

Nothing's Real
Shura
2016
2016
[Verse 1]
Never thought I'd be stuck in this bed
With a cheap clock ticking above my head
One for me, one for you, one for them
Oh, what you looking at?
Somebody get me out of this dress...
Nothing's Real
Shura
[Verse 1]
Never thought I'd be stuck in this bed
With a cheap clock ticking above my head
One for me, one for you, one for them
Oh, what you looking at?
Somebody get me out of this dress
I'm a dead girl walking
And I need medicine
[Chorus]
I see my heart beat inside a television screen
My body's not connecting, no
They're telling me that I'm fine
They're telling me there's nothing wrong
Game over
Nothing's real
[Verse 2]
I got nerves around my chest
Telling the time like I've got none left
One o'clock, two o'clock, three
How is it time runs away from me?
Call up my relatives, tell them I'm done
I'm a dead girl walking
I need medicine
[Chorus]
I see my heart beat inside a television screen
My body's not connecting, no
They're telling me that I'm fine
They're telling me there's nothing wrong
Game over
Nothing's real
[Refrain]
Nothing's real
Nothing's real
Nothing's real
[Chorus]
I see my heart beat inside a television screen
My body's not connecting, no
They're telling me that I'm fine
They're telling me there's nothing wrong
Game over
Nothing's real
[Outro]
Nothing's real
Nothing's real
Nothing's real
Game over
And nothing's real
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“Nothing's Real” is the second track from Shura's debut album of the same name. Preceded by an ambient track, “Nothing's Real” sets the synth-pop tone of the album.
The track tells the true story of the time Shura suffered a panic attack and ended up in hospital. Interestingly, the panic attack was brought on by the online success of her song “Touch.” Surprise offers from major labels were a catalyst, ultimately resulting in both a label signing and the story told in the track itself.
According to Pitchfork:
“In “Nothing's Real,” doctors tell Shura that her panic attack has no medical basis, and hook her up to an ECG to prove it. “I see my heartbeat inside a television screen,” she sings, niftily marking the distance between fact and feeling with an image right out of the kind of '80s pop video her music would have once called home: “Nothing's Real” struts and whirls like Kylie Minogue spinning around in a Devonté Hynes disco mix.”