“Glee” may have helped propel Gotye’s single “Somebody I Used to Know” featuring Kimbra to the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100, but that doesn’t mean the Australian songwriter liked the FOX show’s rendition.
“They did such a faithful arrangement of the instrumentals but the vocals were that pop ‘Glee’ style, ultra dry, sounded pretty tuned and the rock has no real sense, like it’s playing to you from a cardboard box,” he told the Sunday Mail. “I don’t always look at all of the parodies and covers that people send me. It gets to that point where it starts to feel a bit self- conscious and I don’t want to hear any more people doing something with this.”
Gotye — whose real name is Wally de Backer — also told another Aussie paper the Herald Sun that the rendition sounded “dinky and wrong.”
The April 10 episode guest starred Matt Bomer, who sang the track with “Glee” member Darren Criss; Gotye also sang the track on the April 14 ep of “Saturday Night Live.” The following week, the song shot up to No. 1, helped by loads of digital sales.
This yet again proves that a song, at times, seems to no longer belong to the artist. When permission is given for people to cover it, that means anybody can. And when a record company is in charge of the license to the song rights, who knows what the final product will be.
Compare the two versions below. Did you think the “Glee” version was good?