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).
True to you
Gotye Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Another former lover man
Come crawlin' back again
So you wanna make it good
You say you needa be understood
Well you should know
There can't be no understandin'
Well you've shown me you can stay
Well away from me
And you do so happily
So I thought that you would know
Just where you can go
I won't be here when
You do it again
So you say this time this thing will last
So why you wanna do it all so fast
I think you're tryin' to relive the past
Ain't no use you prayin'
Are you hearin' what I'm sayin'?
I won't be here when
You do it again
The song "True to You" by Gotye appears to be addressing a former lover who is attempting to return to the relationship after causing some heartache. In the lines "Another former lover man, come crawlin' back again," it is clear that this person has already been in and out of the relationship, and the singer is not interested in allowing him back in. The next lines, "So you wanna make it good, you say you needa be understood," suggest that the former lover is trying to make amends for his past behavior, but the singer is skeptical.
In the next verse, the singer acknowledges that the former lover has been able to stay away from him, and he thought the man would know when to leave for good. The final lines, "I won't be here when you do it again," indicate that the singer has had enough and is not interested in taking this person back again. So the song becomes a warning to the former lover that the singer has moved on and wishes to be left alone.
Overall, "True to You" is a clear and unambiguous song about a failed relationship and a speaker who no longer wants to be with his former lover. Gotye sings the lyrics in a straightforward manner, indicating that there is no need for subterfuge or metaphor to convey the point. The song is a testament to the pain of ending a relationship, and the difficulty of moving on from someone who has already caused harm.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll be true to you
I promise to stay loyal to you
Another former lover man
Another ex-boyfriend has returned
Come crawlin' back again
He's trying to come back in a passive or desperate way
So you wanna make it good
You want to fix things and make them right
You say you needa be understood
You're asking for empathy and understanding
Well you should know
I expect you to already understand
There can't be no understandin'
It's impossible for us to understand each other
When all you got's demandin'
When all you do is make demands
Well you've shown me you can stay
You've already demonstrated that you can be away from me
Well away from me
Far away from my life and my heart
And you do so happily
You seem to be content with that distance
So I thought that you would know
I thought you'd understand that I don't want you back
Just where you can go
You have no place in my life
I won't be here when
I won't be around when
You do it again
You try to come back or repeat your behavior
So you say this time this thing will last
You're claiming that this time, it will work out
So why you wanna do it all so fast
Why do you want to rush things?
I think you're tryin' to relive the past
I believe you're trying to recapture what we had before
Ain't no use you prayin'
Praying won't help in this situation
Are you hearin' what I'm sayin'?
Do you understand what I'm telling you?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Walter Andre De Backer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lucas
Lyrics:
I'll be true to you (x4)
Another former lover man
Come crawlin' back again
So you wanna make it good
You say you needa be understood
Well you should know
There can't be no understandin'
When all you got's demandin'
Well you've shown me you can stay
Well away from me
And you do so happily
So I thought that you would know
Just where you can go
I won't be here when
You do it again
So you say this time this thing will last
So why you wanna do it all so fast
I think you're tryin' to relive the past
Ain't no use you prayin'
Are you hearin' what I'm sayin'?
I won't be here when
You do it again
VIDLWebby
I'll be true to you
I'll be true to you
I'll be true to you, to you
Another former lover man
Come crawlin' back again
So you wanna make it good
You say you need to be understood
You should know
That there can't be no understandin'
When all you got's demandin'
Tuggin’ at my heartstrings
Tryna’ turn my heart of all things
It’s not an easy thing to take
but it’s an easy thing to break
Well you've shown me you can stay
Well away from me
And you do so happily
So I thought that you would know
Just where you can go
I won't be here when
You do it again
I won’t be here when
You do it again
I'll be true to you
I'll be true to you
I'll be true to you, to you
Now, sing along with the music all by yourself
So you say this time this thing will last
So why you wanna do it all so fast
I think you're tryin' to relive the past
Ain't no use you prayin'
Are you hearin' what I'm sayin'?
I won't be here when
You do it again
Lucas
Lyrics:
I'll be true to you (x4)
Another former lover man
Come crawlin' back again
So you wanna make it good
You say you needa be understood
Well you should know
There can't be no understandin'
When all you got's demandin'
Well you've shown me you can stay
Well away from me
And you do so happily
So I thought that you would know
Just where you can go
I won't be here when
You do it again
So you say this time this thing will last
So why you wanna do it all so fast
I think you're tryin' to relive the past
Ain't no use you prayin'
Are you hearin' what I'm sayin'?
I won't be here when
You do it again
KnoxNick
Playing this song through my car's subwoofer literally makes the vehicle quake due to the bass...
NEMO'S DREAMLAND
I literally just found out about this album after ignoring Gotye as a one hit wonder with a song I didn't care for. This is amazing, reminds me of early Moby and White Town
House Fire
I just found boardface through a Gotye Raido... I thought I listened to all of his released music but this is brand new... why didn’t gotye have this on his channel and how many other albums are hiding from me?
DespicableMeIsTheBest 72
this song is great
Emotikon
Gotye released three studio albums so far:
1. "Boardface" in 2003
2. "Like Drawing Blood" in 2006 (and re-released in 2008)
3. "Making Mirrors" in 2011
Also, he released a compilation album "Mixed Blood", which was an assembly of cover and remix versions of his songs from his second studio album (except one song, which was a remix of "Out Of My Head" from "Boardface" ).
However, there were many other song made by Gotye between 2001-2003, which finally weren't included in the "Boardface", because of the authors' rights (in short, in some of those songs he used samples, which were labeled as "non-commercial" and he just couldn't release them on his album). I personally recommend, from those songs, "Children Of The Universe", "Lordy Momma", "Good Times N' Easy Feelings", "Riding The Pumpkin Home" and "(2nd Generation Dub) Lullaby". He recorded a few collaboration songs like "Ghosts". So, paraphrasing an old meme classic: "That's a lot of music!".
Richtofen
Emot Ikontruck491 Are those all of the songs that didn’t make it on the album. If not, which others are there?
Thr33LastWords
Its interesting: the world of independent music. There are a lot of questions when trying to explain any of it, but they had released an extended version of Boardface, (I believe,) that you might find vastly interesting.
VIDLWebby
I'll be true to you
I'll be true to you
I'll be true to you, to you
Another former lover man
Come crawlin' back again
So you wanna make it good
You say you need to be understood
You should know
That there can't be no understandin'
When all you got's demandin'
Tuggin’ at my heartstrings
Tryna’ turn my heart of all things
It’s not an easy thing to take
but it’s an easy thing to break
Well you've shown me you can stay
Well away from me
And you do so happily
So I thought that you would know
Just where you can go
I won't be here when
You do it again
I won’t be here when
You do it again
I'll be true to you
I'll be true to you
I'll be true to you, to you
Now, sing along with the music all by yourself
So you say this time this thing will last
So why you wanna do it all so fast
I think you're tryin' to relive the past
Ain't no use you prayin'
Are you hearin' what I'm sayin'?
I won't be here when
You do it again
Bilbo Swagginz
he needs to make more music and stop being so selfish... he's so amazing