Real-Reasons

I realize this doesn’t help a bit / but what can I do what can I do

“Real Down Town,” Vigilantes of Love
“Real Girls,” Daniel Amos
“Real Long Distance,” Josh Ritter
“Real Love,” Smashing Pumpkins
“Real Love,” Regina Spektor
“Real World,” Matchbox Twenty
“Really,” Nellie McKay
“Really Mystified,” Elvis Costello & The Attractions
“Reason to Believe,” Aimee Mann & Michael Penn
“Reason to Believe,” Bruce Springsteen
“Reason to Believe,” Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
“Reason to Believe,” Billy Bragg
“Reasons,” Earth Wind & Fire

Yes, I own that Matchbox Twenty CD, because I was alive in 1997. “Real World” isn’t a bad song, and I’m not displeased to own it, unlike some friends of mine who occasionally stumble across their copies of Yourself or Someone Like You, mystified and a little frightened, with no clear memory of how it was they came to own such a thing.

Three of the four “Reason to Believes” above are the Springsteen song from Nebraska. The Billy Bragg track is a cover of the Rod Stewart Tim Hardin song, made famous by Rod Stewart, which I used to think was called “Someone Like You.” I don’t have Stewart’s version. Rod’s got a great voice, but his decisions in recent years for how to employ that voice have diminished my ability to enjoy his older songs as much as I once did. (His “People Get Ready” with Jeff Beck, though, is still one of my favorite things.)