Are You Even Real?

Album: single release only (2020)
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Songfacts®:

  • Here, James Blake is so enamored with a girl, he wonders if she's even real. Such is the connection between him and this "Queen of Queens" that she is his ultimate fantasy. But (spoiler alert), it turns out Blake is just experiencing a very lucid dream.
  • The starry-eyed song originated with Blake getting together with songwriter Starrah (Rihanna's "Needed Me," Maroon 5's "Girls Like You"). The English singer explained to Apple Music's Zane Lowe that he played her a piano motif, which she immediately engaged with and started writing "one of the main refrains melodically."

    Blake tweaked some of the lyrics to make it more personal, then produced the track over the next two months. He also got together with another pop songwriter, Ali Tamposi (Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello's' "Señorita," Dua Lipa's "Break My Heart"), who helped pen parts of the song.
  • Peter Lee Johnson not only plays violin on the track, but also gets a songwriting credit. Other songs he's contributed towards include Offset's "Father of 4" and Ty Dolla $ign's "Never Be the Same."

Comments: 1

  • A from CanadaThis was written for Jameela Jamil, his love.
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