After signing with Hollywood Records, Lovato released their pop rock debut album, Don't Forget (2008), which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Its follow-up, Here We Go Again (2009), debuted at number one in the U.S., while its title track reached number 15 on the Hot 100. Lovato's third studio album, Unbroken (2011), experimented with pop and R&B and spawned the U.S. platinum-certified single "Skyscraper". They released her eponymous fourth album in 2013, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, and contained the top-ten international hit "Heart Attack". Lovato's fifth and sixth albums, Confident (2015) and Tell Me You Love Me (2017), infused soul and mature themes; they earned a Grammy Award nomination for Confident, while "Sorry Not Sorry", the lead single from Tell Me You Love Me, became her highest-charting single in the U.S., reaching number six. After a hiatus, Lovato released their seventh album, Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over (2021), which reached number two on the Billboard 200.
On television, Lovato has starred as the titular character on the sitcom Sonny with a Chance (2009–2011), served as a judge on the music competition series The X Factor USA for its second and third seasons, and appeared as a recurring character on the musical comedy Glee (2013–2014) and the sitcom Will & Grace (2020). They also starred in the television drama film Princess Protection Program (2009), the animated comedy film Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), and the musical comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020).
Lovato has sold over 24 million records in the United States[6] and has also received numerous accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, 14 Teen Choice Awards, five People's Choice Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, a Guinness World Record, and was included on the Time 100 annual list in 2017. An activist for several social causes, Lovato's struggles with an eating disorder and substance abuse have received considerable media attention, in response to which they published the self-help memoir Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year (2013) and released the documentaries Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated (2017) and Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil (2021). In 2021, Lovato had come out as nonbionary.
In Real Life
Demi Lovato Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's one more night you didn't make it home
And one more time you won't pick up the phone
In real life you never bring me flowers
When you're here it's only for an hour
I'm getting used to being on my own
Because in real life you're not what I thought
Guess things aren't always what they seem
But in my dreams, I'm waking up to roses
Champagne, kisses and I know it's always, always
Gonna be, gonna be this way
In my dreams, you're standing right beside me
Two hearts finally colliding
Then I wake up and realize, realize this is real life
Real life, this is real life, real life, real life
Real life, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, oh, real life
In real life it doesn't always work out
People fall in love and then they fall out
Hearts can break and never make a sound
Because in real life you're not what I thought
Real life, this isn't what I want
Guess things aren't always what they seem
But in my dreams, I'm waking up to roses
Champagne, kisses and I know it's always, always
Gonna be, gonna be this way
In my dreams, you're standing right beside me
Two hearts finally colliding
Then I wake up and realize, realize this is real life
Just when I thought this was all real life could be
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Somebody came along and made my dream reality
And now in real life, waking up to roses
Champagne, kisses and I know it's always, always
Gonna be, gonna be this way
In my dreams, he's standing right beside me
Two hearts finally colliding
When I wake up, I realize, realize this is real life
Demi Lovato's song "In Real Life" is a heartbreaking ballad that explores the difference between living in reality versus in our dreams. Lovato kicks off the song by admitting that, in real life, she is waking up alone because her lover does not make it home often and does not pick up the phone. She explains that, in real life, her lover never surprises her with flowers, and when he's around, it's only for a brief time, leading her to get used to being alone. The chorus then highlights the duality of this contrast, with Lovato plaintively repeating that in real life, things are not what she thought they'd be, and that things do not always seem as they appear.
Lovato then reveals that, in her dreams, she sees her lover standing by her side while she wakes up to roses, champagne, and kisses. She repeats the same chorus, adding in that in her dreams, two hearts are finally colliding, but she wakes up to realize that this is not real life. However, despite the sorrow and longing in the first half of the song, the second half presents a glimmer of hope. Lovato sings that even if things aren't always what they seem in real life, someone came along and made her dream a reality. She wakes up to roses, champagne, and kisses, and her lover is there beside her, two hearts finally colliding.
Overall, "In Real Life" is a poignant reminder that life is not always what we want it to be, but there's still hope that our dreams can come true. Through Lovato's powerful vocals and the song's emotive lyrics, we're left with a sense that even in our darkest moments, something beautiful is possible.
Line by Line Meaning
In real life I'm waking up alone
I wake up by myself in the morning in reality
It's one more night you didn't make it home
You didn't come back home last night
And one more time you won't pick up the phone
You aren't answering my calls
In real life you never bring me flowers
You don't give me flowers in real life
When you're here it's only for an hour
You're only here for a short while
I'm getting used to being on my own
I am becoming accustomed to being alone
Because in real life you're not what I thought
You are not what I expected in reality
Real life, this isn't what I want
This is not what I desire in real life
Guess things aren't always what they seem
Things are not always as they appear
But in my dreams, I'm waking up to roses
In my dreams, I wake up to roses
Champagne, kisses and I know it's always, always
There's always champagne and kisses in my dreams
Gonna be, gonna be this way
Things will always be like this
In my dreams, you're standing right beside me
You're next to me in my dreams
Two hearts finally colliding
Our hearts meet for the first time
Then I wake up and realize, realize this is real life
I wake up and realize that this is reality
In real life it doesn't always work out
Real life doesn't always go as planned
People fall in love and then they fall out
People fall in and out of love in reality
Hearts can break and never make a sound
Hearts can be broken silently
Just when I thought this was all real life could be
I thought this was all that reality could offer
Somebody came along and made my dream reality
Someone made my dream come true in reality
And now in real life, waking up to roses
Now, in reality, I wake up to roses
Champagne, kisses and I know it's always, always
There's always champagne and kisses in reality too
Gonna be, gonna be this way
Things will always be like this now
In my dreams, he's standing right beside me
In my dreams, he stands next to me
Two hearts finally colliding
Our hearts finally come together
When I wake up, I realize, realize this is real life
I realize this is reality when I wake up
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: LINDSEY BACHELDER, WILLIAM JAMES III MCAULEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind