Somebody That I Used to Know
July 5, 2011
Somebody That I Used to Know is a 2011 published song of the Belgian- Australian singer Gotye. It was recorded with New Zealand singer Kimbra and released as a second single from Gotyes third studio album Making Mirrors. The song was in 2013 with two Grammy awards ( Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo / Group Performance ). By the end of 2012, 11.8 million digital copies of the songs were sold worldwide.
Background
Somebody That I Used to Know was written and produced by Gotye. It is the song at the end of a relationship. The song contains a sample from the song of Seville Luiz Bonfá. It took five months to Gotye had found a suitable duet partner for the song because a first envisaged as a partner singer canceled at short notice.
Music Video
The music video for the song had its premiere in July 2011. Natasha Pincus directed. In the video Gotye stands naked in front of a white background and sings the song. In the course of the video Gotye and the background are covered with paint. Later, Kimbra is seen, which is also painted in a matching pattern to the background. For the video stop-motion animation was used. The video has been parodied many times.
Cover versions
The song has been covered several times. Among other things, the cast of the television series Glee coverte the song. Special attention gained the version of the Canadian indie rock band Walk off the Earth. In the accompanying music video, the band plays the song to fifth on a single guitar. The video traffic reached 17 million within a week. The cover version made it into the charts in several countries, among others, was ranked number 13 in Canada, number 41 in Germany, reached number 30 in Austria and number 54 in Switzerland.
Charts
2011 reached Somebody That I Used to Know # 1 in Australia and Germany, in early 2012 the UK and the U.S. reached the song also in Austria, the top chart. The song reached in numerous other countries the top spot in the singles charts, including Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Israel, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Hungary, the United Kingdom and the United States.