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."
If you've got something to say
Why don't you say it
If you've got something to give
Why don't you give it to me
Day after day I have to say it
We're moving further from heaven
And closer to the deep blue sea
Cause I have no secrets from you
And I have nothing left to hide
And I'm open to all of your questions
Why can't you reach inside
Like I have
Like I have for you
And all these games that you play
Don't tell me how a man should be
Some would say if you knew
You wouldn't be here with me
I Love you
I still love you
But I guess it's time to let you be
Cause I have no secrets from you
And I have nothing left to hide
and I'm so tired of all these questions
Cause maybe you just changed your mind
Like I have
Like I have
Like I have
Like I have
When I was at your doorstep
You told me to look around
Said come in
You and your heart sit down
But you better watch your step
Cause your not far from the ground
And one fine day this all falls down
Like I have
Like I have
If you got something to say
Why don't you say it
If you've got something to give
Why don't you give it to me
Day after day I have to say it
If we've got something to save
Why don't we save it
Why don't you say it
If you've got something to give
Why don't you give it to me
Day after day I have to say it
We're moving further from heaven
And closer to the deep blue sea
Cause I have no secrets from you
And I have nothing left to hide
And I'm open to all of your questions
Why can't you reach inside
Like I have
Like I have for you
And all these games that you play
Don't tell me how a man should be
Some would say if you knew
You wouldn't be here with me
I Love you
I still love you
But I guess it's time to let you be
Cause I have no secrets from you
And I have nothing left to hide
and I'm so tired of all these questions
Cause maybe you just changed your mind
Like I have
Like I have
Like I have
Like I have
When I was at your doorstep
You told me to look around
Said come in
You and your heart sit down
But you better watch your step
Cause your not far from the ground
And one fine day this all falls down
Like I have
Like I have
If you got something to say
Why don't you say it
If you've got something to give
Why don't you give it to me
Day after day I have to say it
If we've got something to save
Why don't we save it
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Somewhere Only We Know
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Upon further introspection I think the song may not have an intrinsic meaning, but simply represents a sort of "holding open the door" for people who otherwise might be affronted by this song/band's unusual style. I know, as a sort of armchair rock-historian, that there have been few bands so daring and so true to the sound that wanted to emerge from within, whether the creator wanted it or not. This band handled it with elegance and grace seldom, if ever, seen.
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