Backer was born in Belgium, but moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia when he was two. Originally a member of the indie band Downstares, Backer began performing under the name Gotye in 2001 when the band disbanded. Aside from his solo work, De Backer has been a member of the indie band The Basics since its formation in 2002.
Gotye's second album Like Drawing Blood was featured by Triple J in May 2006 and was voted Number 1 in the listeners poll of the Best Album of 2006 . The album was also nominated for a J Award that year. Two tracks from that album, Learnalilgivinanlovin and Heart's A Mess, were ranked 94 and 8 respectively in Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2006. Like Drawing Blood has been certified Platinum.
In September 2006, Gotye was nominated for an Australian Recording Industry Music Award (ARIA award) for best independent release for his album Like Drawing Blood, and won 'Most Outstanding New Independent Artist' at the inaugural Australian Independent Record (AIR) Chart Awards.
In 2007, Gotye won the ARIA for best male artist. As a result of the publicity of the nomination, Like Drawing Blood re-entered the ARIA album chart and was named iTunes UK Album of the Year in 2008.
In 2009, Heart's A Mess came in at #77 in Triple J Hottest 100 of all time, voted by the Australian public.
Amidst the lead-up to Gotye's third album, Like Drawing Blood re-entered the ARIA charts in mid 2011, peaking at its highest ever position of 13.
After the success of Like Drawing Blood, De Backer was able to establish a permanent home, still in Melbourne's South East. In 2010, De Backer set up a recording studio in a barn at his parents' farm and set about recording tracks for his third album. He released a new single, Eyes Wide Open, in mid-October 2010, online and on 10" vinyl. The single received generally positive reviews and reached number 25 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2010. It was also shortlisted for the 2011 APRA Music Awards in the Song of the Year category.
In late March 2011, De Backer revealed the album's title to be Making Mirrors. This title was inspired by an artwork, painted by De Backer's father in the 1980s, discovered by De Backer amongst old bills and newspapers in his parents' barn, which was later edited in Photoshop to become the album artwork. "The mirror reflects on artwork and it is all very related to self-reflection and introspection on the album."
On 19 May, it was announced that the album would be released on 19 August 2011, with the album launch the following day at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Graphic Festival which will feature animators and a 10-piece orchestra as part of Gotye's performance. De Backer also released a follow-up single to Eyes Wide Open titled Somebody That I Used to Know, which was released 6 July 2011, and debuted at #27 on the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart. The single became something of a sensation, quickly moving up the ARIA singles chart despite comparatively low airplay to many other charting singles at the time. The track was further boosted by endorsements from well-known celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Lily Allen via Twitter, exposing Gotye's music to their millions of followers. The single has gone on to reach 6× Platinum (420,000 units sold) status.
On 15 July 2011, it was announced that Gotye's single Somebody That I Used to Know had come third in the 2011 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition. As part of the prize, Gotye won a spot to perform at Song Summit 2012 at Darling Harbour, 26–28 May 2012.
On its first week of release, Making Mirrors came in at number one on the ARIA Australian album chart, making Gotye the first Australian act to simultaneously hold both the number one single and album since Silverchair, who achieved the same feat in 2007.
On 11 October 2011, it was announced that Gotye had been nominated for seven ARIA Awards. Due to the release date restrictions of the eligibility period, Making Mirrors could not be nominated, and the seven nominations all related to the single Somebody That I Used to Know. Gotye was nominated for Highest Selling Single, Single of the Year, Best Pop Release, Best Male Artist and three awards in the ARIA Artisan category: Best Video (Natasha Pincus), Engineer of the Year (Francois Tetaz) and Producer of the Year (Wally De Backer). On the same day the nominations were revealed, the winners of the Artisan categories were announced, with Gotye and the album personnel winning all three. On 27 November 2011, Gotye took out three of the four remaining ARIA Award nominations. Single of the Year, Best Male Artist and Best Pop Release.
"Somebody That I Used To Know" has become an international hit, reaching #1 in Australia, Belgium, United Kingdom, Poland, Austria, Ireland, Norway, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Germany, and also reached #1 on the alternative radio airplay charts in The United States and Canada (on the pop charts in those countries, the song has reached #5 and #11, respectively).
Giving Me a Chance
Gotye Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It cuts me up to see you sad
And I wish that I could undo what I've done
Give back the faith in me you had
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
But I get a little wrapped up in myself
But you know I never want to do you wrong
Bring into question what we have
Oh yeah
I know I let you down
I know I let you down
But you're giving me a chance
Oh yeah
I know I let you down
I know I let you down
But you're giving me a chance
The lyrics to Gotye's song Giving Me a Chance are an apology from the singer to their loved one. The song explores the theme of making mistakes and hoping to be forgiven. The singer loves their partner deeply and is agonized at the thought of disappointing them. They acknowledge their tendency to be self-centered and express their regret for causing their partner to lose faith in them. They promise to change their ways and prove themselves worthy of their partner's trust once again.
The lyrics are emotive and sincere, emphasizing the complexity of relationships and human emotions. This song touches on themes of love, forgiveness, and the importance of communication. Gotye's use of repetition in the chorus, "I know I let you down, but you're giving me a chance," underscores the singer's desperation to make things right with their partner.
Overall, Giving Me a Chance is a powerful and moving song that showcases Gotye's unique and soulful style of music.
Line by Line Meaning
You know I never want to let you down
I never want to disappoint you or make you sad.
It cuts me up to see you sad
It hurts me deeply to see you upset or unhappy.
And I wish that I could undo what I've done
I regret my actions and wish I could change the past.
Give back the faith in me you had
I want to regain your trust and confidence in me.
You know I love you more than anyone
I care about you deeply and you mean more to me than anyone else.
But I get a little wrapped up in myself
Sometimes I become self-centered and overly focused on my own needs.
But you know I never want to do you wrong
I never want to hurt you or cause you any harm.
Bring into question what we have
Make you doubt or question our relationship.
I know I let you down
I acknowledge that I disappointed you.
But you're giving me a chance
Thank you for giving me another opportunity to make things right.
Oh yeah
An expression of agreement or affirmation.
Oh yeah
An expression of agreement or affirmation.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Walter Andre De Backer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Brian James
A true artist in every sense of the word... ART AT IT'S FINEST!!!!
I believe that it is not important to Gotye how many people his art reaches... but rather, how his art impacts even one heart and soul.
Thank you Wally, collaborators and crew for ALL the hard work and the resulting beauty that you put out into this troubled world!!!! The Karma will run over the dogma!!!!
Much Peace and Love,
Brian J. Foti
Nashville, TN USA
Skipper1010
You know I never want to let you down
It cuts me up to see you sad
And I wish that I could undo what I've done
Give back the faith in me you had
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
You know I love you more than anyone
But I get a little wrapped up in myself
But you know I never want to do you wrong
Bring into question what we have
Oh yeah
I know I let you down
I know I let you down
But you're giving me a chance
Oh yeah
I know I let you down
I know I let you down
But you're giving me a chance
Moo Cow
Having listened to more of Gotye's music, I'm honestly surprised they're not very popular. Some really good music with a big dash of heart and soul.
Cugine Bracciole
Ita all about the image being portrayed at a given time that the record labels push to the top and tell us what is popular instead of you and me and others saying what we want to hear. No underground is being played anymore on the radio. Artists jave to pay to be played on the radio these days. Fact!!! Great music of positivity is buried alive.
joe rosales
Dude im not sure why that is either. Most people it seems arent born to see life that way, they can taste it but not feed off it. Where as some others can only live with genuine artistic emotion being played out. We just need more in life.
M B
I don't know, it doesn't have four chords rearranged...
Jonathan Ortega uriostegui
@Calculated. What a save! q1
Yurani Alejandra Gomez Arenas
Ml
Diogenes Lantern
This video explains the process of putting oneself back together again after a relationship, after the significant other is internalized and eventually dejected from the parting of ways. I can also see it as being an attempt to mend the relationship again, collecting parts from the past in attempt to heal. Interesting and thought-provoking piece of art. Seems like a psychologist's wet dream.
kambiz hafizi
Yes it is a psychologist’s and mystic’s wet dreams 👌🏽
kambiz hafizi
@Diogenes Lantern yes but something has to create what you are perceiving and gotye is a creator, what makes it art is the fact that it can be perceived in all those sorts of ways and those who can create the most widely felt art are the true creators of our reality
Jolin Nie
@The Last N-Word pass !!!!!!!!!! I thought it was my tinnitus working up again turns out its just the song lmao