Someone That You Used To Know

Album: You Oughta Be Here With Me (1990)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this wistful country tune, George Jones has buried the memory of the girl who broke his heart, but that metaphorical door gets battered down when he gets a letter from her saying she never forgot about him. She asks to meet him at their old haunt, and signs it, "someone that you used to know."

    We don't know if Jones takes her up on the offer, but by now he knows that things can never be like the once were.
  • This song was written by two formidable songwriters: Bobby Whitlock and Jack Tempchin. Whitlock was the keyboard player in Derek & the Dominos; he co-wrote songs like "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad." Tempchin is best known for songs recorded by the Eagles, including "Already Gone" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling."

    Speaking on the Songfacts Podcast, Tempchin explained: "After we got done writing the song, sitting around my kitchen table, we said, 'This would be perfect for George Jones!' Of course, any song that you wrote that was a country song you felt would be perfect for the greatest country singer of all time, George Jones. And then later, somehow he got a hold of that song and recorded it. I never found out how he even got it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")Song Writing

Nick made some of the biggest videos on MTV, including "The Final Countdown," "Heaven" and "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)."

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

Lajon Witherspoon of Sevendust

Lajon Witherspoon of SevendustSongwriter Interviews

The Sevendust frontman talks about the group's songwriting process, and how trips to the Murder Bar helped forge their latest album.

Black Sabbath

Black SabbathFact or Fiction

Dwarfs on stage with an oversize Stonehenge set? Dabbling in Satanism? Find out which Spinal Tap-moments were true for Black Sabbath.

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

N.W.A vs. the World

N.W.A vs. the WorldSong Writing

How the American gangsta rappers made history by getting banned in the UK.