"Ordinary Life" is a song written by Connie Harrington and Bonnie Baker, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Chad Brock Chad Brock (born July 31, 1963) is an American country music singer and disc jockey. Before beginning his musical career in the late 1990s, he was a professional wrestler in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), until an injury forced him to retire ...

. It was released as the second single in November 1998 from his self-titled debut album, it peaked at number 3 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, giving Brock his first Top 10 single.

Content

The song is a mid-tempo backed primarily by

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

. It begins with a woman named Shelly at the kitchen table with the morning newspaper, when her husband walks in the kitchen, who is upset that he can't take his "ordinary life" anymore. In the second verse, Shelly is still at the kitchen table, when her son comes up to her with a picture of him with Shelly. When the boy says his prayers, Shelly says that she is thankful for the ordinary life. By the song's bridge, the husband calls her from the airport at midnight, saying that he is "all alone again" and is missing his ordinary life.

Music video

The music video was directed by R. Brad Murano and premiered in late 1998.

Chart performance

The song debuted at number 63 on the

chart dated November 7, 1998. It charted for 29 weeks on that chart, and peaked at number 3 on the chart dated April 10, 1999, becoming Brock's first Top Five single on that chart. In addition, it was his first Top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 39 on that chart.

Year-end charts

Parodies

The song was parodied by country music parodist

Cledus T. Judd James Barry Poole (born December 18, 1964) is an American country music artist who records under the name Cledus T. Judd. Known primarily for his parodies of popular country songs, he has been called the "Weird Al" Yankovic of country music, and ...

for his CD, ''

Juddmental ''Juddmental'' is the fourth album from country music parodist Cledus T. Judd. It was his last album for Razor & Tie Records before leaving for Monument Records in 2000. The track "Ricky Tidwell's Mama's Gonna Play Football" was previously reco ...

'', as "Coronary Life." Chad Brock himself appeared in the music video as a doctor.

References

{{Chad Brock 1999 singles 1998 songs Chad Brock songs Song recordings produced by Buddy Cannon Song recordings produced by Norro Wilson Warner Records Nashville singles Songs written by Connie Harrington Songs written by Bonnie Baker (songwriter)