By Ren Gibson, Staff Writer
Beabadoobee’s album This Is How Tomorrow Moves dominated the summer of 2024. With songs such as “Beaches” and “Take a Bite,” the album was a hot hit and steady on rotation this past summer. The seasons may have changed, but my love for Bea’s music remains persistent. “Real Man” is beabadoobee’s latest single, and I remember hearing the song during my first listen. The track is a sarcastic and jazzy earworm that will be stuck in your head for days after the first listen.
Fan Service
Serving as the fifth single from the album, "Real Man" is a "real" standout track from This Is How Tomorrow Moves. Bea stated on her Instagram that she chose it as the next single since her fans loved the song so much. “Watching your silly little videos dancing to this song makes my heart happy,” she wrote, accompanied by a video of a cat doing the dance that fans created on TikTok.
What to Do?
The song begins acoustically, as many beabadoobee songs do. However, “Real Man” gives the vibes of a jazz performance at a speakeasy. There’s something about it that’s so smooth and sly, reminiscing something from that period, or even from the ‘La La Land’ soundtrack. Describing her “simple lover”, beabadoobee wrote “Real Man” about a relationship that wasn’t serving her anymore. Immature and childish, her soon-to-be former lover isn’t satisfying her anymore. She opens the song singing, “My simple lover / I'm not goin' for no other / I told my mother / What you did / Like a kid,” evoking the childish nature of the relationship by comparing it to a childhood crush.
This Is How Tomorrow Moves is full of songs that subvert beabadoobee’s usual hopeless romantic style of writing, but “Real Man” holds the starkest difference from her other love songs. Taunting and cautious, Bea wonders if the man she likes can “hold it down and take it” if she gives him the time of day. Or will he leave her disappointed in the choice to give him the time of day? The lyrics are silly but ring very true to the dating experience. Maturity is a dealbreaker to her, and I totally get it!
Holding It Down and Taking It Further
After the release of “This is How Tomorrow Moves”, Bea toured around for a few shows to promote the album as the summer rolled through. More recently, she’s been doing live recordings of singles from the album and preparing to take the stage on the festival circuit. Between Bonnaroo and Coachella, she’s gracing North America once again with the support of Pretty Sick and Keni Titus. While she’s not coming to Boston, we hope to see her sometime soon. We'll be the “Real Man” for her over at WERS!
