This is one simple yet so meaningful song that caught my ears into listening over and over again. I love this song and the music video (which features Kimbra), and I can definitely relate to the story behind it. The song, along with its distinct beat I should say, is something new to everyone's ears, just like Adele's songs.
"Somebody that I used to know", written by Gotye, a Belgian-Australian singer, had indeed attracted millions of viewers in YouTube and has sold over 4 million copies all over the world. Now, what really is behind the music video and the song itself that everyone can't seem to get over with, including me?
The video is refreshingly different. Unlike the standard sex and swag of contemporary pop music videos, the concept of this (it has one!) is as if Jasper John is painting on Veruschka, if you know your 20th century art history. It starts with the camera panning over the singers naked and almost hairless body. It’s intimate, but not sexual. This is a break-up song. When the camera gets to Gotye’s face, he starts singing, but doesn’t look at us. When he sings the word, “die,” he finally makes eye contact. Clearly this is not going to be a love fest.
A sample of a Brazilian bossa nova guitar riff shuffles in the background as pencil lines are drawn on a white wall. We get it. This is how relationships begin, all possibilites are open. But then we see that triangular areas are forming and then those shapes are getting painted in. The honeymoon is over. Things are starting to get rigid. “When you said we could not make sense, then you said that we could still be friends,” Gotye croons.
Then the tempo picks up and he goes into more of a cry for the chorus, ”You didn’t have to cut me out,” reminiscent of Peter Gabriel. As the tone shifts, the painting which had just been confined to the wall behind him is now beginning to cover his skin. He is inside of the relationship and can’t get out. “Now you’re just somebody that I used to know,” he sings angrily, completely covered in paint, looking a bit like a muted, arty version of Ace Frehley from KISS.
Then we pull back from Gotye and see how he has become part of the painting behind him. As we pull out more we see that his girlfriend is also part of the painting with her back towards us. Then she turns her head and begins to sing, “Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over,” the New Zealand singer Kimbra begins. And here’s the surprise that makes the song. We’re going to get to hear the other side of the story.
But not for long. As she approaches him, her temper rises but he remains cool, impassive. But when she is finally shouting in his ear, he screams back with the chorus and she retreats into background vocals and slowly backs away. When she’s back in her original position, the paint start disappearing from her skin until she is naked, free to go. Gotye is still trapped in the relationship, but Kimbra has moved on.
source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/04/20/gotyes-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-goes-its-own-way-to-no-1-glee-and-snl-helped/
"Somebody that I used to know"
(feat. Kimbra)
[Gotye:]
Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember
You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad it was over
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and I feel so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
[Kimbra:]
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
Part of me believing it was always something that I'd done
But I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know
[Gotye:]
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and I feel so rough
And you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
[x2]
Somebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you're just somebody that I used to know)
(I used to know)
(That I used to know)
(I used to know)
Somebody
Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember
You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad it was over
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and I feel so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
[Kimbra:]
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
Part of me believing it was always something that I'd done
But I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know
[Gotye:]
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and I feel so rough
And you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
[x2]
Somebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you're just somebody that I used to know)
(I used to know)
(That I used to know)
(I used to know)
Somebody
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