HOME

Site Map | Blog | Contact

MUSIC THEORY View Links... Music Theory Scales Theory Chords Theory Theory Aids

GUITAR CHORDS View Links... Basic Chords Guitar Chords Barre Chords Power Chords

CHORDS & LYRICS View Links... Popular Music Xmas Music Irish Music

Gotye Somebody That I Used To Know

Somebody That I Used To Know - Chords and Lyrics

Please see below for song tips

Song Tips

• Song: Gotye-Somebody That I Used To Know
• Degree of Difficulty: Easy
• Key Signature: D minor (Relative minor of F Major )
• Time Signature: 4/4 time. This means there are 4 crotchet beats per bar. The count is |1 2 3 4|. You can also count it as | 1& 2& 3& 4& |
• Tempo: approx. 129 bpm
• This version is played in the key of A minor with a Capo on the 5th fret. To the ear, the song is still in the key of Dm.
• The capo is used cleverly in this song, and you don't have to use barre chords which can sometimes sound muffled if not played cleanly.
• Standard chord progression for D minor: Dm - Edim - F - Gm - Am - Bb - C... uses Dm - C - Bb
• Standard chord progression for A minor: Am - Bdim - C - Dm - Em - F - G...uses Am - G - F (capo-5th fret)
• A hyphen between two chords in a bar means the timing count of the bar is split evenly between the 2 chords, e.g., | Am - G | means 2 beats on Am and 2 beats on G.
• If you count each bar as 1 2 3 4... pluck the bass notes on the 1 and 3 , and pluck the rest of the chord notes on the 2 and 4, e.g., | Am - G | will be played /A - Am - /G - G
• /A or A Bass note is on the 5th string played open, while /G or G bass is played on the 6th string, 3rd fret (after capo), which is part of the G chord anyway.
• Just use your thumb to pluck the bass note, with each of your remaining 4 fingers plucking each one of the top 4 strings.
• If you decide to play the Dm version, replace; Am with Dm, G with C, and F with Bb.
• Verses 1 & 2 are just a repetition of |Am - G |with 2 beats per chord
• Verse 3 is the same, except on the 3rd line you continue to play G (you can see this on the video), until you reach the Tacit sign and then stop. Continue playing again when you reach the chorus.
• On the last bar | F / G Am |... this means 2 beats on the F, 1 beat on the G, and 1 beat on the Am which finishes the song.
• Further help with reading song charts on this site.
• This adaptation is extremely clever. Five people crouched around a guitar all playing a particular role. The sound is first-class, and the delivery, effective. The guy with the hat on the far right is very cool... love what he does at the head of the guitar before the nut... who would have thought!
• An excellent production. Well done Gotye.

Lyrics

Gotye-Somebody That I Used To Know

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 that it was over

Chorus:
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
And 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:
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
Somebody, (I used to know)
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Somebody, (I used to know)
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
(I used to know... that I used to know... I used to know)... Somebody...

 

Song: Gotye Somebody That I Used To Know

Words & Music: Wally de Backer (Gotye)

Producer: Wally de Backer

Recorded: May, 2011

Released: July 5th 2011

Label: Eleven

Album: Making Mirrors

Category: Indie pop, indie rock, worldbeat

Gotye Somebody That I used To Know

Somebody That I Used To Know was written by Wally De Backer, who is known professionally as Gotye. He was born in Bruges, Belgium in 1980 and moved to Australia at age two. He is a singer/songwriter who plays a variety of instruments including guitar, drums, percussion, keyboards, and synthesizer.

Around 2001, De Backer began performing and co-writing with Kris Schroeder using the name, The Basics. They released three studio albums independently as a pop-indie trio. De Backer continued to perform with The Basics while working on recordings for his own Gotye projects.

Like Drawing Blood was Gotye's second album, and was voted No.1 by listeners on Triple J as the album of the year in 2006 (Australia). It sold over 70,000 copies. He won an ARIA Award (Australian Music Industry Award) for best male artist in 2007. He released a new single in 2010 called Eyes Wide Open. In August 2011 Gotye released the album titled Making Mirrors, and also released the single, Somebody That I Used To Know. The song featured the New Zealand singer, Kimbra.

In November 2011 Gotye won three ARIA Awards including, Best Male Artist, Song of The Year (Somebody That I Used To Know) and Best Pop Release. In early 2012 Somebody I Used To Know reached No. 1 in the UK. The song was covered by various artists on T.V. shows such as Idol, Smash and Glee. This exposure, along with Goyte»s performances on American television helped the song become a number 1 hit on the US Billboard Chart in April 2012.

The Official Website for Gotye