About Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra)

"Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song written by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye, featuring New Zealand singer Kimbra. The song was released in Australia and New Zealand by Eleven Music on 5 July 2011 as the second single from Gotye's third studio album, Making Mirrors (2011). It was later released by Universal Music in December 2011 in the United Kingdom, and 20 January 2012 in the United States and Ireland. "Somebody That I Used to Know" was written and recorded by Gotye at his parents' house on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, and is lyrically related to the experiences he has had with relationships. "Somebody That I Used to Know" is a mid-tempo ballad. It samples Luiz Bonfá's instrumental "Seville" from his 1967 album Luiz Bonfa Plays Great Songs. It also incorporates the first nine notes of the popular nursery rhyme, 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', played on a xylophone, as an opening refrain and sparsely recurring motif in other parts of the song. The song received a positive reception from critics, who noted the similarities between the song and works by Sting, Peter Gabriel, and American folk band Bon Iver. In Australia, the song won the Triple J Hottest 100 poll at the end of 2011, as well as ARIA Awards for song of the year and best video, while Kimbra was voted best female artist and Gotye was named best male artist and producer of the year. The song came ninth in the Triple J Hottest 100 of the Past 20 Years, 2013. In 2013, the song won two Grammy Awards for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Record of the Year.

Commercially, "Somebody That I Used to Know" is Gotye's most successful and signature song. It has topped charts in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, as well as 22 other national charts, and reached the top 10 in more than 30 countries around the world. It was the most commercially successful song of 2011 in Flanders (Belgium), the most successful song of 2012 in Wallonia (Belgium), Canada, Israel, the UK, and the US, and the most successful song of the 2010s decade by an Australian artist in Australia. It is certified Multiplatinum in ten countries, including Diamond in Australia. The song has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling digital singles of all time. In addition to the Hot 100, it was also placed at the top of Billboard's year-end Adult Pop Songs and Alternative Songs charts and other many other charts around the world. In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Somebody That I Used to Know" was ranked number 98. "Somebody That I Used to Know" has been performed several times on major US TV shows such as The Voice, American Idol, and Saturday Night Live. It was covered by Canadian indie rock group Walk Off the Earth using a single guitar played simultaneously by all five band members and by actors Darren Criss and Matt Bomer in the Glee episode "Big Brother". The hit song's accompanying music video was directed by Australian artist Natasha Pincus. The video, which has received over 1.6 billion views on YouTube as of April 2021, premiered on 5 July 2011. It shows Gotye and Kimbra naked against a white backdrop. While they sing, a pattern of paint gradually covers their skin and the backdrop via stop motion animation.