AJR, God Is Really Real | Track Review 🎵

Alternative pop collective AJR deliver one of their most authentic, meaningful, and personal songs with the reflective “God Is Really Real.”

“God is really real when you really, really need Him.” That statement by 🎙 AJR is true. When something adverse happens in your life, or to your loved ones, the natural inclination is to pray harder, and find or rediscover faith.  The lyrical highlight from the millennial trio’s single, 🎵 “God Is Really Real” is a far cry from the sentiment of say, the 🎙 Marvin Sapp gospel song, 🎵 “Praise Him in Advance” where Sapp emphasizes to praise God in good and bad times. 🎙 Jack Met continues singing in the chorus, “Karma just appears when you suddenly believe it / Hear it loud and clear, just as long as it’s convenient (Convenient) / Life’s fuckin’ long ‘til it stops, and God’s fuckin’ fake ‘til He’s not.” Hmm, a mic drop moment for the collective, isn’t it?

Providing a bit more context, AJR were going through a family emergency.  The brothers’ father, Gary was becoming sicker.  Since the release of “God Is Really Real,” their father has passed. Besides the prudent chorus, AJR provide insight into their father’s condition (“And my dad can’t get out of bed”), and how it affected them, including touring. Additionally, the lyrics mentioned how the world continues on, but the pain of a loved one dying weighs incredibly heavy.  In the fourth verse, there is escapism, as Jack imagines getting his dad out of the hospital and being “a roadie for the band.” The encouragement for him to get well it touching, even if the result they desired didn’t happen. Another noteworthy moment is the final verse, which finds the band addressing toxic masculinity: “And we can’t face our feelings, so we’re makin’ lots of jokes / And we won’t cry about it, no, we’ll be manly men.” There is so much to unpack about 🎵 “God Is Really Real”, which has some of the characteristics and music cues of many AJR songs but also feels starkly different.  Compared to much of AJR’s traditional work, I find this song to be deeper and definitely special.

🎙 AJR • 🎵 “God Is Really Real” • 🏷 AJR Productions LLC / Mercury / Republic • 🗓 7.5.23

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; AJR Productions LLC / Mercury / Republic; OpenClipart-Vectors, PIRO via Pixabay]