Songfacts®:

• With "Real Man," Beabadoobee takes aim at a partner who just doesn't measure up. The slinky folk-pop track unfolds as a cheeky yet cutting takedown of immaturity and neglect in a relationship, anchored by the damning refrain, "I guess no one ever taught you how to be a real man."
• The song was born from a particularly eye-roll-worthy period after Beabadoobee broke up with her boyfriend of seven years, Soren Bryce. It was a time spent navigating her way through what she describes as "quite disappointing men." Written with her boyfriend, photographer Jacob Erland, "Real Man" required the pair to delve into some awkward territory.
  
  "It was weird at first," she admitted, "but it was nice to write about it with someone who understands me."
  
  To lighten the mood, they envisioned the grossest man they could think of as a sort of creative template - an approach that was as cathartic as it was amusing.
• The song was produced by Rick Rubin and Jacob Bugden, and recorded at Rubin's studio Malibu, California - Bea flew in from London for the sessions. She told Radio X that Rubin, whose absurdly impressive list of clients includes Weezer, Adele and Brandi Carlile, was "So awesome, very spiritual. He helped my brain a lot."
  
  Rubin and Bugden delivered a sound on the song that's flirty, cheeky, and just a touch smoky.
• The song is a track from Beabadoobee's third album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves. Reflecting on the album's title, Beabadoobee told Apple Music, "There is something about the word 'moves' that's so physical. It's like I had to write all those songs to be able to move on from everything I was going through at that time... to move on to tomorrow."
  
  And indeed, "Real Man" feels like part of that process - a song about releasing frustration, reclaiming confidence, and perhaps even finding a little humor in the messiness of it all.