Somebody That I Used To Know was written by Wally de Backer (Gotye). The song was recorded in May, 2011 and released on July 5th, 2011 from the album Making Mirrors.
Music: Key of D Minor in 4/4 time at approx. 129 bpm
Chords in Dm: Dm, C, Bb
Easier in Am: much easier for fingerpicking styles
Chords in Am: Am, G, F
Capo: 5th fret if playing with the video (Dm)
Somebody That I Used To Know
The Relative Major Key of Am is highlighted - Transpose to any other key.
Am G
Intro: 4/4 ||: - :|| x 5 (=10)
Am G Am G Am G Am G
1. Now and then I think of when we were to-ge-ther | - |
Am G Am G Am G Am G
Like when you said you felt so hap-py you could | die - | - |
Am G Am G
Told my-self that you were right for me
Am G Am G
But felt so lone-ly in your com-pa-ny
Am G Am G Am G Am G
But that was love and it's an ache I still re-mem-ber | - |
Am G Am G Am G Am G
Instr: ||: - | - | - | - :||
Am G Am G Am G Am G
2. You can get ad-dic-ted to a cer-tain kind of sad-ness | - |
Am G Am G Am G Am G
Like re-sig-na-tion to the end Al-ways the | end - | - |
Am G Am G
So when we found that we could not make sense
Am G Am G
Well you said that we would still be friends
Am G Am G Am G Am G
But I'll ad-mit that I was glad that it was o - ver | - |
Am G F G
Chorus: But you did-n't have to cut me off
Am G F G Am
Make out like it ne-ver hap-pened and that we were no-thing
G F G
And I don't even need your love
Am G F G
Treat me like a stran-ger and that feels so rough
Am G F G
You know you did-n't have to stoop so low
Am G F G Am
Have your friends col-lect your re-cords and then change your num-ber
G F G
I guess that I don't need that though
Am G F G Am G Am G
Now you're just some-bo-dy that I used to know | - | - |
Am G F G Am G Am G
Now you're just some-bo-dy that I used to know | - | - |
Am - G F G
Now you're just some-bo-dy that I used to know...
Am G Am G Am G Am G
Instr: ||: - | - | - | - :||
Am G Am G Am G Am G
3. Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me o-ver - | - |
Am G Am G Am G Am G
But had me be-liev-ing it was al-ways some-thing that I'd | done - | - |
G
And I don't wan-na live that way
Read-ing into ev'-ry word you say
You said that you could let it go
Am
And I would-n't catch you hung up on some-bo-dy that you used to know
𝄑
Am G F G
Chorus: But you did-n't have to cut me off
Am G F G Am
Make out like it ne-ver hap-pened and that we were no-thing
G F G
And I don't even need your love
Am G F G
Treat me like a stran-ger and that feels so rough
Am G F G
You know you did-n't have to stoop so low
Am G F G Am
Have your friends col-lect your re-cords and then change your num-ber
G F G
I guess that I don't need that though
Am G F G
Now you're just some-bo-dy that I used to know
Am G F G
Some-bo-dy (I used to know)
Am G F G
Now you're just some-bo-dy that I used to know
Am G F G
Some-bo-dy (I used to know)
Am G F G
Now you're just some-bo-dy that I used to know
Am G F G Am G F G
(I used to know) (That I used to know)
Am G F G Am G F G Am
(I used to know) Some-bo-dy... | / 𝄐 |
Song Key: D minor (Relative minor of F Major ) - 1 Flat (B♭)
4/4 Time: This means there are 4 quarter-note beats per bar. The count is |1 2 3 4|. You can also count it as | 1& 2& 3& 4& |
This version is played in the key of A minor with a Capo on the 5th fret. To the ear, the song is still in the key of Dm.
The capo is used cleverly in this song, and you don't have to use barre chords which can sometimes sound muffled if not played cleanly.
A hyphen between two chords in a bar means the timing count of the bar is split evenly between the 2 chords, e.g., | Am - G | means 2 beats on Am and 2 beats on G.
If you count each bar as 1 2 3 4... pluck the bass notes on the 1 and 3 , and pluck the rest of the chord notes on the 2 and 4, e.g., | Am - G | will be played /A - Am - /G - G
/A or A Bass note is on the 5th string played open, while /G or G bass is played on the 6th string, 3rd fret (after capo), which is part of the G chord anyway.
Just use your thumb to pluck the bass note, with each of your remaining 4 fingers plucking each one of the top 4 strings.
If you decide to play the Dm version, replace; Am with Dm, G with C, and F with B♭.
Verses 1 & 2 are just a repetition of | Am - G | with 2 beats per chord
Verse 3 is the same, except on the 3rd line you continue to play G (you can see this on the video), until you reach the Pause/Fermata symbol 𝄐 and then stop. Continue playing again when you reach the chorus.
On the last bar | F / G Am |... this means 2 beats on the F, 1 beat on the G, and 1 beat on the Am which finishes the song.
This adaptation is extremely clever. Five people crouched around a guitar all playing a particular role. The sound is first-class, and the delivery, effective. The guy with the hat on the far right is very cool... love what he does at the head of the guitar before the nut... who would have thought!
