"Ordinary People" is about the ups and downs in a relationship. We may find ourselves in a whirlwind romance, but making it endure takes work. Those "happily ever after" endings work in fairy tales, but ordinary people will have to put in the effort.
Legend drew inspiration from his parents, who divorced when John was 11 years old and got back together and remarried 10 years later. Unfortunately, it didn't take - they ended up separating.
"Ordinary People" was John Legend's second single, following "
Used to Love U," which he wrote with Kanye West. It was the biggest hit from his debut album,
Get Lifted, which sold over 2 million copies and got him off to a great start.
Legend, though, was already established as a singer and piano player, with credits on the Alicia Keys song "
You Don't Know My Name" and the Jay-Z song "Encore."
Legend wrote "Ordinary People" with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. The two were close collaborators at this time; Legend co-wrote two songs on Will's 2003 album Must B 21 and sang on the track "The Boogie That Be" from Black Eyed Peas' album Elephunk, also from 2003.
The pair got together at a New York City recording studio called the Hit Factory to work on the next Black Eyed Peas album when the song emerged. Legend told the story in the book Chicken Soup For the Soul: The Story Behind The Song: "He would play me beats, see if I could come up with hooks and I'd help him write the song. We'd done it before with some success.
He started playing and eventually the chorus emerged. We had a small brainstorming session but that's all the song remained for awhile - the beat and the chorus. I liked it, but the more I thought about it, I didn't think it would be a good Black Eyed Peas song. It seemed more like something for my repertoire.
I had just gotten a record deal and was on my way to finishing my first album. I decided to keep 'Ordinary People' and worked on the piano to develop and mold it for myself rather than for a rap group.
I was on tour in Europe with Kanye West to help him perform his new album. We were playing clubs and small theaters there and, at sound check each day, I worked on the song, writing the lyrics and tweaking it. People around me heard me singing it and everyone seemed to feel that it was a great song. You never know. I worked on the lyrics and verses throughout the tour. I then worked on the bridge and it was pretty much finished by the time I got home.
When we decided that I would record the song, I had promised Will that I would let him produce it. I made a demo in Los Angeles at the Record Plant, just me and the piano. I sent it to Will and we, and everyone else who heard it, loved it the way it was. The demo was essentially the way it was when it was released."
Legend explained the song's lyrical content: "The idea for the song is that relationships are difficult and the outcome uncertain. If a relationship is going to work, it will require compromise and, even then, it is not always going to end the way you want it to. No specific experience in my life led me to the lyrics for this song, although my parents were married twice to each other and divorced twice from each other. Their relationship is, of course, one of my reference points, but I didn't write this to be autobiographical or biographical. It is just a statement about relationships and my view on them."
In the UK, the song charted at #27 when it was first released but was revived in 2012 after both Becky Hill and Jaz Ellington sang it on the UK version of The Voice. Their performances renewed interest in the song, which this time charted at #4.
"Ordinary People" was a singing competition staple for a while. Simon Cowell included it on a list of songs that he never wants to hear again during an X Factor audition. "It's never as good as the original," he said.
In 2006, John Legend won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal for this song, along with the Best New Artist award and Best R&B Album for Get Lifted.
"Ordinary People" has endured as one of John Legend's most popular songs; he's played it live more than any other in his catalog. The song held true even after he started his own family with Chrissy Teigen. A high-profile couple, they lifted the veil by providing lots of intimate looks at the quotidian moments in their lives, which are usually quite ordinary - making school lunches, for example.
Before Get Lifted catapulted John Legend to fame, he was quietly writing much of the album while still unsigned, performing at open mics and talent shows, hustling for a break. When "Ordinary People" unexpectedly began getting more radio play before the label had officially promoted it, he sensed something big was happening. But the moment he knew he'd truly arrived? The day he got calls from both Magic Johnson and Oprah Winfrey - on the same day - each inviting him to perform at private events in their homes. That's when it hit him: "I've made it."
