# WOTE Cover of "Somebody That I Used To Know" Better than the Original **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571 "2012-03-02T18:04:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/1 "2012-03-02T18:04:10Z")
The latest Pop-Indie hit is by Gotye called “Somebody That I Used To Know” is a pretty good song (Video [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY)). But check out [Walk Off the Earth’s Version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NF2edxy-M). I think it is better on its own, but the video is just amazingly cool, five people, one guitar. I could watch this over and over. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/2 "2012-03-02T18:15:35Z")
This is cool, although the guy on the right is clearly phoning it in. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/3 "2012-03-02T18:21:47Z")
I see your five voices and a guitar and raise you [just five voices](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOKuAigsrec). ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/4 "2012-03-02T18:30:40Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > The latest Pop-Indie hit is by Gotye called “Somebody That I Used To Know” is a pretty good song (Video [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY)). > > But check out [Walk Off the Earth’s Version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NF2edxy-M). I think it is better on its own, but the video is just amazingly cool, five people, one guitar. I could watch this over and over. I posted that awhile ago, and yeah, its cool but I am pretty certain that the band themselves admitted that the whole “five people one guitar” thing wasn’t recorded as such and is staged and lip-synched. And strangely, while I like both versions and I used to like WOTE’s better, I gravitate more towards Gotye’s now. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/5 "2012-03-02T18:32:33Z")
**Drain Bead** - nah, that’s an a capella group doing what a capella groups do. The cover the OP found is really cool because FIVE people are playing together on ONE guitar.\* And it is a pretty cool song. \*But apparently it’s all staged!Damn! ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/6 "2012-03-02T18:32:45Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I see your five voices and a guitar and raise you [just five voices](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOKuAigsrec). Very nice, but you can’t raise me with something that is technically and musically inferior. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/7 "2012-03-02T18:34:32Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I see your five voices and a guitar and raise you [just five voices](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOKuAigsrec). Damn…that black guy’s mouth percussion is off the chain! ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/8 "2012-03-02T18:36:03Z")
> [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](#): > > Well, it’s that FIVE people are playing ONE guitar that’s cool. Its five people _simulating_ playing one guitar while a pre-recorded version of the song plays that they lip-synch (and pretend play the guitar) to. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/9 "2012-03-02T18:38:28Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I posted that awhile ago, and yeah, its cool but I am pretty certain that the band themselves admitted that the whole “five people one guitar” thing wasn’t recorded as such and is staged and lip-synched. I read that it is not lip-synched and that it took 14 hours to get one good take. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/10 "2012-03-02T18:39:37Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Its five people _simulating_ playing one guitar while a pre-recorded version of the song plays that they lip-synch (and pretend play the guitar) to. Or it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/11 "2012-03-02T18:41:52Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Or it isn’t. Hey, I want it to be real! I like that song and their version! I’m just saying that I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that the band themselves owned up to the fact that it was set up for the video. I am open to being shown I’m wrong…I’d be happier then anyway. ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/12 "2012-03-02T19:01:57Z")
It’s obviously had a lot of audio retouching done, but I think it was a real recording. At least they did the song again on the [Ellen show](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvviLGNydeg). It sounds worse than the original version, but is close enough. The middle guy especially sounds a lot worse. Either there was something wrong with his voice in the Ellen version, or there was a lot of autotuning or something similar on him in the original. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/13 "2012-03-02T19:09:13Z")
> [@sohvan](#): > > It’s obviously had a lot of audio retouching done, but I think it was a real recording. At least they did the song again on the [Ellen show](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvviLGNydeg). It sounds worse than the original version, but is close enough. The middle guy especially sounds a lot worse. Either there was something wrong with his voice in the Ellen version, or there was a lot of autotuning or something similar on him in the original. Yeah, they did admit, I think, to doing a certain amount of cleanup in post-production. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wote-cover-of-somebody-that-i-used-to-know-better-than-the-original/614571/14 "2012-03-03T16:12:49Z")
Naah, I prefer the original over either cover, thanks. Neither has Kimbra’s voice, for one thing.