Some nights I thirst for real blood
For real knives
For real cries
And then the flash of steel from real guns
In real life
Really fills my mind

And I really miss what really did exist
When I held your throat so tight
And I miss the bus as it swerved from us
Almost came crashing to its side

Sometimes the blood from real cuts
Feels real nice
When it's really mine
And if you want it to be real
Come over for one night
And we can really, really climb

And those blue bridge lights might really burn most bright
As we watch that dark lake rise
And if you really want to see what really matters most to me
Just take a real short drive

It's just a drive into the dark stretch
Long stretch of night
Will really stretch this shaking mind
And this room, unlit, unheated
And the ceiling striped
And the dark black blinds

I want to know this time if you're really finally mine
I need to know that you're not lying so I want to see you tried
And I don't want to hear you say it shouldn't really be this way
Cause I like this way just fine

Cause there's nothing quite like the blinding light
That curtains cast aside
And no attempt is made to explain away
The things that really, really, really, really, really are behind

You can't hide
You can't hide
You can't hide

You can't hide
You can't hide
You can't hide


Lyrics submitted by phaty4

For Real Lyrics as written by Hawes-land

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC

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  • +2
    General Comment

    From an internview with Will Sheff here: popmatters.com/music/interviews/okkervil-river-050427.shtml

    "I was playing with the notion of reality on that song, and really on most of this record. We've become so insulated now from real life that I think we're convinced that what we see on TV is real life. We're alienated from our basic selves. I mean violence has to be this ultra-realistic thing to be real to us. It's like it's truer in movies or video games than it is in real life. What's real experience? We're real obsessed. Are her breasts real? What's the best reality TV Show? So I just wanted to see how many times I could squeeze the word real into the song,"

    I love the imagery in this song, it is outstanding. The saying goes that reality is perception. What it “really real”. Our reality is so clouded by the way out perceptions are so influenced by the media that we are bombarded with every day

    The line : 'Cause there’s nothing quite like the blinding light / That curtains cast aside’ , that moment of truth when you realise that you have been sold a lie perhaps. The Protagonist that thirsts for real blood and ‘And then the flash of steel from real guns’. These things seem easy as they are portrayed ad nauseum in our society, in movies, TV and video games …. but in reality are they?

    There is a real feeling the protagonist is trapped: ‘And I don't want to hear you say it shouldn’t really be this way,/ ‘Cause I like this way just fine’

    Fantastical, thought provoking song.

    Vurton September 15, 2006   Link

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