Lyrics to
Unreal Reality (The Real Thing)

Released by The Kinks in 1972
From the Album: Everybody's In Show-Biz |

This version of Unreal Reality (The Real Thing) was released by The Kinks in 1972.

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All that I see, seems so unreal to me,
Is it the truth or is it only fantasy,
Is it a dream or is it unreal reality?

All around me is such unreality,
Optical illusions as far as my eyes can see,
Is the whole thing a fake, or the ultimate reality?

That house is so big that it reaches right up to the clouds
It’s got hundreds of windows, so the people inside can look out,
And they look down below and wonder what it’s all about.

Look at that lady she got silver all over her face,
Is she a human being or a creature from outer space,
Is she authentic or phoney, I guess it’s just a matter of taste.

Oh because they can feel it, it’s gotta be the real thing,
Because they can touch it, it’s gotta be reality.
If they say it’s real, it’s gotta be the real thing.

See that fella, looking all spick and span,
Is he a tailor’s dummy or is he a real man,
Is he genuine, or straight off the assembly line.

All round me is such unreality,
Optical illusions as far as my eyes can see,
Is the whole thing a fake or the ultimate reality?

Is it a dream, or is it the real reality?


The Kinks has released many songs over the years besides Unreal Reality (The Real Thing). The Kinks released songs from 1964 to 1993 spanning across albums like Kinks, Kinda Kinks, The Kink Kontroversy, Face To Face, Something Else, The Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire), Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, Muswell Hillbillies, Percy, Everybody's In Show-Biz, Preservation Act I, Preservation Act II, Soap Opera, Schoolboys In Disgrace, Sleepwalker, Misfits, Low Budget, Give The People What They Want, State Of Confusion, Word Of Mouth, Think Visual, UK Jive, and Phobia. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Kinks.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1972 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Unreal Reality (The Real Thing) by The Kinks

The lyrics to Unreal Reality (The Real Thing) are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that The Kinks used when the song was created in 1972. The lyrics to Unreal Reality (The Real Thing) have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only The Kinks and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

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If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Unreal Reality (The Real Thing) by The Kinks. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Unreal Reality (The Real Thing)" means the words set to the music of Unreal Reality (The Real Thing), or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Kinks. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Unreal Reality (The Real Thing) and the lyrics to Unreal Reality (The Real Thing) are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Kinks who came here looking just for the lyrics to Unreal Reality (The Real Thing), but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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