ORDINARY GIRL
(Words and Music by Rick Springfield)


I see her there in her plain print dress
And her fading youth
Something about her opens up my soul
Something about her speaks the truth
When the sky is falling

She makes the world go away baby
And I tell the truth
There's a plainness and a sameness to her touch
Oh yeah
And it's beautiful

I love an ordinary girl
Oh she's just an ordinary girl

I say I love you I know it's
Just an ordinary sound
We make love in our ordinary house
Yeah it's built on common ground
And we know it baby
We go out walking on an Friday night
In an ordinary town
There's a sameness and a plainness to it all
Oh yeah
And it's beautiful

I love an ordinary girl
Yeah she's just an ordinary girl

Another day, another battle
We shake the cage
Our sabers rattle
Nothing that matters comes easy
Nothing that comes easy ever really matters

Oh, everything I am
She's an ordinary girl
Anything I plan
I love her
For everything that I stand
She's an ordinary girl
I'm just an ordinary man
Yeah she's
In everything I do
Just an ordinary girl
In everything that's true
I love
In everything I plan
Just an ordinary girl
I'm an ordinary man

She's
Everything I am
An ordinary girl
Anything I plan
I love
And everything I stand
An ordinary girl....

(total playing time 3:47)

Rick says:
About my wife. - melodicrock.com

Rick also says:  about my wife. It just talks about how we all try to be so, special and so different, to stand out. And it's really the ordinary-ness in each other that we really connect, the everyday things that we recognize about ourselves and in the other person.  There are those things that almost have the strongest connection, it's that someone is a great singer, or a ah, great tap dancer, whatever, but it's that - you wear twin T-shirts to bed, ya know?... Normal stuff.. ... very much (a tribute) ... she wouldn't let me slam her....She'd kick my ass. - eiozine.com

Song Facts: This can be found on Karma and Anthology (written in rock)

According to US

I have a love/hate relationship with this song. There's so much I like about it, but I have such issues with a couple of things. It contains my all time favorite line, ever "nothing that matters, comes easy...."
I just really don't like the term "ordinary". To me, ordinary means nothing special, and he's certainly not saying there's "nothing special" about his wife. So I have a hard time getting past that. But I do understand what he's saying because the fact that Rick is so "real" is what makes him special. I'd just never call him ordinary. I did look up in the dictionary the meaning of ordinary, and one of the meanings is "familiar" and if I apply that to this, it makes way more sense, but other meanings are "unexceptional, common" and that's more what I think when I hear ordinary, so I just have a problem with that whole thing. The other thing I have an issue with is the very first line - her fading youth. Ugh. When you have that fading youth thing going on, you really don't need someone reminding you of it. Seriously. Let's point that out in the very first line of the song - you're plain, you're getting old, you're nothing special, but I love you anyway, baby......
Ok, getting past those two things, this is a great song :-O
I love the rest of the song. My favorite part is the background part that he sings at the end - "I'm an ordinary man" and everything else he says there. She makes him what he is.  - rlh

I know this is supposed to be a love song Rick has written for his wife. This has become my love-hate song. I love how he sounds on this song, I love the music. I hate the fuckin' words. Pul-eeze Rick --you've been making me swoon for years and years, and don't make me quote all the lust-worthy lines here (because I will if you want me to) -- but I think you could have done a better job at expressing yourself for the love of your life. Let me break it down for you.

"I see her there in plain print dress" Eh, okay - I can believe you like her better not "all dolled up" I guess it sounds better than, "I see her there in her $500 Jimmy-Choo shoes"

"And her fading youth" Gasp! Sputter, sputter.... she's looking old?? Oh this line just burns me more than I can express here. Not only is she looking old, but the term *youth* to me sounds like she's even acting old now too.

"Something about her opens up my soul, something about her speaks the truth when the sky is falling" <---That one's a keeper, that's the Springfield lyric I'm familiar with.

"She makes the world go away baby, and I tell the truth" Again, another keeper. Keep singing...

"There's a plainness and a sameness to her touch, oh yeah and it's beautiful" Yep. She's boring. And she's bored him into thinking it's lovely.

"I love an ordinary girl, oh she's just an ordinary girl" This is totally my love-hate line. Oh, how cute - she's not pretentious. Ordinary though? I'd take that as an insult personally -- I really don't think it's a compliment to think he thinks I'm like everyone else. Nothing special goin' on here. See--personal battle raging. 

I totally feel schizophrenic every time I play this song. Part of me really likes this song, and I know lots of fans call this their favorite. Another part of me loathes it. He mentions their arguments "another day, another battle, we shake the cage our sabers rattle" (and what in the heck is a saber anyway? Is that a Star Wars reference?) Yet just one more thing I wouldn't want the love of my life putting in a song about us.

One of the best lines Rick has ever written in a song (in my opinion) is the next one: "Nothing that matters comes easy, nothing that comes easy ever really matters." Truer words have never been spoken, and I believe that is a phrase that does belong in a love song, so I'm back to loving it again.

When we get to the end, "Just an ordinary girl; I'm an ordinary man" I'm thinking, thank god -he finally brought himself down a level. <smirk> I still don't get if her youth is fading, why she's an Ordinary Girl, and he gets to be an Ordinary Man --but my brain hurts too much by the end of this one that I just don't care anymore. - Michelle P

What a tribute to Barbara! Wow! I like this song, but it's not one of those songs that I HAVE to listen to when I'm playing this CD. It does have one of my all-time favorite lines of any of Rick's songs...Nothing that matters comes easy, Nothing that comes easy ever really matters... how I preach this to my kids all the time!  - Char P.

Wow... whew...where do I start? How about the melody. It is a soft sweet tune. It immediately compels me to let my guard down and be receptive to what is  coming. I am a strange bird in the fact that I really appreciate the harder, abrasive torturous music of his, but he has a few slower songs that are priceless gems, and the melody here is one of those songs. Once in awhile I welcome the soft acoustic touch over an angry electric guitar.

I am not one to openly admit what I feel about someone romantically but, there has been a time or two in my life when I will just sit back and observe the person I am with. "I see her there in a plain print dress, and her fading youth". This could  be one of those moments where he is observing and being honest with what he sees. Now if the song were about 'me' being the one on the receiving end of 'her fading youth', I am not so sure I would appreciate it as much as he appreciates what he is seeing with his own eyes, but IF this is what was going through his head, I get it.

'Something about her opens up my soul. Something about her speaks the truth, When the sky is falling'. How touching, a real tribute to who she is in the grand scheme of his grand life. It is as if he is seeing who she is on the inside, which leads me to the actual title of this song and the whole context of the song.

'Ordinary Girl'. Before he knew her, when she lived in the mid west and had posters of him on her walls, she was one of us, and ordinary girl. Now, fast forward past his ongoing career to Malibu/LA and reflect a little on where he has been. He lives in the town of plastic, agents and competition...where when you are hot, you are are in demand and out there for the world to see. It is not an ordinary lifestyle. Yet, there she sits in the land of extraordinary people and careers, and according to how he feels in this song, she has a tremendous amount of strength and power which he has relied on to help him get through the tough times. So, the land of power lunches, casting calls and big name directors, actors, agents, musicians also has someone who is equally as strong but perhaps, up until this point, almost taken for granted...UNTIL he takes the time to look at her and reflect on who she is and who she has been over the years.

I LOVE the line 'We make love in our ordinary house. Yeah it's built on common ground. And we know it baby." Great use of words. I am not so sure it was built on common ground, aside from the fact that both of their names may be on the deed, but it is a nice thought and poetic. The rest of this verse does not seem to sit right with me either, although it is a nice thought/gesture... 'We go out walking on a Friday night. In an ordinary town...' Umm, both have lived in ordinary towns, and I really would not call Malibu ordinary. Also, maybe back when this song was written, he may have had more Friday nights free than he has now, and I would think that if this song were to represent today's schedule, he may have to change Friday to Tuesday.

Towards the end repeats how 'she' is an ordinary girl, and in the song this is followed (lightly) by 'I'm an ordinary man'. Ummm...I think that he has the feelings that most ordinary men have, same demons, same struggles etc, but really...he is not ordinary simply because of his career and his talent. Nope, nothing ordinary about that but perhaps
she, being the powerful force in his life that she is, can reach the ordinary guy within at times when he needs it most, and she makes him feel ordinary...but in a good way, she grounds him.

To conclude, I see this song more about being soul mates than about being in love. Sure, he loves her, but it goes much deeper than this. I see this as a song that recognizes how an ordinary girl can ground him and keep him focused in a way that an agent or manager cannot. There are varying degrees of love, and this seems to sing more of 'I love you', and not 'I am in love with you'. - Kat M.