Somebody Else (The 1975 song)


"Somebody Else" is a song by English rock band the 1975 from their second studio album, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It. It was released as a single on 15 February 2016. Reaching a peak of number five in the US on the Alternative Songs chart, it is the band's highest-peaking single on that chart to date. It also reached number 55 in the UK and number 34 in Australia. NME named it the second best song of 2016. Pitchfork listed the song on their ranking of the 100 best songs of 2016 at number 74. The song also appears on the soundtrack to the 2016 film The Edge of Seventeen.

Music video

The music video for "Somebody Else" was directed by Tim Mattia and released on 7 July 2016. The video opens with an extended sequence resembling David Lynch's short film Rabbits. Lead singer Matty Healy walks into a living room in clown makeup, which was previously seen in the music video for "A Change of Heart", while another Matty sits on the couch in a collapsed position. Like in Rabbits, Healy's actions in the room seem randomly soundtracked by a studio laugh track, including whoops, hollers and applause. He removes his clown makeup, sits on the couch and speaks in an exceptionally distorted, unintelligible voice to the other Matty before leaving again.
As the song begins, the video shifts its tone by moving into colour footage. Healy tries to deal with heartbreak on a night alone, by crying, drinking, dancing and eventually having sex with a stripper in the backseat of an automobile. Towards the end, Healy seems to come to his senses and realises that not only is he hallucinating most of his interactions with others in these situations, but that some of the other people are copies of himself. The video was based on a story that Healy wrote.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
US Alternative Songs 28
US Hot Rock Songs 50
US Rock Airplay 32

Certifications