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Gotye Not Satisfied With #1 Hit

News posted Tuesday, August 16 2011 at 12:00 PM.
Related: Gotye.

Gotye Not Satisfied With #1 Hit

Gotye has revealed to M+N how he felt deflated after penning 'Somebody That I Used To Know’, his first number one hit.

The song – the first Australian song to top the ARIA Singles Chart since January – ended Adele’s seven-week run at the top of the charts this week. But in a soon-to-be-published interview with M+N, Gotye (aka Melbourne musician Wally De Backer) said he’s still not satisfied with the track, or its predecessor ‘Eyes Wide Open’, the first single from his forthcoming new album Making Mirrors.

“With both tracks, I still didn’t feel satisfied when I finished them,” Gotye told M+N. “In a way my feelings with both songs were a bit deflated afterwards … With distance and as I’m playing them live, maybe I’ll get to like them more.”

He said he was so conflicted by 'Somebody That I Used To Know’ that it delayed the release of the album by five months.

“I just kinda let them ['Somebody That I Used To Know' and 'Eyes Wide Open'] go. It wasn’t about being a perfectionist. I felt like I made them the best they could be, and there wasn’t anything pragmatic or realistic I could do anymore in terms of remixing, tweaking, re-recording vocals, trying another part, or spending more money and time. I’d only make them sound worse or start disappearing in my own head – or rectum.”

‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ is a duet with rising New Zealand-born singer Kimbra, who Gotye decided to draft in after hitting a creative wall midway through writing the song.

“When I got to the end of the first chorus, I felt for the first time, in any song I’d written, that I’d said all I had to say. Any attempt to work an instrumental path, or bridge, back towards a repeat of the chorus felt very weak. At that point I went, ‘I think it needs another story. It’s going to be a duet.’ So I wrote the female part and looked for someone to bring it to life.”

Meanwhile, Gotye has added a Perth show to his run of national album launches later this year. He’ll be playing the Belvoir Theatre on December 9. Most of the tour – including four shows at the 1500-capacity Forum Theatre in Melbourne – have completely sold out.

Making Mirrors is out this Friday (August 19) via Eleven.



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Your Comments

Hazard_Man  said about 6 months ago:

Chin up Gotee!


LoadMyRig  said about 6 months ago:

chin up goatse !


Urquhart Bluff  said about 6 months ago:

I'm not satisfied either.


josejones  said about 6 months ago:

Chin up Gotee!

chin up goatse !

i can feel a meme coming on...


andyr  said about 6 months ago:

go wally!


Actionralf  said about 6 months ago:

Poor Gotye


Little Ted  said about 6 months ago:

Suck it up Wally!


Ben  said about 6 months ago:

i think it's nice


tigers  said about 6 months ago:

That song is #1? Really?
I don't hate it, but it doesn't seem to be the kinda song that would be #1 on any chart...

then again, neither did that angus & julia stone song...


__v  said about 6 months ago:

look what is this?


mrmagoo  said about 6 months ago:

hottest 100 no.1


PooPeeTaste  said about 6 months ago:

I can't remember/don't care about her name, but I am disappointed every time I see this video and never seeing her nips.

It's bullshit.


__v  said about 6 months ago:

cannot wait


__v  said about 6 months ago:

isn't it a bloke?


PooPeeTaste  said about 6 months ago:

Nah


TimChuma  said about 6 months ago:

Was even on the V music channel in KFC the other day, hadn't expected that.


Sunnyboyz  said about 6 months ago:

I can't remember/don't care about her name, but I am disappointed every time I see this video and never seeing her nips.

She has a nice back. I bet she has really nice Kimbras.


definitely  said about 6 months ago:

YouTube comment by charliebrown407

how does he not stare at her boobs while she is naked next to him??


TimChuma  said about 6 months ago:

Kimbra reminds me of someone I used to know, she's a professional make-up artist now and her ''look'' is quite popular.


__v  said about 6 months ago:

ah


View Comments 20 to 171

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NiteShok  said 9 days ago:

A backhanded-complimentary 3 star review in the Guardian

''Thirty-one-year-old Wouter De Backer has been a big pop star in his native Australia since 2003....''


Sunnyboyz  said 9 days ago:

Ohmygod that reviewers name is actually hermione.


sting-bono  said 9 days ago:

shuttupyaface - joe dolce


livingincanada  said 9 days ago:

''I think people are always looking for gurus. It’s the easiest thing in the world to become a guru. It’s quite terrifying. I once saw something fascinating here in New York. It must have been in the early seventies—guru time. A man used to go and sit in Central Park, wearing elaborate golden robes. He never once opened his mouth, he just sat. He’d appear at lunchtime. People appeared from everywhere, because he was obviously a holy man, and this went on for months. They just sat around him in reverent silence. Eventually he got fed up with it and left. Yes. It’s as easy as that.'' - Doris Lessing, (Interview, Paris Review, Spring 1988 No. 106)


andydepressant  said 9 days ago:

Years ago I went to a few Vodafone Live at the Chapel Off Chapel thingos (Stereo MCs and Cat Fucken Empire), there were a guy to signal the crowds to cheers together. Smoke and mirrors, you know..

There was a staff meeting recently at the pub I work at where they told staff (I wasn't there) to keep it the fuck to themselves if they didn't like the acts I booked. I think this is a great idea.


andydepressant  said 9 days ago:

Also just as I said at the start of this thread THIS SONG IS WELL WRITTEN AND VALID!

Compare it to the last 2 JJJ hottest 100 wins: Sex Is On Fire and Big Jet Plane.
Even a experimental sound artist would agree this song is 20 times the song either of those are. This song deserves widespread fame, it's good news for SONGS and songwriting.


hedgehog  said 9 days ago:

I'm surprised it's a hit. I agree that it's a very well written song but not an obvious hit! In fact, a lot of the Triple J list was far better than last year*. Hope, perhaps!

*I can't think of any songs on last year's list, however heard around 10 from this year's on rage over the past few months and found them pretty refreshing.


samiek  said 8 days ago:

Unconfirmed rumors that he will have to give away nearly all of the profits from this song due to uncleared samples.


The_Tupelo_Flash  said 8 days ago:

It's pretty clear from listening to the song that it doesn't have any samples.


ghoti-max  said 8 days ago:

Its themes of lost love and rejection sample the 2003 hit Heart's a Mess.


samiek  said 8 days ago:

It's pretty clear from listening to the song that it doesn't have any samples

Yeah thats what i thought too, but apparently the main rhythm guitar 2 chord loop is a sample.


Tramdriver  said 8 days ago:

Would he really try and risk it? Do people (still) do that these days? Maybe he thought it was going to be a single or such a hit.


flukazoid  said 8 days ago:

All the prominent samples on this album are cleared. They weren't on Like Drawing Blood at the time of AU release - that's what held up the UK release as all the samples needed to be cleared or replaced/replayed.


Tramdriver  said 8 days ago:

''prominent samples''?


flukazoid  said 8 days ago:

Identifiable ones. No one's going to be picking up one-shots or granular synthesis.


flukazoid  said 8 days ago:

(for example)


Bittervictorian  said 7 days ago:

My god - in the UK in the past month this song is on constant high rotation and now in Krakow Poland for the past week I have heard this song at least every day on speakers playing the radio, in bars, in clubs. Everywhere!


Belgian-Australian  said 7 days ago:

Lozenge said 6 days ago:
It kinda annoys me how Gotye promotes himself as Belgian-Australian. I've read ''Belgian-Australian'' written in many articles here in Oz too. There was even a flame war on his YouTube vid between Belgians and Australians trying to claim ownership. It'd just be good to see him promoted as an Australian artist breaking internationally - what is this Belgian-Australian he keeps pushing? I mean, he came here when he was like 2 years old - why push yourself as Belgian?! Big whoop!

Let me ask you Lozenge, would you have the same problem with an African-American? I bet a lot of African-Americans have never even seen Africa. They're just paying tribute to their heritage. Is that such a bad thing? If I were born in America and my parents were of African heritage I would be an African American. Now, Gotye wasn't even born here. He could just claim Belgian. But no, he claims to be Australian as well. Why is this a problem for you?


pfinger18  said 17 hours ago:

ghoti-max  said 17 hours ago:

Let's start a lynch mob dedicated to anyone who bumps a Gotye thread from now on..


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