The song is about a couple that experiences a brutal breakup and sees each other as the driving force behind that breakup.

Gotye and Kimbra have a wonderful interaction during the song. The first 2/3 of the song comprises Gotye saying all the things that she did that made him not want to be with her. When Kimbra enters with her part, we see that the first part is all hogwash and that Gotye’s character is the heavy. Still, at the end of the song, his delivery softens, and you can hear him being wistful at what was lost and frustrated at her being just “someone who he used to know.”

The Writing Process

Gotye describes the process of writing the song as linear. He composed the different parts of the song at different times but never more than one part at a time. He described thinking of the song and changing things as he went along. For example, he said that the chorus was once the verse and vice versa. He also borrowed a lick or two from Louis Bonfa, who was a Brazilian guitarist in the 1960s. He says that the song is about both of the people breaking up mutually, and he finds it interesting that people take sides during the song. It is more apparent that the woman is less at fault because she notes that the man in the song’s relationship was hung up on another woman he used to know. Also, she points out that she had to read into everything he ever said to filter if it were about her or about the other woman.

Chart Performance

The song was No. 1 for eight weeks during 2012, and it finished the year as the No. 1 song for all of 2012. Counting the United States Billboard Hot 100, it was No. 1 in 25 countries on five continents at the same time. It crossed genres, too, and was No. 1 in the United States not only on the Billboard Hot 100 but also on the alternative chart, the adult contemporary chart, the dance mix chart, and the mainstream Top 40. In Norway and Portugal, it was No. 2, and it rose to No. 3 in Spain.

Other Media

As with many No. 1 songs, “Somebody That I Used to Know” features prominently on reality programs. “American Idol,” “The Voice,” and “So, You Think You Can Dance” are three of the big-time reality shows where the song has been a staple over the years since 2011. Because of its subject matter, it’s popular, too, in television programs where the focus is on relationships, such as “Gossip Girl” and “New Girl.” The song features in British television programs, too, such as the drama “Cold Feet.”

Lyrics

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 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

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

And 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

But you didn’t have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing (aah-ooh)
And I don’t even need your love (ooh)
But you treat me like a stranger, and that feels so rough (aah)
No, you didn’t have to stoop so low (ooh)
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number (aah)
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

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Walter De Backer / Luiz Bonfa

Somebody That I Used to Know lyrics © Unichappell Music Inc., Op Shop Songs Pty Ltd

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