Released June 23, 1998 Recorded 1996 Label Atlantic | Format CD
cassette Length 3:51 | |
Genre Alternative rock
post-grunge | ||
"Real World" is a song by American alternative rock group Matchbox 20. It was released in June 1998 as the fourth single from their debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You.
Contents
Content
The song was written by lead singer Rob Thomas, and details him wondering about what it would be like if he lived in various settings other than the current one, including a superhero, a rainmaker, and being a boss at a job, and if they would worsen or improve his life.
Music video
The music video, directed by Matthew Rolston, starts with Rob walking through a bowling alley with a camel. It then shows him on a street, where Kyle Cook is on an ice cream truck, but instead of selling ice cream, he unveils what appears to be a raw steak. Next, Rob is doing a news broadcast, with Brian Yale acting as a director. In the meantime, intercut with this is a diner with Paul Doucette dressed as a waitress, eventually discarding the outfit. In the midst of the news broadcast, we see what appears to be a breakfast cereal commercial with Adam Gaynor sitting with a family. The video concludes with the camera going back and forth between Rob with the camel and at the news station.
Chart positions
As Push and 3AM didn't chart on the Hot 100, Real World became their first single to enter the Billboard Hot 100.
Track listing
- "Real World" – 3:50
- "Long Day" (live) – 3:53
- "3am" (live) – 3:45
- "Real World" – 3:50
- "Push" (live acoustic) – 4:11
- "3am" (live acoustic) – 3:48
- "Busted" (live acoustic) – 4:24