500 channels, and there ain't much on tonight
But reality shows 'bout some folks so called lives
A pretty girl cries 'cause she don't get a rose
But she'll find love next year on her own show
And they call that real

Real is the hand you hold 57 years
Real is a band of gold tremblin' with fear
It's the first long tear down an ol' man's face
Watchin' his angel slippin' away
His heart so broke, it's never gonna heal
I call that real

Where I live, housewives don't act like that
And the survivors are farmers in John Deere hats
Our amazin' race is beatin' the check
Prayin' that the bank ain't ran it through yet

Real like too much rain fallin' from the sky
Real like the drought that came around here last July
It's the damn bol weevils and the market and the wheat
The prayer they pray when they plant the seeds
And the chance they take to bring us our next meal
I call that real

Real like a job you lose 'cause it moves to Mexico
Like a mama and her baby with no safe place to go
Like a little dreamhouse with a big ol' "foreclosed" sign
Like a flag draped coffin, and a 21 gun goodbye
I call that real

Man, I call that real
Whoa, I call that real