Real Life (Jake Owen song)

"Real Life" is a song written by Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Ashley Gorley, and Ross Copperman, and recorded by American country music artist Jake Owen. It was originally released as the lead single to his upcoming fifth studio album American Love, but was scrapped in a restructuring of the album after it stalled at number 17 on Country Airplay for several weeks.[1]

"Real Life"
Single by Jake Owen
ReleasedMay 26, 2015 (2015-05-26)
Recorded2015
Genre
Length2:47
LabelRCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Shane McAnally
  • Ross Copperman
Jake Owen singles chronology
"What We Ain't Got"
(2014)		 "Real Life"
(2015)		 "American Country Love Song"
(2016)

Content

Owen told Billboard and Rolling Stone that the idea for the song came when he discussed his favorite artists with songwriter-producers Shane McAnally and Ross Copperman, mentioning Sublime and Sugar Ray in particular.[2] He also said that he wanted to record a song that differed from his usual beach-related themes, such as "Beachin'" or "The One That Got Away",[3] and that he wanted McAnally and Copperman to give him a song about "real-life situations".[4]

McAnally and Copperman, who produced the song, wrote it with Ashley Gorley and Josh Osborne.[2] It features "relentless acoustic rhythm" and "strange gang vocals and a series of odd-but-familiar images from small-town America: prom queens in plastic crowns, amateurish bar bands and rude Waffle House waitresses." According to Owen, the song is thematically about how "In a world of materialistic things, everybody is constantly looking for what they don't have, as opposed to looking for what's real and what you have right in front of you. That's what 'What We Ain't Got' touched on…'Real Life' is about what we've got and what's real to us."[2]

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave the song a positive review, saying that "Sonically, the arrangement complements the languid, kind of adolescent nature of his lyric and delivery. Owen’s brand of nostalgia isn’t poignant. He’s more recalling the rebellious nature of youth in a way that’s more specific to suburbian(sic) kids that country kids. That’s not to say his songwriting team is lazy with the lyrics — they make clever references throughout “Real Life” and rely on specific, yet somehow universal stories."[5]

Commercial performance

The song debuted on the Hot Country Songs at number 27 and Country Airplay at number 29 on its released. It also debuted on the Country Digital Songs chart at number 6, selling 29,000 copies in the week.[6] It peaked at number 17 on both Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay for charts of August 15, 2015. The song had sold 274,000 copies in the US as of October 2015.[7]

Music video

The music video was directed by Jeff Venable and premiered in June 2015. NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick appears in the video. [8]

Charts
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[9] 89
Canada Country (Billboard)[10] 23
US Billboard Hot 100[11] 74
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[12] 17
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[13] 17

Year-end charts
Chart (2015) Position
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[14] 71
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[15] 57

References
  1. http://therowdy.com/article/jake-owen-says-single-real-life-won-t-make-cut-on-new-album
  2. Hudak, Joseph (28 May 2015). "Jake Owen on How Sugar Ray, Sublime Influenced 'Real' New Single". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  3. Roland, Tom (4 June 2015). "Jake Owen Gets Real Creative on New Single 'Real Life': The Story Behind the Song". Billboard. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  4. Mansfield, Brian (26 May 2015). "Jake Owen talks about new single 'Real Life'". USA Today. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  5. Dukes, Billy (26 May 2015). "ToC Critic's Pick: Jake Owen, 'Real Life' [Listen]". Taste of Country. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  6. Matt Bjorke (June 3, 2015). "Country Music's Top 30 Digital Singles: Week of June 3, 2015". Roughstock. Sales figure given here
  7. Bjorke, Matt (October 12, 2015). "Top 30 Digital Singles Chart: October 12, 2015". RoughStock.
  8. "CMT : Videos : Jake Owen : Real Life". Country Music Television. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  9. "Jake Owen Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  10. "Jake Owen Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard.
  11. "Jake Owen Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  12. "Jake Owen Chart History (Country Airplay)". Billboard.
  13. "Jake Owen Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  14. "Billboard Country Update for December 14, 2015" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 14, 2015. p. 7. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  15. "Best of 2015: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
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