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).
Learnalilgivinanlovin
Gotye Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You don't get to the bottom of nothin'!
Then you're gone before you know it;
You'd better stop! (Stop!)
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
It's been done before
C'mon, do it again!
Then you should share it round
What's the use of keeping
All the good things that you've found to yourself?
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin'
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
You don't gotta keep no other man down
For you to get up
There's no need to worry
Just don't give away your self-respect
Coz if it's all you've got left
The rest don't really matter now anyway honey!
But give away love (Give it!)
And give it for free
No strings attached
Just don't ask for it back
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin'
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin' and stop!
Givin! Learn a little givin'
It's been done before
C'mon do it again!
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
The lyrics of Gotye’s song “Learnalilgivinanlovin” encourages listeners to learn the value of giving and loving. The song suggests that focusing solely on personal success and ambition may be a fruitless pursuit - as you can't get to the bottom of anything if you’re always trying to climb to the top. The lyrics urge people to share their achievements with others as it creates a sense of community and generates positive energy. Additionally, the song reminds listeners to maintain their self-respect, and not to bring anyone else down for their own benefit. Instead, offer love selflessly and without strings attached.
Line by Line Meaning
If yer always tryin' to get to the top
If you constantly seek success and power
You don't get to the bottom of nothin'!
You won't truly understand what it means to work hard and appreciate the journey
Then you're gone before you know it;
Life is short and time flies by quickly
You'd better stop! (Stop!)
It's important to slow down and focus on what matters
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
Try to practice generosity and love towards others
It's been done before
Kindness and compassion have been demonstrated by others in the past
C'mon, do it again!
We should continue to spread love and kindness, as others have before us
Coz if it's good
Because if it's something positive
Then you should share it round
We should spread positivity and share our good experiences with others
What's the use of keeping
There's no point in hoarding
All the good things that you've found to yourself?
The good things we encounter should be shared and enjoyed by everyone
You don't gotta keep no other man down
You don't have to step on others to succeed
For you to get up
You can rise up without bringing others down
There's no need to worry
We shouldn't stress over our own success and achievements
Just don't give away your self-respect
But we should still maintain our self-respect and dignity
Coz if it's all you've got left
Because if self-respect is all we have
The rest don't really matter now anyway honey!
Other things, such as material possessions, are less important in comparison
But give away love (Give it!)
We should freely give and spread love
And give it for free
We shouldn't expect anything in return for our acts of kindness
No strings attached
Our generosity shouldn't be conditional or self-serving
Just don't ask for it back
We shouldn't expect anything in return for our kindness
Givin! Learn a little givin'
Let's practice generosity and giving towards others
Learn a little, learn a little
Let's continue to learn and improve ourselves
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
Let's practice and spread love and kindness towards others
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Walter Andre De Backer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@EdwinSolisGarita
If yer always tryin' to get to the top
You don't get to the bottom of nothin'!
Then you're gone before you know it;
You'd better stop! (STOP!)
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
It's been done before
C'mon, do it again!
Coz if it's good
Then you should share it round
What's the use of keeping
All the good things that you've found to yourself?
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin'
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
You don't gotta keep no other man down
For you to get up
There's no need to worry
Just don't give away your self-respect
Coz if it's all you've got left
The rest don't really matter now anyway honey!
But give away love (GIVE IT!)
And give it for free
No strings attached
Just don't ask for it back
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin'
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin' and stop!
Givin! Learn a little givin'
It's been done before
C'mon do it again!
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
@shinigamikitsune1541
If yer always tryin' to get to the top
You don't get to the bottom of nothin'!
Then you're gone before you know it;
You'd better stop! (Stop!)
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
It's been done before
C'mon, do it again!
Coz if it's good
Then you should share it round
What's the use of keeping
All the good things that you've found to yourself?
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin'
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
You don't gotta keep no other man down
For you to get up
There's no need to worry
Just don't give away your self-respect
Coz if it's all you've got left
The rest don't really matter now anyway honey!
But give away love (Give it!)
And give it for free
No strings attached
Just don't ask for it back
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin'
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin' and stop!
Givin! Learn a little givin'
It's been done before
C'mon do it again!
Learn a little, learn a little
Learn a little givin' and lovin'
@TerezinhaMa
I take the day to watch all Gotye's videos, and I'm still impressed how they they have different styles from one another. They are so unique.
@apricotglass
doing the same seven years later! it's not any less impressive now! ^^
@opnoppop
Hi from the future
@kakarot831
Damn you're ancient.
@ZerglingLover
@@kakarot831 Damn you’re ancient
@kakarot831
@@ZerglingLover it's only been 2 years man😭
@k-leb4671
Gotye really bounced from genre to genre. Like Drawing Blood is such a fun journey.
@kindanotta1917
Holy crap man what the hell. I thought this guy was a one hit number. Every single thing I just listened to is as good and often better then someone that I used to know. I'm surprised.impressed. and it's all new to me.
@mrchompify
I plan to play this at my funeral.
@sunfish87
I'm inspired man. This is a fantastic collection of sounds.
You really got it brother.