“Somebody That I Used to Know” is a song written and recorded by Australian-Belgian singer and 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 his third studio album, Making Mirrors (2011). It was later released by Universal Music in December 2011 in the United Kingdom, and in January 2012 in the United States. “Somebody That I Used to Know” was written and recorded by Gotye at his parent’s house on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria and is lyrically related to the experiences he has had with relationships.

“Somebody That I Used to Know” is an indie pop song that is four minutes and five seconds long.^[1][2] It is composed mainly by arrangements of piano and electric guitar.^[1][3] Gotye uses a sample of Brazilian jazz guitarist Luiz Bonfá’s 1967 instrumental song “Seville”,^[4] with additional instrumentations of beats and a xylophone.^[5][6] It was written and produced by Gotye himself, while in his parent’s barn on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. Gotye commented that he wrote the song “in quite a linear way”, explaining that “I wrote the first verse, the second verse and I’d got to the end of the first chorus and for the first time ever I thought, ‘There’s no interesting way to add to this guy’s story’. It felt weak”.^[7]