"Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song written by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye ( pronounced 'GOH-TEE-YAY') featuring New Zealand singer Kimbra. The song was released in 2011, topped charts in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, as well as 22 other national charts, and reached the top 10 in more than 30 countries around the world. Not bad at all.
More about Gotye and the song later.
My reason in posting an item about the song is that I happened to come across a cover by a band called Walk Off the Earth that is fascinating, both for the quality of the cover and the fact that it has five people playing one guitar.
Here is the link to the cover of Somebody that I Used to Know:
Some reader comments to the above video:
I like the dude on the right
Me watching the video:
"We bought the whole guitar so we're gonna use the whole guitar"
Not enough people talking about the guy on the left. Keeping time like that on a guitar isn't easy.
Beard guy is me when participating group project.
The Guy on the right knows things About universe that we Will never understand
Cant believe that the "Beard guy" is gone
R.I.P. Beard Guy. Gone but never forgotten.
Imagine someone misses a note.
"Ok, now from the start again"
After this song the guitar went for a cigarette break
Imagine how excited they were after this take, I bet it took over a hundred tries to nail this video.
The last video I watch with my father before he's gone. And he said "this song is really good" and everytime I hear this, I cry
this song really does take on a whole new meaning when you know mike "beard guy" taylor is gone ... and i did not even get to know him
I am sorry for his family's loss
Fun fact: they had to convince Mike “Beard Guy” on the right that this song was a sea shanty in order to get him to participate. May he Rest In Peace.
Watching this 9 years later makes me sad, because almost half the band is gone, the man on the right past, and the man beside him left. Luckily they found a new recruit and their band is still making beautiful music that I 💕
After all these years...still the best cover on YouTube. It both makes me happy thinking about all the success they are having and sad thinking about Mike being gone,
From a Time when youtube was about making cool Videos that inspire people! :)
Her voice is so amazing...I love it ❤❤💋💯💥
I cant believe I thought this was the original for years...
It’s mad that the camera quality is so good, and this was made 8 YEARS AGO!
For almost a decade I thought the guy in the middle is Gotye and this is the original song. FFFFFFFFFFF
Plot twist: Beard guy actually plays the piano like the masters and he’s plays it with the 4 others carrying the piano like he does their guitar
I love how blondie looks down the entire video and when it's time to sing she gasps and looks up (at 2:37)
That guitar is feeling much loved
The guy on the right looks like he knows all the answers to every possible question in the universe.
Can't believe it's almost been a decade since this was uploaded
"What do you mean you spent all the money on microphones? What are we going to use for instruments?"
Some notes about Walk Off the Earth:
Walk off the Earth is a Canadian indie pop band known for its music videos of covers and originals.
Both Gotye and Kimbra have approved their cover of Somebody That I Used to Know.
On December 30, 2018, it was announced that band member Mike "Beard Guy" Taylor had died from natural causes. He was 51 years old.
This is the the most popular cover song ever posted on YouTube.
Here is the link to the original song by Gotye and Kimbra:
Song 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
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
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
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
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)
Somebody
Some more notes:
Gotye (real name Wally De Backer) was born in Belgium and moved with his family to Australia at the age of 2.
He has been releasing music in Australia since 2001.
Somebody that I Used to Know is the second single from De Backer's third album, Making Mirrors. The LP was released in the summer of 2011.
Gotye did not originally intend the song to be a duet but, after writing the first verse, realized he had nowhere to go with the character he was writing about, and needed to introduce another voice.
"Somebody" was both produced and written by Gotye in his parents' barn on the Mornington Peninsula, south-east of Melbourne.
The song finds Gotye addressing a past lover, reminiscing about their relationship and break-up. The song draws from the aftermath and memory of several relationships, but he told Rolling Stone Australia that one does resound louder than the others. "There is an ex-girlfriend I know." he admitted. "It was five-six years ago. It wasn't a nasty breakup, but it was messy in the sense that we hurt each other more than we needed to because it wasn't a clean break. I guess it's closest to what the chorus is about. We both realized we had to move on and we haven't seen each other since."
Kimbra was not Gotye's initial choice to provide the female vocals on this song. "There was a vocalist who was quite high profile in Australia who was all set to do it and then cancelled the night before we were going to do the vocal session," the Belgian-Australian divulged to Jam! Music. "In fact, we met at a festival months later and she was just like, 'Maybe that was a mistake,'" he added with a laugh.
Some memes about the song:
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