Why Gotye should have won Song of The Year on The Grammy's (even if he wasn't nominated...)

On a prior post I talked about Grammy's night and how it represented an important event for all people like me, who loves music and popular culture all rolled into one pretty package. And certainly, it was one hell of a night, in a good way, of course. Maybe not all of the winners were right (in these awards, they never are, actually) and maybe not all the performances were spot-on (talking to you, Carrie Underwood & Frank Ocean), the night was delightful and there were moments so glorious. But I will let anyone to decide which ones made the cut.

Right now, I’m going to ramble about an omission so obvious, I actually thought was some kind of sick joke: my favorite song of 2012, the omnipresent “Somebody That I Used To Know” (and I’m not being hyperbolic here, it was literally everywhere) NOT nominated as “Song of The Year”. Like, WTF?? Yeah, the song penned as THE song of 2012 (aside of the annoying “Call Me Maybe” which in fact was nominated) and one of the best-selling digital singles of all times. You may say: “that doesn’t mean this song is actually good”, but you know what? IT IS!!

But like I said, these awards are not known for recognizing deserving people of the work they are nominated –or win - for (looking at you, Milli Vanilli). And apparently, for the Grammy people, those were not enough reasons to even nominate the damn song for said award. So despite that, and the fact that it’s not possible to went back in time and change a thing, I’m going to list __ reasons why, if nominated, “Somebody…” would’ve been easily “Song of The Year”, in no particular order:

 
1. The lyrics. For some reason, this is the kind of song that goes directly into our systems because we can all relate to it in some level. Who among us has suffered heartbreak and a rupture so bad that you shut the person completely off of our lives and pretend they don’t even exist? Or had an encounter with your ex and decide to give him or her cold shoulder, just for the sake of it? And all those feelings are well reflected in all 4:05 minutes that the song lasts. My favorite line? “You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness…”. I knew that feeling, :(

2. The video. OK; I know at first could be gross looking at Gotye’s ugly feet, but you can’t deny it is so simple and yet beautiful. I was reading the other day that you can juxtapose the video with the feelings depicted in it; for instance, Gotye symbolizes the beginning and foundation of the relationship (thus all the coloring and painting over him), and beautiful and talented Kimbra was the downfall and termination, her being unpainted and nude at the end. Well, that’s what I thought I read, but it makes a nice analogy, don’t you think?


3. The fact that this song has been covered by so many artists and that Kelly Clarkson actually heard about it and covered on one of her tours (I cannot imagine a world where she hasn’t heard of Miguel, but I guess that’s material for another post).

4. Even Prince love this song... I mean, coming from him, that's got to be one of the best compliments someone can give it to you, right? I mean, that's just... awesome, to say the least.

5. This song evidently is a one hit wonder... Maybe not the last time we heard about Gotye, but I'm not positive he is going to reach higher levels tan those he achieved with this song... Hopefully I'm wrong, but this is a testament of the power of a great song, and the legacy he's handing to the world. And for that I respect him.

And that, my friends, is all I have to say about this exquisite song. For me, one of the greatest songs of this decade, at least. How about you? Do you feel the same way about it, or is it just me that goes nuts for it? Sound off on the comments!

And of, course, a cat-and-mouse version of "Somebody That I Used to Know", because the Internet and why the hell not??