Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know ft. Kimbra

By Shazidahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY

Lyrics• [Gotye]

Now and then I think of when we were togetherLike when you said you felt so happy you could dieTold myself that you were right for meBut felt so lonely in your companyBut that was love and it's an ache I still remember

• You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadnessLike resignation to the end, always the endSo when we found that we could not make senseWell you said that we would still be friendsBut I'll admit that I was glad it was over

• But you didn't have to cut me offMake out like it never happened and that we were nothingAnd I don't even need your loveBut you treat me like a stranger and that feels so roughNo you didn't have to stoop so lowHave your friends collect your records and then change your numberI guess that I don't need that thoughNow you're just somebody that I used to know

• Now you're just somebody that I used to knowNow you're just somebody that I used to know

• [Kimbra]Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me overBut had me believing it was always something that I'd doneBut I don't wanna live that wayReading into every word you sayYou said that you could let it goAnd I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know

• [Gotye]But you didn't have to cut me offMake out like it never happened and that we were nothingAnd I don't even need your loveBut you treat me like a stranger and that feels so roughAnd you didn't have to stoop so lowHave your friends collect your records and then change your numberI guess that I don't need that thoughNow 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)

• (I used to know)(That I used to know)(I used to know)Somebody

•

Irregular rhymes

half rhyme

When the song starts, the music and the beat are fast paced but its very quiet, kind of like someone trying to tip toe quietly. The establishing shot from his foot to his face shows who the main focus of the song is.

Once the camera reaches to Gotye’s face, it is zoomed to show his facial expression. I expected the lyrics to be a little more faced paced to match up to the beat of the music but instead, his voice is slow and quiet. This still goes with the song very well because the song title is called “Somebody That I Used To Know”, the quietness of his voice indicates that he is upset about how they have now separated.

Now and then I think of when we were togetherLike when you said you felt so happy you could dieTold myself that you were right for meBut felt so lonely in your companyBut that was love and it's an ache I still remember

Not looking at the camera, but looking straight down which indicates he is reflecting on what happened during his relationship.

When he says “you” he starts to look straight at the camera which involves the audience watching the video, trying the make them feel like they are the person that hurt him.

The instrumental bit after this first verse goes away from the main focus (Gotye) and starts to “draw lines” on the wall behind him. It then slowly draws the lines on him and colours in the wall and him, which shows he is now part of the wall because he has been “cut off” and “he was nothing” and “walls” don't really get noticed by people a lot.

[Gotye]

The dull colour of the wall behind Gotye and the ugly, dull, dark colours being used to then colour in the wall shows that nothing in his life is colourful anymore now that she's left him and treated her in a way he never thought he would be treated.

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadnessLike resignation to the end, always the endSo when we found that we could not make senseWell you said that we would still be friendsBut I'll admit that I was glad it was over

While the walls were being coloured in, Gotye started to sing again in a low and sad voice while not a lot of facial expression, he was looking straight in the beginning of the verse and towards the end too which showed his confident side because he is admitting and stating and then in the middle he was looking down at the camera which also indicated that he is reflecting on his relationship and past.

But you didn't have to cut me offMake out like it never happened and that we were nothingAnd I don't even need your loveBut you treat me like a stranger and that feels so roughNo you didn't have to stoop so lowHave your friends collect your records and then change your numberI guess that I don't need that thoughNow you're just somebody that I used to knowNow you're just somebody that I used to knowNow you're just somebody that I used to know

The music starts to get louder and the beat gets faster which sort of is trying to show that he is now done with explaining and reflecting and stating, but that he is now going to fight and tell what she as done to make him feel a lot of hate towards her

Instead of the camera being zoomed into his face at this point, it does a mid long shot of his face to show his body expression as well his face and how slowly his body is getting coloured in to show that he is now part of the wall behind him.

Also may indicate how he is turning into a wall?

Still no expression even though now he is becoming something else slowly and even though she has hurt him pretty badly

[Kimbra]Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me overBut had me believing it was always something that I'd doneBut I don't wanna live that wayReading into every word you sayYou said that you could let it goAnd I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know

Now its Kimbra’s turn to fight her case. The camera zooms out of Gotye’s mid long shot and slowly changes into a two shot to show both Gotye and Kimbra

This shot also shows how they are both just as bad as each other because they are now both part of the wall which indicates that they have both cheated on each other so really none of them should be blaming each other for their separation.

This shot then changes into a close up of the two of them and she is looking up at him with an expression that she is trying to defend her self because he has pretty much done the same as she has done.

LAYERING – because he is singing the chorus while she is harmonising which is showing that he is ignoring whatever she has said about him and is going start pointing out al of her flaws again. The fact that he is closing his eyes as well shows that how hard he is trying to ignore her.

Her harmonising could indicate that she is trying very hard to explain her self but him looking away and closing his eyes sows that he doesn't want to hear any of it.

This last shot shows Kimbra turning back into her normal self instead of being the “wall”. She has had enough of him and enough of trying to explain her side of the story so she's decided to just move on – what the colours disappearing from her might indicate. He is still a wall because he is not forgetting what has happened

But you didn't have to cut me offMake out like it never happened and that we were nothingAnd I don't even need your loveBut you treat me like a stranger and that feels so roughAnd you didn't have to stoop so lowHave your friends collect your records and then change your numberI guess that I don't need that thoughNow you're just somebody that I used to know

Walls are never noticed?

Thoughts on the video

• Performance video (but has a sort of narrative because it is about a breakup but the music video with it doesn’t really match up to it.

• Target audience – people who have been through a break up? Because they may understand he colours and the concept used for the video.

• Nothing to fancy – no transitions or clever edits, just different camera shots to show the dullness and the sadness of the concept.

• Make up artists needed to colour in walls and the faces of the music artists.

• No costumes needed.

More on Gotye

• His video “eyes Wide Open” did not really feature him in it properly, he came up on some sort of projector and the colours in that video were vaguely similar to the Somebody That I Used To Know video. They were dull and quite boring but made the video effective. This music video is also animated.

• His video Easy Way Out also is animated and uses dark colours. My opinion, Gotyes videos probably show the different aspects of his life which have been quite hard on him which is probably why his videos are dull and depressing.