Somebody That I Used To Know

Gotye Featuring Kimbra "Somebody That I Used To Know" — Recording and Chart History

Gotye, the stage name of Belgian-Australian musician Wouter De Backer, recorded "Somebody That I Used To Know" at his family's property in rural Victoria, Australia, using a studio he had built on the grounds. The recording process was deliberately intimate and self-directed. De Backer wrote the song and constructed its production layer by layer, using a combination of recorded samples, live instrumentation, and electronic elements to create a sound that was simultaneously organic and textured. The prominent marimba-based melodic figure that opens the track was sampled from "Boadicea" by Enya, a decision that would later require licensing clearance and attribution once the song achieved global commercial success.

New Zealand singer Kimbra, whose full name is Kimbra Lee Johnson, was brought in to contribute the song's second verse, which presents the perspective of the former romantic partner being addressed in the narrator's account. De Backer and Kimbra had met through mutual connections in the Melbourne music scene, and her vocal performance on the track gave the song a crucial second dimension that transformed what might have been a straightforward breakup narrative into a more balanced and dramatically complex exchange between two people with irreconcilable accounts of the same relationship. The contrast between De Backer's measured, melancholic delivery and Kimbra's more assertive vocal approach created a productive tension that became one of the song's defining qualities.

The song was included on Gotye's third studio album, Making Mirrors, released in Australia in August 2011 through Eleven Music, a boutique label distributed by Universal Music Australia. Initial reception in Australia was strong; the song reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart and remained there for multiple weeks, demonstrating immediately that De Backer had created something with unusual commercial and emotional resonance. International licensing deals followed, and the song was released in European and North American markets during late 2011 and early 2012.

In the United States, the song's trajectory was a model of organic chart growth. "Somebody That I Used To Know" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 21, 2012, entering at position 91. From that initial entry, the song began a sustained and steady climb that would become one of the more remarkable chart stories of the year. It moved to 58 in its second week, reached 50 in its third, and continued ascending through February and March as radio airplay built progressively across pop, adult contemporary, and alternative formats simultaneously. This cross-format appeal was unusual and contributed significantly to the song's growing momentum.

By late April 2012, the song reached its peak position of number one on the Billboard Hot 100, a milestone achieved during the chart week of April 28, 2012. It held the top position for multiple consecutive weeks, a confirmation that its popularity had transcended early-adopter enthusiasm to achieve genuine mainstream saturation. The song ultimately spent 59 weeks on the Hot 100, one of the longest chart runs for any song during that calendar year and a testament to the sustained interest it generated across a remarkably long period of commercial circulation.

Internationally, the song achieved comparable or greater success. It reached number one in more than a dozen countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Ireland, and across Scandinavia and much of the rest of Europe. Global sales figures eventually placed it among the best-selling singles of 2012 in the world, with certified sales in the millions across multiple territories. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the track multiple times platinum in the United States, reflecting the cumulative download and streaming activity it generated.

The song received substantial critical recognition alongside its commercial achievements. Grammy Award nominations followed, including recognition for both De Backer and Kimbra at the 2013 ceremony. The track was routinely cited in year-end critical summaries as one of the defining songs of 2012, praised for its emotional intelligence, its production originality, and the quality of both vocal performances. Music publications across the world included it in their retrospective assessments of the early 2010s as a genuine landmark recording.

A YouTube video for the song, featuring De Backer and Kimbra performing against a visually striking painted backdrop, accumulated hundreds of millions of views and became one of the most-watched music videos of the platform's early viral era. The visual presentation, with its distinctive art direction and its integration of the physical performances into an abstract painted environment, contributed materially to the song's cultural visibility and helped drive streams and downloads during a period when YouTube was becoming increasingly central to music discovery.