Songfacts®:

• Soul singer Sam Moore sang on this with Springsteen. Moore was half of the duo Sam & Dave, who had a hit with "Soul Man." Moore was never paid much for his music, and in his later years had to tour just to pay his medical bills. In 2002 he got some redemption when he and some other musicians got a settlement from their union because their record companies failed to report royalties and make proper payments to their pension fund.
• E Street Band pianist Roy Bittan wrote the music, with Springsteen filling in the lyrics. The song is about a love that isn't a storybook romance, but part of the real world - one that will last.
• Springsteen had broken up the E Street Band by this point, but did use Bittan, keyboard player David Sancious, and backup singer/wife Patti Scialfa on some of the songs on Human Touch and Lucky Town. On "Real World," the musicians are Bittan on keyboards, Randy Jackson (of American Idol fame) on bass, and Jeff Porcaro (of Toto) on drums.
• Human Touch and Lucky Town were both released on March 31, 1992, almost five years after his previous album, Tunnel Of Love. This strategy worked for Guns N' Roses, who released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II on the same day in 1991, but Bruce had a hard time convincing even his most ardent fans to buy two albums at once with no big hits and no E Street Band. The stubborn sales prompted a shift in Springsteen's promotional strategy. In the past, he got the word out through touring and didn't do much press. But now he embraced the media and promoted himself on talk shows and showcases like Saturday Night Live. It was the start of a Springsteen media saturation that included books, loads of outtakes, and even a Broadway show.