering the top 10 in Greece (5) and Italy (4), as well as on the Music & MediaEuropean Dance Radio Chart,[4] where it peaked at number nine in November 1992. Additionally, the song entered the top 20 in Finland (19), France (20), the Netherlands (19), and the UK, where it reached number 14 in its second run on the UK Singles Chart on 5 June 1993, making it Sade's second most successful single in the UK after "Your Love Is King" (6) in 1984. "No Ordinary Love" was also a top 30 hit in Switzerland (23) and on the Eurochart Hot 100 (26),[5] a top 40 hit in Belgium (37) and Sweden (33), and a top 50 hit in Germany (43). Outside Europe, it peaked at numbers 21 and 17 in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. In the US, the single charted on four different Billboard charts, reaching number 28 on the Hot 100, number 14 on the Adult Contemporary chart, number 29 on the Rhythmic chart and number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "No Ordinary Love" also peaked at number 21 on the US Cash Box Top 100 and number 11 on the Cash Box Top R&B Singles chart.
The single received a silver record in the UK, after 200 000 units were sold.
Critical reception
The song received positive reviews from music critics. Upon the release, 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."[6] Amy Linden from Entertainment Weekly found that Sade, "the high priestess of understated cool, heats up on the fabulous "No Ordinary Love", which surges with emotion."[7] Dave Sholin of the Gavin Report felt that "her extraordinary songstyling is hotter than ever."[8] Another Gavin Report editor, John Martinucci, said, "At last, the sensual vocals of Sade return with a hypnotic beat underlined by an occasional, crunching guitar."[9]
Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian felt that the singer's "sleepy croon doesn't waver" as she's "purring a breathless poem" about her mister.[10]David Stubbs from Melody Maker viewed it as "another syrupy ladling".[11] Pan-European magazine Music & Media remarked that "the grande dame of sophisticated soul has updated her beats a little bit and added a more wiggly guitar sound."[12] A reviewer from Music Week called it "a stylish, sophisticated, subdued and superior song", adding, "It's also extremely subtle".[13] Jeff Silberman from The Network Forty complimented its "languid beat and the cool, cool melody"[14] A writer for People Magazine viewed the song as "a baby-making slow jam that comes on like musical Viagra."[15]
Retrospective response
In a 2017 retrospective review, Justin Chadwick from Albumism described the song as "insistent and intimate", adding that it's "evoking the desperation of trying to secure an elusive love". He also noted that the song begins with "one of the most devastating intros ever".[16] In 2012, 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."[17] In 2010, the Daily Vault's Mark Millan declared it as "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."[18]
Frank Guan of Vulture ranked "No Ordinary Love" number two in a ranking of all of Sade's songs, writing, "'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."[19]
Music video
A music video produced to promote the single, directed by English music video director Sophie Muller,[20] 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.[21]
Same year, "No Ordinary Love" was also awarded one of BMI's Pop Songs Awards, honoring the songwriters, composers, and music publishers of the song.[22]
Impact and legacy
In 2012, Complex placed "No Ordinary Love" at number 43 in their ranking of "The Best 90s R&B Songs".[23] In 2017, Spin ranked the song at number 15 on their list of "The 30 Best '90s R&B Songs".[24]
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.
American rock band Deftones covered the song, with backing vocals from guest 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.[54]
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.[57]
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.
