The single was initially ineligible to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 due to not receiving a physical release in North America; it instead peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart in August 1998.

As a result, "Real World" became the band's first single to enter the listing, debuting and peaking at number 38.

The song was written by lead singer Rob Thomas, and details him wondering about what it would be like if he lived in various settings other than the current one, including a superhero, a rainmaker, and being a boss at a job, and if they would worsen or improve his life.

In the meantime, intercut with this is a diner with Paul Doucette dressed as a waitress, eventually discarding the outfit.

In the midst of the news broadcast, we see what appears to be a breakfast cereal commercial with Adam Gaynor sitting with a family.