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The song was written, composed and sung by the Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Wally De Backer or ‘Gotye’ as he is also known. It was the second single from his third studio album ‘Making Mirrors’, and the track was co-written and co-produced with fellow musician and frequent collaborator Francois Tetaz. The vocal of the song was complemented by that of the New Zealander artist Kimbra, most popular for her hit singles “Settle Down” and “Cameo Lover”.
The song portrays two ex-lovers meeting up again after a messy break-up. Gotye laments over his former lover, and he regrets letting her go. Kimbra, who plays the part of a former lover responding to Gotye’s heartbroken reflections, sings about how his faults caused her to leave and had a lasting influence upon her.
The track was immediately well received in Gotye’s local Australia, and hit the number one spot in the country’s ARIA Charts after the first week. The success of the single was boosted by the clever music video, which was directed by Natasha Pincus and featured the two singers standing still while being filmed in reverse and playing their parts to the song. The video has earned more than 1 billion views, making it one of the most viewed music videos of all time.
'Somebody That I Used To Know' has also been the subject of multiple different versions and cover versions by independent artists. One of the most famous covers of the song is a folk-style version by the Canadian indie-rock group Walk Off The Earth, filmed with all five members of the band playing the song on one guitar. Other notable covers include the progressive-house version created by the Dutch DJ and producer Feenixpawl, and the acoustic/latin- music creation by the Mexican DJ/producer Axel Pagdo.
The magnificent success of 'Somebody That I Used To Know' has earned it numerous awards and recognitions all over the world. It won two Grammy Awards in 2013, being the only single to have an artist from the 5th continent to win a Grammy that year.
This single is the perfect example of a song that does not requires you to move to the rhythm, but that just carries away your emotions and thoughts with its dreamlike atmosphere. It is an ode to heyday romance, but one that carries with the sentimentality of lost memories that will never come back.
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