Somebody That I Used to Know

Song Meaning and Background of Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye

The song "Somebody That I Used to Know" was written, produced, and performed by Australian singer-songwriter Gotye with vocals provided by Kimbra of New Zealand. It was composed and recorded at his parents' property in Victoria, Australia.

Lyrically, the song is about Gotye's experiences with love relationships. Gotye remarked that the song was "definitely drawn from various experiences I've had in relationships breaking up, and in the parts of the more reflective parts of the song, in the aftermath and the memory of those different relationships and what they were and how they broke up and what's going on in everyone's minds. Yeah, so it's an amalgam of different feelings but not completely made up as such."

Gotye discussed writing "Somebody That I Used to Know" in an interview with Sound on Sound:

"Writing 'Somebody' was a gradual and linear process. I started with the Luiz Bonfa sample, then I found the drums, and after that I started working on the lyric and the melody, and added the wobbly guitar-sample melody.

After that, I took a break, and a few weeks later I came back to the session and decided on the chorus chord progression, wrote the chorus melody, and combined that with sounds like the Latin loop and some of the percussion and the flute sounds that further filled the space.

At that point I hit a brick wall. I was thinking: 'This is pretty good, how can I get to the end really quickly?' and I was trying to take lazy decisions to finish the song. I considered repeating the chorus, an instrumental bridge, a change in tempo or key, I even considered finishing the song after the first chorus.

But nothing felt like it was strong enough. So the third session was all about writing the female part and changing the perspective.

The arrangement of 'Somebody' is reflective of me moving towards using sounds that provide me with inspiration for a texture or a platform for an idea, and then through sonic manipulation and coming up with original melodies and harmonic ideas to make it my own. I guess the balance of sounds taken from records and samples I created myself is perhaps 50–50."

"Somebody That I Used to Know" was both performers' hallmark tune and a commercial triumph on a global scale. Along with 25 other official charts, it topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and it peaked in the Top 10 in more than 30 more nations.

Lyrics of Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye

[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 that 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 that feels 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

But had 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 that feels 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

Somebody

(I used to know)

Somebody

(Now you're just somebody that I used to know)

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