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{{singlechart|France|45|artist=Gotye feat. Kimbra|song=Somebody That I Used To Know}}
{{singlechart|France|45|artist=Gotye feat. Kimbra|song=Somebody That I Used To Know}}

Revision as of 21:09, 24 January 2012

"Somebody That I Used to Know"
Song

"Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song by Australian-Belgian singer and songwriter Gotye from his third studio album Making Mirrors, and features New Zealand singer Kimbra. The song was written by Gotye himself, lyrically about the experiences he has had with relationships. The song was released on 6 July 2011 as the second and lead single off the album.

The song was released into critical acclaim by music critics and a surprising success in Australia, peaking at number one in the country for eight weeks, becoming the longest running Australian song since Savage Garden's 1997 song "Truly Madly Deeply".[1] The song received other success in European countries particularly Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium), the Netherlands, Germany, Austria where it peaked at number one. In Kimbra's home country, New Zealand, the song has also reached number one. In Poland the song reached number one for 15 weeks, becoming the biggest hit ever.[2][3].

It is Gotye and Kimbra's most successful single and their first number-one song in Australia and New Zealand, also causing their previous singles and albums to chart in the top 100 in Australia. The song has been featured in the TV series 90210[4] and Gossip Girl.[5]

History

"Somebody That I Used to Know" was released on 6 July 2011, debuting at number 27 on the Australian ARIA Top 50 chart.[6] The single picked up significant radio play, rising to number three after just four weeks on the chart, and reached number one on 15 August 2011.[7] The song also reached #1 on the Dutch Top 40 Chart[8] and has reached #1 on iTunes in Poland, Belgium, Austria and Germany.

On 15 July 2011, it was announced that the song had come third in the 2011 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition.[9]

Composition

The song was both produced and written by Gotye in his parents' barn on the Mornington Peninsula where it was recorded. The song begins sampling Luiz Bonfá's track "Seville" along with the beats playing and a sparse xylophone solo. Gotye sings, seemingly addressing a past lover, discussing the ways in which he reminisces sometimes, and the nature of love. His voice then leaps an octave for the chorus, in which he expresses distaste at how he was treated "like a stranger" during the breakup, the stronger tone matching the hurt of the sentiment. Kimbra then sings her verse, seemingly in response, declaring that she too felt hurt at her treatment during the relationship, and was "screwed [...] over" yet made to feel it was her fault. Her voice rises in the chorus with a different melody, creating a polyphonic effect, and though harmonious it is almost as if the two voices are in argument, fitting the relationship breakdown theme of the song. After the second chorus, Gotye continues to perform the chorus as the song fades. The song finishes with Gotye and Kimbra both saying 'somebody'.

It is believed that the song is about a single relationship breakup. However, Gotye claims in an interview 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."

In an interview with Rolling Stone Australia, he described the song as "a curated reflection of multiple past relationships", but revealed the chorus was directly related to one ex-girlfriend. He stated: "It wasn't a nasty break-up, but it was messy in the sense that we hurt each other more than we needed to because it wasn’t a clean break... We both realised we had to move on and we haven’t seen each other since."[10]

Reception

Critical reception

Besides the commercial success, it also received critical acclaim. Take40 Australia elaborated on the single's reception at the 2011 Splendour in the Grass festival; "Gotye's latest song featuring Kimbra "Somebody That I Used To Know" had become somewhat of an unofficial anthem for the festival...every car was cranking it over their speakers all day, every day... and the question on everyone's lips was whether or not Kimbra would join him on the track. Fortunately, dreams came true... he smashed out an incredible set climaxing with a version of the song with Kimbra on co-lead vocals that people couldn't stop talking about all weekend long."[11] John Watson, who co-manages Gotye with Danny Rogers, said of the single's success: "we've never seen any song make a deeper or more immediate connection with so many people. It's a really special recording and video."[12] The song has been predicted as Future UK Hit by music blog This Must Be Pop.[13]

Commercial reception

The song first appeared on the Australian singles chart at 27 in late July. Despite a lack of airplay, the song climbed up to number one on 15 August, becoming Gotye and Kimbra's most successful song. The success was a huge achievement for Kimbra who was not well known in Australia. It also became Gotye's highest peaking single and third to chart in the top 100 after the album's first single "Eyes Wide Open" and his 2007 song "Heart's a Mess". During the number-one run, his album Making Mirrors debuted at number one at the same time, becoming the first Australian since Silverchair's 2007 single "Straight Lines" and its album Young Modern to have both the album and its single to peak at number one at the same time. On 3 October, the song became the second-longest-running Australian song (at 8 weeks) tied with Savage Garden's 1997 song "Truly, Madly, Deeply", behind Daddy Cool's 1971 hit "Eagle Rock" at 10 weeks. The single has since been certified 8x Platinum in Australia for sales exceeding 560,000 units.

In Kimbra's home country of New Zealand, the song made a huge debut at number 4 in late August. The song made it to number one three weeks later, becoming the first Australian song to peak at number one on the charts since Guy Sebastian's single "Who's That Girl" in February 2011.[14] "Somebody that I Used To Know" peaked at number one for 5 weeks and has been certified 3x Platinum.

The song went on to be an international success, charting in the top 20 in over 10 countries with six of them being at number one. The song also charted in the US and Canada: on 14 January 2012, "Somebody that I Used To Know" debuted at number 91 on Billboard Hot 100 charts, and in its second week it jumped rapidly, reaching 58 on the chart. The song debuted on the Irish Singles Chart on the 13th of January at number 38. Halfway trough the next week, it jumped into the top five on iTunes due to very strong download sales. On the 20th of January the single rose to number 9 on the chart and is predicted to rise further next week.

Music video

The music video premiered when it was controversially leaked on Take 40 Australia's website.[citation needed] It later premiered on his YouTube channel and had its television premiere on the Australian music show rage on 30 July. The video was directed, produced and edited by Natasha Pincus.

The video shows Gotye naked (there is no explicit nudity) against a white backdrop. As he sings, a pattern of paint gradually covers his skin and the backdrop via stop-motion animation. Kimbra then appears for her verse, also naked and already painted but with her back to the camera. She moves closer to Gotye to sing into his ear. During the final chorus, Kimbra returns to her original position and the paint on her body gradually disappears, further indicating that the two have separated.

The music video for the single is well received for its artistic style, picking up 200,000 views in its first two weeks, as well as receiving promotion on Twitter by actor Ashton Kutcher and international singers such as Lily Allen, Katy Perry, Cheryl Cole and Nick Jonas.[12]

On Christmas Day 2011, it was revealed that the video for "Somebody That I Used To Know" was voted #1 in the annual Rage Fifty countdown.

Cover by Walk Off the Earth

On 5 January 2012, Walk Off the Earth, a Canadian indie band formed in Burlington, Ontario, uploaded a cover of "Somebody That I Used to Know" to YouTube. Their version is notable for the fact that they appear to use a single guitar, played simultaneously by five people using different strings and surfaces, for all the instrumentation. As of 23 January 2012, it has over 35 million views on Youtube[15] and has been made available for download on iTunes.

Credits and personal

  • Gotye – lead and backing vocals, writer, producer, guitar, flutes and samples
  • Kimbra – lead and backing vocals
  • Lucas Taranto – bass guitar
  • François Tetaz – mixer

Chart performance

Charts

Chart (2011–12) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[16] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[17] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[18] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[19] 6
Canadian Hot 100 (Billboard)[20] 21
Canadian Alternative Rock[21] 2
France (SNEP)[22] 45
Germany (Media Control Charts)[23] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[24] 9
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[25] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[26] 1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[27] 1
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[28] 3
Scotland (OCC)[29] 26
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 9
UK Singles (OCC)[31] 21
US Billboard Hot 100[20] 58
US Rock Songs (Billboard)[20][32] 7
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[20][33] 9
US Heatseekers Songs (Billboard)[20] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 2
Triple J Hottest 100 1
German Singles Chart[34] 32
Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[35] 3
New Zealand Singles Chart 5

Release history

Country Date Format
Australia 5 July 2011 Digital download
New Zealand
Belgium 29 July 2011
Netherlands
Germany 11 November 2011
United Kingdom 30 December 2011[36]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gotye's single chalks up six weeks in top spot Herald Sun 19 September 2011
  2. ^ http://lp3.pl/alpt.phtml?m=11&u=7556
  3. ^ "Lista przebojów – aktualne notowania, playlista trójki – polskieradio.pl :: Notowanie nr – 1554 – Lista Przebojów Trójki". Lp3.polskieradio.pl. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  4. ^ "90210 Music – Season 4, Episode 8". The CW. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Gossip Girl Loves Gotye Just Like Everyone Else". 1 December 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  6. ^ Gilmore, Thomas. "Chart wrap-up: Christina Perri's strong debut – Music Industry". The Music Network. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Top 50 Singles Chart – Australian Record Industry Assocation". Ariacharts.com.au. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  8. ^ Steffen Hung. "Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  9. ^ "2011 Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition – Winners Announcement". APRA-AMCOS. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  10. ^ Treuen, Jason. "Rolling Stone: Gotye's Mad World". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  11. ^ "REVIEW – Splendour In The Grass 2011". Take 40. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  12. ^ a b http://www.themusicnetwork.com/music-news/artists/2011/07/21/ashton-kutcher-gets-behind-gotye/
  13. ^ Posted by Jessica (28 November 2011). "brings you Future Pop! (Issue #08)". This Must Be Pop. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  14. ^ Who's That Girl on NZ Charts.RIANZ Chart archives. Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 January 2011
  15. ^ "Walk off the Earth – Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye cover". Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  16. ^ "Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  17. ^ "Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  18. ^ "Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  19. ^ "Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  20. ^ a b c d e "Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100" (in Template:Zh icon). Billboard.com. Retrieved 20 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  21. ^ [1]
  22. ^ "Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know" (in French). Les classement single.
  23. ^ "charts.de". charts.de. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  24. ^ "Chart Track: Week 03, 2012". Irish Singles Chart.
  25. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Gotye feat. Kimbra" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  26. ^ "Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  27. ^ "Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know". Top 40 Singles.
  28. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  29. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  30. ^ "Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know". Swiss Singles Chart.
  31. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  32. ^ "Chart Highlights: Bruce Springsteen Bosses His Way Onto Rock Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  33. ^ "Chart Highlights: Bruce Springsteen Bosses His Way Onto Rock Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  34. ^ ":: MTV | Single Jahrescharts 2011 | charts". Mtv.de. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  35. ^ http://www.dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=2011&cat=s
  36. ^ "iTunes – Music – Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra) – Single by Gotye". Itunes.apple.com. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
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