Somebody That I Used To Know chords by Gotye


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Somebody That I Used To Know | Chords + Lyrics


Intro

| Dm C | Dm C |
||: Dm C | Dm C :||
x4 (with band)

Verse 1

||: Dm C | Dm C | Dm C | Dm C :||
Now and then I think of when we were together.
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die.
Told myself that you were right for me, but felt so lonely in your company.
But that was love, and it’s an ache I still remember.

Instrumental 1

||: Dm C | Dm C :|| x4

Verse 2

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness.
Like resignation to the end, always the end.
So when we found that we could not make sense, well you said that we would still be friends.
But I’ll admit that I was glad it was over.

Chorus 1

||: Dm C | Bb C :||
But you didn’t have to cut me off.
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing.
And I don’t even need your love.
But you treat me like a stranger, and that feels so rough.
No you didn’t have to stoop so low.
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number.
I guess that I don’t need that though.
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know.

Chorus tag

||: Dm C | Bb C | Dm C | Bb C :||
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know.
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know.

Instrumental 2

||: Dm C | Dm C :|| x4

Verse 3 (female)

| Dm C | Dm C | Dm C | Dm C |
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over.
| Dm C | Dm C | Dm C | Dm C |
But had me believing it was always something that I’d done.
| C6 C | C | C6 C | C |
And I don’t wanna live that way, reading into every word you’d say.
| C6 C | C | C6 C | C N.C |
You said that you could let it go and I wouldn’t catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know.

Chorus 2

But you didn’t have to cut me off.
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing.
And I don’t even need your love.
But you treat me like a stranger, and that feels so rough.
No, you didn’t have to stoop so low.
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number.
I guess that I don’t need that, though.
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know.

Outro (as chorus)

Somebody (I used to know).
Somebody (now you’re just somebody that I used to know).
Somebody (I used to know).
Somebody (now you’re just somebody that I used to know).
I used to know.
That I used to know.
I used to know.
Somebody.



Somebody That I Used To Know Chords: Learn the progressions


To play along with the original recording of Somebody That I Used To Know, you must first tune down to the magical frequency of the universe, 432 Hz or your chords will be out of tune with Gotye‘s.

Once on his frequency, you’ll discover how there is more to this than we perhaps first assumed.

The main loop is just VI – V in the key of Dm, so DmC on a loop.

For the chorus, we add just one chord, a Bb (chord IV). This is the chorus chord progression:

||: Dm (VI) C (V) | Bb (IV) C (V) :||

As we hit the chorus tag, this is in a way doubled as we have an instrumental line, followed by the lyrics. You can see this most clearly above with chords and lyrics.

I bet 99% of bands think that’s all the chords of Somebody That I Used To Know, it’s not!

When the female vocal starts, we first play just DmC on a loop as we’ve done before, but after half the verse, we play C6C instead until the final bar where we stop before another chorus.

There’s TAB for how to play all sections on just one acoustic guitar, without a pick if you follow this link: Somebody That I Used To Know – Guitar Lesson with TAB.

Having studied the TAB in depth, all you need is this chord chart as a reminder.


Somebody That I Used To Know chord chart.


Somebody That I Used To Know Chord Chart | Related Pages

Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDFSomebody That I Used To Know Chord Chart PDF.

This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Somebody That I Used To Know iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.



Somebody That I Used To Know is Gotye’s signature song

Released during a time when digital sales were a thing (after CDs, before streaming), Somebody That I Used To Know became one of the best-selling digital singles of all time with 13 million copies.

The tune has remained popular, and for streaming, the Spotify numbers are even more impressive, with 1.6 billion streams of the original album version (as of early 2024).

On YouTube, Gotye has racked up over 2 billion streams of the award-winning music video.

This may have all seemed like an overnight success, but Gotye had put in a decade of releasing tunes to lay the groundwork for his worldwide success.

Not just down to being a great tune, the interesting music video helped, and so did the many covers that soon started to appear.

Most notably, the Walk Off The Earth version where 5 people play one guitar (check the playlist at the top of the page).

We must also mention Mike Dawes’ version and my favourite; when Mike plays with Tommy Emmanuel, another Australian musician.



Somebody That I Used To Know Chords | Related Pages


Somebody That I Used To Know | Guitar Lesson + TAB

Somebody That I Used To Know TAB lesson.

With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye using TAB and chord analysis.

Dm C | Dm C | Dm C | Dm C |
Now and then I think of when we were together…


Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics

When you can play Somebody That I Used to Know's chords, try these five tunes from the songbook.


Gotye tunes

Gotye wrote Somebody That I Used To Know.

Belgian/Australian Gotye seemingly came out of nowhere in 2011, but it turns out it took 10 years to create his overnight success.

His best tunes include Hearts a Mess and his signature song, Somebody That I Used To Know.


Gotye on the web

Listen to Gotye on Spotify.


About me | Dan Lundholm

Dan Lundholm wrote this guitar lesson about Somebody That I Used to Know chords.

This was a guitar lesson about Somebody That I Used to Know’s chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.

Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.


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