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."
I've seen your face before
In shadows on the wall;
Splinters of broken light,
Echoes that spear the night.
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
I've passed this way before
Walked through the open door;
Walked through the darkest night
Throughout the brightest light.
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall...
In shadows on the wall;
Splinters of broken light,
Echoes that spear the night.
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
I've passed this way before
Walked through the open door;
Walked through the darkest night
Throughout the brightest light.
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall
Or is this the fall?
Is this the fall...
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