Lyrics Analysis­: `Somebod­y I Used To Know” by Gotye

Composition 1
Mr. Burk
November 1st, 2012
Analysis Paper: Music Analysis

“Somebody I Used To Know” by Gotye

Talking about a situation every single person on earth will or already did experience, Gotye’s song “Somebody That I Used to Know” from the Album Making Mirrors went straight to the hearts of his listeners and can be connected to their love lives in many different ways. The popularity of this song can be connected to the fact that the lyrics describe a situation everybody knows and experienced and it tells about the same pain the listeners have been through. They can relate their own experience to the song and build a connection to it because of it's situation.

Commonly there are three kinds of attitude that people take when their romantic relationship with someone fails. Some of them choose to keep a relation to each other and stay friends, without regretting the good time they had and moving on with the knowledge that it just did not work out or that their relationship was just not strong enough to survive the hard times they went through. The second group just leave each other by walking different  directions. They moved away from each other and their relationship remains as something unimportant, more like a pale shadow in their lifetime story. They neither hate each other nor stay friends, they just have no relationship to each other anymore and continue their lives without any feelings. The third part of the persons with a broken relationship choose to abruptly change their attitude toward their ex-lover. Most of the time, this feeling just belongs to one of the two, the one who got dumped by his or her lover but still has feelings left and is left with a broken heart and hurt. They form a kind of hate against the one who broke up to hide from the knowledge that they still have feelings for them and just can’t get over them.

The first group will usually keep in touch with each other. Of course, initially it is very difficult.
But if they try hard and give each other time to get over their relationship, it will work out and they can continue as even good friends. The second group will just move on with the memory but no feelings compared to them. They walk away in different directions and won’t turn around again. Meanwhile, instead of trying to keep good relationship, the third group will choose to consider their ex as strangers or worse, enemies. They avoid meeting with their ex-lovers and if they accidentally meet, they’ll try to hide from them or walk another way in order to not meeting them or crossing their ways. .Of course, such attitude will hurt both sides, but the one hiding away will get even more hurt because they still miss the relationship in a way that is too deep to get over it in short amount of time.

The Song “Somebody That I Used To Know” was sung by Gotye and Kimbra. Gotye starts the song with the phrase “Now and then I think of when we were together” what shows that he’s still not over the relationship because he still thinks about it. With saying “Told myself that you were right for me, but felt so lonely in your company” he believes that actually she was the problem in the relationship, because she didn’t love him as much as he loved her. He felt lonely and didn’t get the love back he wanted. He underlines that statement with the phrase “You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness, like resignation to the end, always the end”. He got used to the feeling that he’s the only one having feelings in this relationship. After the break up, she said that she wants to stay friends but he was just glad that it was over and don’t want any relationship to her anymore. In the Chorus he complains about the fact that she cut him completely out of his life. He can’t believe that she moved over him so easily and it makes him upset because he’s still hurt but she just cut him out of her life without any regrets. Moreover, Gotye's stolz is more hurt than he wants others to know.

After the Chorus, Kimbra tells about her view of the story. She complains about how he acted with her and how he made her feel through the relationship. The listeners get an idea of the real nature of the relationship. Not just Gotye is hurt, also Kimbra got hurt throughout their time together but she ended it to do what's best for her. She does not want to have a relationship which makes her feel more bad than good. Breaking up and moving on gave her a better feeling and was the best decision for her. The listener gets to know now that it wasn't just one's fault that their relationship failed. Both sites were part of the failure and, in opposite to Gotye, Kimbra moved on with her life. After Kimbra's part of the song, Gotye answers with the chorus. He still can't believe that she just cut him out of her life. Furthermore, you can see the whole song as an conversation between two exlovers talking about their broken relationship, telling each other what were the reasons for their break-up. The song ends with the words “Somebody … I used to know, somebody.” He finally gets over her but he still can not deny that he misses her.

I personally can make a connection to the meaning of the song. I got into the same situation, but of both sites. A relationship is never easy. It's not said which actually were the problems of them and the reasons for their break-up, but the meaning stays the same. There are many reasons for the end of a relationship, and it is difficult for both sites most of the time. I can understand why Gotye still can not get over the fact that he was unimportant enough to get over him so easily but I also can understand Kimbra that there are reasons for a break-up and that it is not just one's site fault that it did not work out. She was hurt in the same way as he is hurt now but she can not change the fact that the break-up was a better choice for her. And it was not easy for her at all too, she just took the possibility to make a decision and leave what is not good for her anymore. In opposite of Gotye, Kimbra already realized that the break-up was not just her fault because she accepted that they just did not work out together. Moreover, she accepted the fact that both sites are hurt but that they have to move on with what they have and make what is best for her.

The song touched my heart from the first time I heard it and I still listen to it a lot.