Friends of Mine by Elisa Lorello

Author:Elisa Lorello [Lorello, Elisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography, Memoir, Author Biography
Published: 2013-12-31T05:00:00+00:00

I was alone in my car when I first heard “Ordinary World” on the radio. It came on as I pulled away from the Dairy Barn, a drive-thru-only convenience store renowned by Long Islanders. A mundane errand. Dare I say, an ordinary one. The clear, starry night sky only added to the ambiance of the moment.

It had been a few years since the band released a new song or album; or, at least, one to get really excited about. Big Thing had yielded only one Billboard top ten hit, and Liberty was a commercial flop. And although both spent ample time on my turntable and in my CD player, respectively, I just couldn’t muster the enthusiasm for them that I had for the earlier albums, rationalizing that it just wasn’t the same without Roger and Andy. Musically speaking, I was longing for the band to go back to something more innocent and exciting. Their Rio days, perhaps. In hindsight, it was me longing to go back, and projecting that desire onto them. I just wanted to be happy. More specifically, I wanted them to make me happy.

The introduction was more acoustic and orchestral than their other pop ballads. My ears perked up and I turned onto a different street to extend the trip home. In fact, I was so taken that I nearly pulled over.

This was a Duran Duran song?

I’d never paid much attention to Simon’s lyrics before—they had always been rather cryptic to me. But these were clear and fluent, and I hung on every word. For the first time during my fandom, I felt as if Simon had written these words, and the band had written this song, just for me. As if they knew me, knew exactly what I was going through—not just with Derrick, but everything since the day my parents sat Paul and me on the couch in the living room. Where is the light that I recognize was my lost spirit; Where is my friend when I need you most was my lost self.

Loss had consumed me—loss of the idealized family of my childhood, the one that had sheltered and protected me; loss of my parents’ marriage; loss of my friends; loss of Duran Duran as a quintet, and how they, too, had sheltered and protected me. Worst of all, loss of me.

“Ordinary World” was a beacon that led me away from a path of loneliness, worthlessness, and victimhood. It assured me that I could take a new road to a different place, where something better awaited me. It gave me hope. It restored my faith. It made me a promise: I will learn to survive.

It was a damn good song, too—melodic; harmonic; well composed, arranged, produced, and engineered. The melancholic minor chords of the verses gave way to major chords in the chorus. The effect, especially at the end, was one of hope and promise and redemption.

In short, one of my all-time favorite Duran Duran songs. My brothers’ and sister’s favorite too. The kind they wish they’d written.

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