"I Feel Better" by Gotye

'Cause what's better than 8-layer blueberry cake?
 

Thanks to the success of "Somebody That I Used To Know", Gotye has gone from underground Australian indie pop genius to full-blown international star.  While it's clear that he will always retain the former title, whether or not he can hang on to the latter remains to be seen.  The chart performance of his next single "I Feel Better" will be a good indicator of whether or not Gotye has what it takes for long-term mainstream popularity here in the States.

It's tough to say how "I Feel Better" will fare.  "Somebody" was a killer tune, but its runaway success may have had more to do with its dynamic take on breakup angst (always a popular topic among the coveted youth demographic) than its raw musicality, although both certainly played a factor.  "I Feel Better" has plenty of raw musicality, but it's questionable if people will find a happy tune quite as compelling as a sad one.

 "Just change the name to 'I Feel Bitter'. Problem solved!" - Marketing

 

I think the song will do well, though, and not just because of its catchiness and brilliant sound.  To understand my line of reasoning, we'll have to take a closer look at the chorus lyrics:

I feel better

better

better than before

I feel better

much better

now I'm not down anymore

"I feel good" is a boring sentiment.  It is static, it has no motion.  "I feel better" implies movement, movement that accumulates with each additional iteration.  Add a "than before" after your "better", and suddenly the passage of time is established; a journey has been implied.

Pictured: a Journey, being more than implied

Continuing on, we have the addition of a "much" before a "better", bolstering the already accumulating intensity of the comparative adjective.  This bring us to the closing line, "now I'm not down anymore".  This line lets us know that the movement has been completed; he got better and better and now he's... good?  No!

Now he's "not down anymore".  And this is the key.  In both music and lyrics, we're not interested in "good", or even "great", all the time.  Otherwise, this would totally be just as good as this.  We're moved by the journey, the shift from mood to mood, the exposition and development of themes, both musical and lyrical.  "I Feel Better" is not compelling because it's a happy song.  It's compelling because it tells the story of somebody who feels better - better than before.