Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
Someday, when my life has passed me by
I'll lay around and wonder why you were always there for me
One way, in the eyes of a passer by
I'll look around for another try and fade away
Just close your eyes and I'll take you there
This place is warm and without a care
We'll take a swim in the deep blue sea
I go to leave and you reach for me
Some say better things will come our way
No matter what they try to say, you were always there for me
Some way, when the sun begins to shine
I hear a song from another time and fade away
And fade away
Just close your eyes and I'll take you there
This place is warm without a care
We'll take a swim in the deep blue sea
I go to leave and you reach for me
Oh, come on
Someone said you tried too long (someday will pass me by)
Someone said we got it all wrong (someday, I wonder why)
Someone said we tried too long (someday will pass me by)
Is there a place where I belong?
So far, so long, so far away
So far, so wrong, so far away, away, away
Someday, when my life has passed me by
I'll lay around and wonder why you were always there for me
One way, in the eyes of a passerby (in the eyes of a passerby)
I'll look around for another try and fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
I'll lay around and wonder why you were always there for me
One way, in the eyes of a passer by
I'll look around for another try and fade away
Just close your eyes and I'll take you there
This place is warm and without a care
We'll take a swim in the deep blue sea
I go to leave and you reach for me
Some say better things will come our way
No matter what they try to say, you were always there for me
Some way, when the sun begins to shine
I hear a song from another time and fade away
And fade away
Just close your eyes and I'll take you there
This place is warm without a care
We'll take a swim in the deep blue sea
I go to leave and you reach for me
Oh, come on
Someone said you tried too long (someday will pass me by)
Someone said we got it all wrong (someday, I wonder why)
Someone said we tried too long (someday will pass me by)
Is there a place where I belong?
So far, so long, so far away
So far, so wrong, so far away, away, away
Someday, when my life has passed me by
I'll lay around and wonder why you were always there for me
One way, in the eyes of a passerby (in the eyes of a passerby)
I'll look around for another try and fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
And fade away
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Somewhere Only We Know
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when i hear this song, i think of my parents and my friends (who were always there for me) when i was growing up. even though i fucked up, or did the wrong thing. they hlped me out and helped me grow up.
"someday, when the sun begins to shine" - i interpret that as when i actually get to where i want to be in life, and i am happy,
i "hear a song from another time and fade away" - i see/hear something from those past times, and can't help but reminisce about all the days of growing up.
during the chorus he says "just close your eyes and i'll take you there, this place is warm without a care" - has to allude to the nostalgia of childhood. "warm without a care" - makes me think of my childhood and my family/home.
so in short, "someday" refers to the past, present AND future. the someday of the past is when we are growing up, and don't know any better. the someday of the future refers to when he "makes it" or is a lot older, he wants to repay all his friends/family for all they have given him. and the someday of the present is just us reminiscing (i can't help but do it whenever i listen to this song)