Music Notes

Ordinary Human, by OneRepublic

My twelfth and final track for "12 Days of "Christmas""  is not a Christmas song, nor is it associated with anything relating to a December holiday. Yet I knew it would be one of my choices right from the beginning of the month when I prepped this list.

OneRepublic released Ordinary Human in 2014, as part of the soundtrack for the movie The Giver, based on the book by Lois Lowry. With a low, throbbing backbeat opening, soaring choruses, and an eerie reverb throughout, this song has all the feels while providing a fascinating and transcendental theme.

I remember the day I discovered it: Mom and I were spending the winter in Naples, FL, and when I found Ordinary Human I put it on repeat about a million times, bringing it in the car with me as we drove around sightseeing. I was in awe. I still am; I'm getting chills listening to it right now.

One of the endearing features is how Ryan Tedder opens with a slightly gravelly note, as if he hadn't cleared his throat properly. He climaxes to his signature crystal clear melisma flawlessly, while giving the song a reassuringly relatable and accessible feeling. I enjoy singing it to myself; it has a surprisingly easy melody.

An interesting aside about Ryan's voice… just a couple days ago, after writing this up, I saw a snippet 1R shared on X where he laughs about a habit he used to have, during the Counting Stars era, of modifying his voice by lighting a cigar and "intentionally inhaling, which you're not supposed to do," to make himself cough and give his voice a "rougher, warmer" sound. At first I'm like and then I'm like "aha!" because that's the exact type of note he strikes on the opening words of Ordinary Human, which is from this era. I never realized he also sounds that way on the opening of Counting Stars.

Now to explain why I associate Ordinary Human with Christmas. The bridge and finale goes "there'll be peace in the city tonight, but when I'm gone, I hope they get it right." If that isn't a picture of the Nativity and the Ascension all at once, I don't know what is. The overall theme of an "ordinary human" bringing salvation by his very nature, or alternately an ordinary human humbly acknowledging his ordinariness and learning to seek salvation by reaching upward instead of inward, are both concepts which run deep throughout Christian doctrine. I believe Ryan Tedder was aware of all this when he wrote the song, because he grew up in a Pentecostal home with a preacher grandfather, and he has drawn upon the basic worldview assumptions of Christianity frequently in his lyrics over the years.

A big shout-out to Jeff for getting this up and running at the last minute while juggling all manner of other projects. I had a wonderful time sharing some of my favorite seasonal music with you, and I hope you liked it as much as I did.

This is a perfect song to end my holiday soundtrack series with. Enjoy the goosebumps

Words: 532.

Bonus excerpt (under two minutes) where Ryan Tedder shares how Counting Stars was made and mentions "the cigar technique:"

Full video (14 minutes) from Vanity magazine where Ryan Tedder discusses the art of music production for Counting Stars as well as another song: