James Wesley, ‘Real’ – Lyrics Uncovered
Since its release in early 2010, country music fans have gone crazy for James Wesley's song 'Real.' The singer's deep, traditional voice accompanied with the twang of the guitar alone make 'Real' a great country song. However, the element that really stands out in 'Real' is its genuine lyrics.
Wesley starts out 'Real' by singing about America's obsession with reality television. In the first few lines, Wesley sings, "A pretty girl cries cause she don't get a rose / But she'll find love next year on her own show." Life is not the way reality television depicts it, and Wesley wants people to know this. "Where I live, housewives don't act like that / And the survivors are farmers in John Deere hats," Wesley continues.
Throughout the song, Wesley's lyrics shift back and forth between reality as television depicts it and, well, actual reality. Wesley's deep voice gives an emotional look at the hardships that people encounter in their everyday lives. Wesley sings about heartache, death, war, homelessness and hard labor, following each verse with the simple line: "I call that real." The poetic quality to Wesley's lyrics also adds to the song's serious yet beautiful nature.
The song 'Real' was written by reputable songwriters Neal Coty and Jimmy Melton. Taste of Country recently interviewed James Wesley, and he spoke about what attracted him to the song. "When it comes down to it, we know what's real," said Wesley. "It's family and God and the people who are closest to you."
Wesley then went into the specific types of people that the song is about. "It's the hard working men and women [that are] the backbone of this country," he said. "It talks about the single mother. And it talks about our troops out there, because if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't get to do what we do everyday."
Watch the James Wesley 'Real' Video