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."
Sometimes I just want to Fly, Sometimes I just
want to Die
Life is so full of dichotomy, It's so plain to see
The only sane choice is insanity
Welcome to the land of plenty, We are all so busy
In our quest for permanence, we lose sight of the relative
unimportance, of our conquest to see who can
produce the most trash
Before you Die
Welcome to the end of the century, Life is so easy
Wouldn't it be nice, if we could find a compromise,
between technology
And the well being of the Earth that grants us
every goddamed thing we need
You can't see the sun rise
When the buildings have grown too tall to see the
skies
And the smog is too thick to be pierced by your eyes
You can't feel the rain come down
When you're locked in a box, nailed to the ground
And the muffled cries for help are the only sound
want to Die
Life is so full of dichotomy, It's so plain to see
The only sane choice is insanity
Welcome to the land of plenty, We are all so busy
In our quest for permanence, we lose sight of the relative
unimportance, of our conquest to see who can
produce the most trash
Before you Die
Welcome to the end of the century, Life is so easy
Wouldn't it be nice, if we could find a compromise,
between technology
And the well being of the Earth that grants us
every goddamed thing we need
You can't see the sun rise
When the buildings have grown too tall to see the
skies
And the smog is too thick to be pierced by your eyes
You can't feel the rain come down
When you're locked in a box, nailed to the ground
And the muffled cries for help are the only sound
Lyrics submitted by oofus
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