{"id":2300,"date":"2023-09-26T11:32:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T18:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/?p=2300"},"modified":"2023-09-26T11:32:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T18:32:54","slug":"songs-i-like-somebody-that-i-used-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/songs-i-like-somebody-that-i-used-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Songs I Like – Somebody That I Used To Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Song: Somebody That I Used To Know Artist: Gotye<\/strong> (Originally published April 17, 2012)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oddly enough, I first encountered this song not by the original artist Gotye, but through a YouTube video of the song posted by a Canadian band called Walk Off The Earth.  It was a very clever video, with the band members ALL playing the same guitar!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last time I looked, they had over 87 MILLION hits of their version!  Amazing.  But I’m here to talk about the song itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singer\/songwriter Gotye is a Belgian-born Australian who had three previous albums to his credit. \u00a0This song, however, really took off for him and he’s had #1 status all over the world. \u00a0If you listen to Gotye’s version of the song, something that really stands out for me is the simplicity of the production. \u00a0I know that good songs stand on their own…or they SHOULD. \u00a0But sometimes the production behind a song is what makes it so identifiable; \u00a0in other words it is completely unique. \u00a0I’m sure artists or producers have used xylophones before, but Gotye actually uses it over a sample of Luiz Bonf\u00e1’s track “Seville” (here’s a\u00a0link<\/a>\u00a0to that track if you’re interested, you’ll hear the guitar right away, just the first bar, that Gotye samples). \u00a0I didn’t even realize it was a sample until I started to research the song. \u00a0Bonf\u00e1<\/a>\u00a0is a Brazilian guitarist and composer who passed away in 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vocally the delivery goes from a quiet, almost plaintive tone in the verses to real belting in the chorus.  My husband, who is a fan of earlier Australian bands like Men At Work and Midnight Oil, says he can hear the Australian influence especially in one line “Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing.”.  The way he breaks up the word “happened” starting on a G on the first syllable and sliding up to a C on the last syllable, is what my husband claimed was the sound that was familiar.  Interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealander Kimba provides the female vocal in the third verse, a lyrical response to the first two verses that are sung by Gotye. \u00a0It’s an interesting contrast; \u00a0one of my students, a female, says Kimba’s verse is her favourite, especially the first line “Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over”! After that verse there appears to be a pre-chorus that happens only once in the song and only before the second time the chorus is sung. \u00a0It builds up nicely (which is why they often call a pre-chorus a “lift”!) into the chorus. \u00a0A clever songwriting technique; \u00a0every now and then throw in something unpredictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walk Off The Earth’s version only brought more attention to the original…along with making it their own by coming up with such a unique way to perform it.  Recently I saw a YouTube cover version of the song with the lyrics changed to reflect how poorly my hockey team, the Canucks, are doing in the NHL playoffs.  As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery;  and the more popular a song is, the more cover and satirist versions you’ll find everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great song and definitely an earworm! \u00a0Get your earworm version below on the YouTube video \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~ IJ<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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