Now and then, I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy, you could die
I 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
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 2: Gotye]
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
[Chorus: 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
Now, you're just somebody that I used to know
Now, you're just somebody that I used to know
[Verse 3: 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
[Chorus: Gotye]
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing (Ah)
And I don't even need your love (Ooh)
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough (Ah)
No, you didn't have to stoop so low (Ooh)
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number (Ah)
I guess that I don't need that, though (Ooh)
Now, you're just somebody that I used to know
[Outro: Gotye, Gotye & Kimbra]
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
About
Having burned through the Australian charts late in 2011, Gotye’s sad tale of lost love continued to climb the charts on US soil in 2012 and 2013. The emotionally charged “Somebody That I Used To Know” details a mutually ended relationship in which one person feels a pain that the other refuses to feel.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
After meeting years ago, New Zealand native Kimbra and Belgian-Australian artist Gotye finally got the chance to record a duet. That song definitely resonated with the masses, as it became one of 2012’s biggest singles. “Somebody That I Used to Know” was a springboard that Kimbra used to get her jazz-tinged indie pop to a wider audience.
Gotye said the following about the creation of the song:
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.
Gotye stated 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”.
Yes! The song was certified 14x Multi-Platinum by the RIAA on May 6th, 2021.
- 2.Easy Way Out
- 3.Somebody That I Used to Know
- 11.Save Me
- 12.Bronte
- 15.Two Mirrors
- 16.Atimot ot Edo
