 " Somebody That I Used To Know " has been performed several times on major US TV shows such as The Voice , American Idol , and Saturday Night Live . It was covered by Canadian indie rock group Walk off the Earth using a single guitar played simultaneously by all five band members . The hit song 's accompanying music video was directed by Australian artist Natasha Pincus . The video , which has received over 790 million views on YouTube as of June 2016 , premiered on 5 July 2011 . It shows Gotye and Kimbra naked against a white backdrop . While they sing , a pattern of paint gradually covers their skin and the backdrop via stop motion animation . 
