Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) May 2026

Lyrically, the song is an "amalgam" of Gotye's past relationship experiences. It captures the frustration of a partner who feels discarded and the counter-perspective of a partner who feels gaslit or suffocated.

: Gotye initially struggled to finish the track until he added a female verse. Kimbra was eventually chosen as the vocalist after another high-profile artist cancelled. Meaning and Visuals

: The song features a sparse xylophone melody based on the first nine notes of the nursery rhyme "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep". Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)

: The video has surpassed 2 billion views on YouTube and helped the song reach No. 1 in more than 25 countries.

: The distinctive opening guitar riff is sampled from Luiz Bonfá's 1967 instrumental "Seville". Lyrically, the song is an "amalgam" of Gotye's

The track is celebrated for its minimalist yet hypnotic instrumentation, which notably includes:

"Somebody That I Used to Know," released by Belgian-Australian artist featuring New Zealand singer Kimbra in July 2011, is a multi-platinum art-pop single that became a global cultural phenomenon. Written and produced by Gotye at his parents' house in Australia, the song explores the bitter aftermath of a romantic breakup through two opposing perspectives. Composition and Sampling Kimbra was eventually chosen as the vocalist after

: The painting symbolizes the shared history of the relationship, with Kimbra eventually "washing clean" of the paint as she breaks away.