Understanding Somebody That I Used To Know

Gotye never wanted to be famous. he just wanted to  make music. which is why he was just as surprised as the rest of us when his weird little song  about the emotional complexity of romantic endings became the #1 single in 24 countries. and it's  also why he never did it again. he probably could

have, but he decided not to try, instead stepping  out of the spotlight, starting an independent label, and going back to playing drums with his  friends. in interviews, he always deflected away from the importance of fame and onto the value  of experience and art. ("I kinda like the idea of

doing anything once, so, I mean, people ask me,  y'know, like, about whether I worry about being a one-hit wonder, and I'm kinda like, well, I've  had that experience, that's what it was like, it was kind of cool sometimes, strange, a bit weird,  not very good other times, yeah, I dunno. having,

like, number ones as like a statement, or a status  or something like that I… doesn't really count for much, I think.") he's honestly a fascinating  artist to me, and a lot of that comes through in that one hit, so today, I want to talk about  Somebody That I Used To Know. let's take it apart.

(tick, tick, tick, tick, tock) before we get started, if you want  to see my next video a month early or just watch this one ad-free, those  are both live now on Patreon. there's a link in the description, more  on that at the end of the video.

I'm gonna structure this video a little different  than usual, 'cause Somebody That I Used To Know is different from a lot of the songs I've looked  at. for starters, it's mainly samples, which means if we really want to understand it, we can't just  ask what the sounds are, we also have to ask where

they come from, what he did to them, and why he  chose them. like, the main guitar loop: (bang) is borrowed from the intro to Seville by Brazilian  Jazz guitarist Luiz Bonfá. (bang) Bonfa is actually a pretty popular sample source,  showing up in songs by The Pharcyde,

Gucci Mane, and Black Eyed Peas, among others.  and that makes sense: Brazilian Jazz is known for its cool harmonies and infectious rhythms, so  it makes a great foundation for a sampled beat.

in fact, Bonfá's playing here is so percussive  that I kinda wanna try reading it as a drum pattern. do some simple substitutions,  line everything up, and… (bang) yeah, that's a pretty standard beat. kicks, represented  by the low-string notes, on 1 and 3, snares,

or chord stabs, on 2 and 4, and some extra kicks  in between to set things up. it's a complete, recognizable drum groove all on its own, just  played on a guitar. and that's important for Somebody That I Used To Know, because  while the song has a lot of percussion,

none of it is doing anything as straightforward  as playing a backbeat. so this guitar loop kinda becomes the drums, filling in that  rhythmic function with chord stabs instead of snare hits. the guitar does  double duty, taking charge of both the

harmony and the beat all in one instrument,  and Gotye uses that to its full advantage. but he doesn't just rip the  intro. the sampled guitar loop sounds really different from what Bonfá  originally played. and to understand why, we need a brief digression to look at what  the song is about. the short answer is it's