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."
Haa
Woo
Dedicated to the up city
Straight West Coast nigga, ain't no pity
Put holes in niggas, real pretty
Real shitty like a black Frank Nitty
I give drugs to the thugs price-free
Handed down the game by that nigga Ice-T
No doubt players like me
Recognize the great King Tee, about twenty grand a ki
Ah, that's that G shit, no doubt about that
Statutory lyrics is how I rape the rap
And get your niggas off my back
And no, GOD, ya don't pull a strap, 'cause (*gun shot*) FUCK THAT!
I'm very precise when I shoot
Straight out the roof of my Lexus coupe
Ya want to blame Tha Alkaholik group
But, naw, that nigga Tela must've hit the loot
'cause he's actin real loonie
And I don't give a fuck cause I'm drunk and I'm a G like Spoonie
The hoodrats want to do me
So if you've got'cha county cheque give it to me
[Chorus:]
Now baby, don't trip, it's King Tee with the gangsta shit
Ain't fuckin with nothin but them platinum hits
And the two dog groan, a 50 gat to your dome
That nigga on the mic str-8 gone
[*repeat*]
Huh, so I guess I earned the title 'OG'
Been down for ten years, this my fifth Lp
I'ma get this one easy
A real motherfuckin G, are-rock Tee
Now all these fools talkin 'bout they some killers
Car stealers, big time drug dealers
Bitch ass niggas keep it real, don't lie
You ain't killin shit and they gon' let shit die
You ask "Who the hell am I?"
They call me 'Big Bone' and on my worst night I fades em all
And I come through ya hood like a locc ass G
Rip any fool that calls hisself an MC
It's only one way, let's have gun play
I make it play, nigga, fuck what you got to say
I got a mad crew of murderers, ex-burglars
Puttin soft niggas outta service
Chorus:
Now baby, don't trip, it's King Tee with the gangsta shit
Ain't fuckin with nothin but them platinum hits
And the two dog groan, all the fuckin chips blown
That nigga on the mic str-8 gone
Baby, don't trip, it's King Tee with the gangsta shit
Ain't fuckin with nothin but them platinum hits
And the two dog groan, sittin on chrome
That nigga on the mic str-8 gone
My whole crew lives illegal
Strapped with the bulletproof vest in the front and back Regal
Smokin that sticky green grass
Hittin switches, bumpin on cuts from the past
We smoke leaf 'cause we live like G's
Super-soft niggas become enemies
I hit a lick on the East for ten ki's
Now everything I drive is on Deez
I'ma make you believe, I gotta put it down like a real nigga should
My dope spot in every nigga's hood
I don't waste time, I need to get what's mine
Fourteen shells from behind
Leave you in the blind, str-8 paralysed from ya spine
A partner of organised crime
Ya hear it all the time but now ya gotta hear it from the truth
Til my nigga Karl Phat's respect due
[Chorus:]
Now baby, don't trip, it's King Tee with the gangsta shit
Ain't fuckin with nothin but them platinum hits
And the two dog groan, 50 gat to the dome
That nigga on the mic str-8 gone
(repeat 4X)
And I'm gone
Woo
Dedicated to the up city
Straight West Coast nigga, ain't no pity
Put holes in niggas, real pretty
Real shitty like a black Frank Nitty
I give drugs to the thugs price-free
Handed down the game by that nigga Ice-T
No doubt players like me
Recognize the great King Tee, about twenty grand a ki
Ah, that's that G shit, no doubt about that
Statutory lyrics is how I rape the rap
And get your niggas off my back
And no, GOD, ya don't pull a strap, 'cause (*gun shot*) FUCK THAT!
I'm very precise when I shoot
Straight out the roof of my Lexus coupe
Ya want to blame Tha Alkaholik group
But, naw, that nigga Tela must've hit the loot
'cause he's actin real loonie
And I don't give a fuck cause I'm drunk and I'm a G like Spoonie
The hoodrats want to do me
So if you've got'cha county cheque give it to me
[Chorus:]
Now baby, don't trip, it's King Tee with the gangsta shit
Ain't fuckin with nothin but them platinum hits
And the two dog groan, a 50 gat to your dome
That nigga on the mic str-8 gone
[*repeat*]
Huh, so I guess I earned the title 'OG'
Been down for ten years, this my fifth Lp
I'ma get this one easy
A real motherfuckin G, are-rock Tee
Now all these fools talkin 'bout they some killers
Car stealers, big time drug dealers
Bitch ass niggas keep it real, don't lie
You ain't killin shit and they gon' let shit die
You ask "Who the hell am I?"
They call me 'Big Bone' and on my worst night I fades em all
And I come through ya hood like a locc ass G
Rip any fool that calls hisself an MC
It's only one way, let's have gun play
I make it play, nigga, fuck what you got to say
I got a mad crew of murderers, ex-burglars
Puttin soft niggas outta service
Chorus:
Now baby, don't trip, it's King Tee with the gangsta shit
Ain't fuckin with nothin but them platinum hits
And the two dog groan, all the fuckin chips blown
That nigga on the mic str-8 gone
Baby, don't trip, it's King Tee with the gangsta shit
Ain't fuckin with nothin but them platinum hits
And the two dog groan, sittin on chrome
That nigga on the mic str-8 gone
My whole crew lives illegal
Strapped with the bulletproof vest in the front and back Regal
Smokin that sticky green grass
Hittin switches, bumpin on cuts from the past
We smoke leaf 'cause we live like G's
Super-soft niggas become enemies
I hit a lick on the East for ten ki's
Now everything I drive is on Deez
I'ma make you believe, I gotta put it down like a real nigga should
My dope spot in every nigga's hood
I don't waste time, I need to get what's mine
Fourteen shells from behind
Leave you in the blind, str-8 paralysed from ya spine
A partner of organised crime
Ya hear it all the time but now ya gotta hear it from the truth
Til my nigga Karl Phat's respect due
[Chorus:]
Now baby, don't trip, it's King Tee with the gangsta shit
Ain't fuckin with nothin but them platinum hits
And the two dog groan, 50 gat to the dome
That nigga on the mic str-8 gone
(repeat 4X)
And I'm gone
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