Realiti (stylized as REALiTi) is a song by Grimes. It is the tenth track on her fourth studio album, Art Angels.
The demo version of the song, REALiTi (demo), was released as a promotional single and as a CD bonus track.
Background[]
REALiTi was originally recorded for the follow-up to Grimes' 2012 breakthrough album Visions, before she scrapped the whole record. Grimes gave the following description of the track on YouTube:[1]
❝ since this is no longer gonna be on the album, I’m releasing it as a special thank you to everyone in Singapore, KL, Manila, Jakarta, HK, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo who came out to the shows! It was an honor to play with a bunch of amazing bands and travel to places I would never otherwise be able to go.
This song was never finished. It's a demo from the lost album, recorded early 2013. I lost the Ableton file, so it's not mixed or mastered. I tried to doctor the MP3 into a listenable state, but it was poorly recorded in the first place and never meant to be heard by anyone, so it's a bit of a mess, haha. ❞
The song was reworked and released on the album, however, it does not appear on the vinyl version.
Composition[]
Production[]
Grimes explained in detail the whole situation surrounding REALiTi in an interview with NRK Radio:
❝ Basically, I made a demo, um, and then I lost the files. Uh, my computer crashed, I actually spilled coffee on my computer, so I was not able to officially release the demo. There’s no—it’s not mastered, like, you know, there’s no stems, so I can’t, like, play it live, really. I had basically had to re-record it, um, in order to, you know, put it on vinyl or play it live or anything like that. It’s, it’s all, it’s technical, like, behind the scenes shit, but basically, the things that the song requires to be of a certain sound quality, so that you can print it onto vinyl or a CD or whatever, I don’t have access to those things, it’s, yeah. I had, um, parts of the song, I even had some of the backing vocals, like a couple of them, so it wasn’t, like, a total, but like, all the drums had to be changed, like, you know, stuff like that.
[Was that tricky to do it all over again?]
Yeah, it was really rough. It was actually not a very enjoyable experience. I kind of feel like the new version is not, like, quite- I feel like the outro is better, but I feel like the verses are, like, kind of... I don’t know. Cuz it’s more of a vibey song, like, you can’t really make it into, like, a... I don’t know. You lose, some things, some things are better about the new version, some things are better about the old version. Like, I wish I had the old version so I could have started from the old version, but that is, that is what it is. ❞
Media[]
Video[]
| Video | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Title | REALiTi | |
| Premiere | 09 Mar 2015 | |
| Length | 4:24 | |
| Location | Marina Bay Sands, Singapore • Haw Par Villa, Singapore | |
| Director | Grimes | |
| Editor | Grimes | |
| DP | Mac Boucher | |
Background
In an interview for Fuse TV, Grimes talked about how initially, Realiti wasn't intended to have music video, and that her brother Mac Boucher first voiced his opinion that the travel footage from the Visions tour in Asia should be used to create it:[2]
❝ Well, I've been working with my brother for a l... pretty much on everything. The only thing he didn't work on was Oblivion. He worked with me a little bit on Genesis and a lot on Go, Realiti, and Flesh without Blood. I mean, Realiti, we actually, we weren't trying to film a video.
Like, we started out doing a tour diary, and then we just like, he was like: "Aw, look at this shot! Can't we just make a music video?" And I'm like: "Ah, the only thing I have, is, like, this song." you know, it wasn't done at all. And so we just shot it to the song just out of convenience and then, yeah, I don't know, it was kind of random. It was very improvised, we didn't have permits for anything, we only had like a 5D, so it was a music video that wasn't even supposed to be a music video, so I think there's kind of like this freedom to it that's really great, but, yeah, I always work with Mac.
I don't even have to tell him things, I'll be like, you know, we'll look at the light and like, I'll be like: "Ehhhh" and he'll be like "Okay, I'll change it." Like, he understands exactly what, I don't know, it saves a lot of time, and he's very skilled. For me, the DP that I'm working with is the most important part of it. Because I really have to put a lot of trust in them, because I can't be behind the camera when I'm like, you know, I'm like: "Does the shot look good?", so it's super important. ❞
Critical Reception[]
Despite being only a demo, REALiTi received critical acclaim. MTV says that after "listening to the song, you'll be wondering why Grimes left the track off her album”.[3] Stereogum agreed, saying that REALiTi was "a very good new song" and that "if she's willing to toss great songs like these into the ether, then when is she coming with something official?”.[4] The Atlantic notes that the song "is as good as anything on the radio" and goes on to claim that "the song is fabulous" and adds that the recording-quality issues don't prevent the song from sounding better than anything on the radio.[5] Pitchfork Media claims the song is the best new Grimes release since Visions and calls it a "compelling step forth", which "absorbs EDM and trance in Boucher's seemingly infinite palette of sound”.[6] Furthermore, Consequence of Sound named REALiTi the 5th best song of 2015.[7]
The reaction to the song online was so positive that Grimes said she would consider adding it to her new album, although she believes she has "better". The announcement of the tracklisting to Art Angels revealed that she ultimately complied and added the song to the album, both a new version and the demo which is included in the CD edition.[8]
Charting[]
"REALiTi" peaked number 30 on the US Hot/Dance Electronic Songs chart (Billboard).[9]
Lyrics[]
[Intro: Reversed]
Get up, this is what I see
[Verse]
When we were young, we used to get so close to it
And you were scared and you were beautiful
I wanna peer over the edge and see in death
If we are always the same
[Interlude]
Oh, I fear that no life will ever be like this again
'Cause your love kept me alive and it made me insane, oh, yeah
[Pre-Chorus]
There were moments when it seemed okay
(But I go back alone)
Whether you go or whether you stay
(I go back alone)
There was a time when the music would play
Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh
[Chorus]
Oh, baby, every morning there are mountains to climb
Taking all my time
Oh, when I get up, this is what I see
Welcome to reality
Oh, baby, every morning there are mountains to climb
Taking all my time
Oh, when I get up, this is what I see
Welcome to reality
[Verse]
When we were young, we used to get so close to it
And you were scared and you were beautiful
I wanna peer over the edge and see in death
If we are always the same, oh, yeah
[Pre-Chorus]
There were moments when it seemed okay
(But I go back alone)
Whether you go or whether you stay
(I go back alone)
Oh, oh, oh-oh, oh
You might also like
[Chorus]
Oh, baby, every morning there are mountains to climb
Taking all my time
Oh, when I get up, this is what I see
Welcome to reality
Oh, baby, every morning there are mountains to climb
Taking all my time
Oh, when I get up, this is what I see
Welcome to reality
To reality
[Outro]
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
To reality
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, oh, oh-oh, oh
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every
Oh, baby, every
Oh, baby, every
It sounds like corporate art
Break bread with an infidel
And plunge into the dark
[Verse]
When we were young, we used to live so close to it
And we were scared and you were beautiful
I wanna peer over the edge and see in death
If we are always the same
[Interlude]
Oh, I fear that no life will ever be like it again
'Cause your love kept me alive and it made me insane, oh
[Pre-Chorus]
There were momеnts when it seemed okay
(But I go back alone)
So do you start or whеre do you stay?
(I go back alone)
There was a time when the music would play
Oh
[Chorus]
Oh, baby, every morning there are mountains to climb
Taking all my time
Oh, when I get up this is what I see
Welcome to reality
Oh, baby, every morning there are mountains to climb
Taking all my time
Oh, when I get up this is what I see
Welcome to reality
[Verse]
When we were young, we used to live so close to it
And we were scared and you were beautiful
I wanna peer over the edge and see in death
If we are always the same, oh
[Pre-Chorus]
There were moments when it seemed okay
(But I go back alone)
So do you start or where do you stay?
(I go back alone)
Oh, oh, oh-oh, oh
[Chorus]
Oh, baby, every morning there are mountains to climb
Taking all my time
Oh, when I get up this is what I see
Welcome to reality
Oh, baby, every morning there are mountains to climb
(Oh, baby, every) Taking all my time
Oh, when I get up this is what I see
Welcome to reality
To reality
You might also like
[Outro]
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, oh, oh-oh, oh (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every
Oh, oh, oh-oh, oh
Oh, baby, every
Oh, baby, every (Give me a sign)
Oh, baby, every
References[]
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9XKLqGqwLA
- ↑ https://youtu.be/ZaUr22fBdHQ?si=8GXc5nb98tpQ7L_X
- ↑ http://www.mtv.com/news/2099662/grimes-realiti-video/
- ↑ http://www.stereogum.com/1787656/grimes-says-that-she-isnt-scrapping-music-because-of-negative-reactions/news/
- ↑ http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/03/grimes-new-old-song-suggests-her-lost-album-was-incredible/387217/
- ↑ http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/17367-grimes-realiti/
- ↑ http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/11/top-50-songs-of-2015/6/
- ↑ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/26/grimes-shares-album-release-date-new-music-and-surreal-video
- ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/303162/Grimes/chart?f=1234