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."
The crowded future stings my eyes
I still find time to exercise
In uniform with two white stripes
Unlock my section of the sand
It's fenced off to the water's edge
I clamp a gas mask on my head
On my beach at night
Bathe in my moonlight
Another tanker's hit the rocks
Abandoned to spill out its guts
The sand is laced with sticky glops
Oh, shimmering moonlight sheen upon
The waves and water clogged with oil
White gases steam up from the soil
On my beach at night
Bathe in my moonlight
I squish dead fish between my toes
Try not to step on any bones
I turn around and I go home
I slip back through my basement door
Switch off all that I own below
Dive in my scalding wooden tub
My own beach at night
Bathe in my moonlight
'Ight
'Ight
There will always be a moon over Marin
There, wasn't that a nice visit?
Don't forget, a psychiatrist is on duty twenty-four hours a day in the blue room
Just up from the parking garage
Drink plenty of water when you take these
Now you can relax
And return to your job!
I still find time to exercise
In uniform with two white stripes
Unlock my section of the sand
It's fenced off to the water's edge
I clamp a gas mask on my head
On my beach at night
Bathe in my moonlight
Another tanker's hit the rocks
Abandoned to spill out its guts
The sand is laced with sticky glops
Oh, shimmering moonlight sheen upon
The waves and water clogged with oil
White gases steam up from the soil
On my beach at night
Bathe in my moonlight
I squish dead fish between my toes
Try not to step on any bones
I turn around and I go home
I slip back through my basement door
Switch off all that I own below
Dive in my scalding wooden tub
My own beach at night
Bathe in my moonlight
'Ight
'Ight
There will always be a moon over Marin
There, wasn't that a nice visit?
Don't forget, a psychiatrist is on duty twenty-four hours a day in the blue room
Just up from the parking garage
Drink plenty of water when you take these
Now you can relax
And return to your job!
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