Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know - thoughts?

[jdhogg]

175m views on youtube

A great modern song - thoughts?

Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY

You can play it complicated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NF2edx ... re=related

[Cruciform]

My thoughts - meh. Music supervisors love it though so don't be surprised if a bunch of "a la" listings come through. That's a heads up for anyone who wants to start on them now.

[cardell]

One thing that struck me is how 60's it sounds (in places). I quite like it!

Stuart

[mattharveymusic]

I love this track, and from a pop point of view it is absolutely covered in hooks. I'm hoping it might be a bit of a game changer as it's stylistically, structurally and a different production to most of what's out there and hitting that high up the charts. Always nice to have something to refresh your taste buds! It takes that whole 'retro' thing and gives it a new direction.

I prefer the Walk Off The Earth version, but an awesome track either way.

[Mark Kaufman]

A well-deserved hit, very appealing, very catchy.

When I try to figure out why massive hits are massive hits, I usually fail. Any hit can be baffling when we tear into its parts for analysis...we often come up with a lot of minor simplicities that don't look all that impressive on their own...but the ultimate result usually comes down to this: we like it.

[feaker66]

I really liked it.

Production was as good as it gets.

You CAN hear the vocals at every level.

paul

[moomy]

It circled the globe in chart topping land before the US caught on. I also like the attention to detail in the production and hope this is a template for some new styles on the hot 100 list. My son thinks it's a hit because of the production. My daughter thinks its a hit because anyone who has gone through a gut wrenching breakup and got over it can relate. I think it's a hit because of Youtube.

Judy

[jdhogg]

This song is a perfect example of why you should know the rules of songwriting and then BREAK some of them if the song needs it.

The title hook is very late i.e. ignored "dont bore us, get to the chorus" here

Some of the many rules followed -

accessible hooks - intro is a variation on a nursery rhyme, so easily absorbed - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Baabaablacksheep3.jpg

restricted range in verse - expanded in chorus

etc

The appeal is IMHO a great original melody and lyrics with elements sourced from the 60's to modern day alt/indie plus it appeals to men and women. Quite a few bases covered there.

[jdhogg]

I love this track, and from a pop point of view it is absolutely covered in hooks. I'm hoping it might be a bit of a game changer as it's stylistically, structurally and a different production to most of what's out there and hitting that high up the charts. Always nice to have something to refresh your taste buds! It takes that whole 'retro' thing and gives it a new direction.

I prefer the Walk Off The Earth version, but an awesome track either way.

I agree, my main reason is the gotye version is imho too sparse especially in the 1st verse.
I bet with 178m+ views he does not see it as a problem

[beachbum88]

Quite a refreshing song which doesn't fit the usual cookie cutter pop song.

Did anyone read the article in the April 26, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone magazine on Gotye (pages 56-57)? What caught my eye was on page 57 where it mentions that Gotye made the album himself "in a barn on his parents' property....Gotye paid for the album himself, spending about $70,000 (mostly on mixing). He licenses it to labels, which means he gets much more per sale than he would otherwise."

Wow! I never knew that this could be a possibility with record labels. Does anyone know more on how this works?