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."
Thanks for spending your dough on your new CD / I can't wait till June when we get our royalties / But the money you spent was not in vain / It was spent on plies of cocaine / Take your wallet's out and buy some merchandise / We've got records and shirts at an inflated price / Please spend what you can so we can buy a new van / Our old one broke down in Spokane / Thanks for shelling out cash to come and see our shows / You've been paying our rent and you've been buying us clothes / We love to see your faces out on tour / But more than that we hate to come home poor / Join our fanclub, buy our posters, idolize us today / Cuz we've got lawyers and accountants we've been meaning to pay / Please buy what you can / So I can buy a new amp / My old one blew up in Cheyenne
Lyrics submitted by oofus
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