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."
àì úãàâ àðé çåùáú òìééê
àáì ùåëáú òí ëåìí
àì úãàâ àðé çåùáú òìééê
àáì ùåëáú òí ëåìí
åàéï ìé àó àçã
àéï ìé àó àçã
àì úãàâ àéï ìé àçø áî÷åîê
àì úãàâ àðé çåìîú òìééê
åîúòåøøú òí ëåìí
àì úãàâ àðé îúä òìééê
åçéä òí ëåìí
åàéï ìé àó àçã
àéï ìé àó àçã
àì úãàâ àéï ìé àçø áî÷åîê
äéà ùé÷øä
àì úãàâ àðé çåùáú òìééê
àáì ùåëáú òí ëåìí
àáì ùåëáú òí ëåìí
àì úãàâ àðé çåùáú òìééê
àáì ùåëáú òí ëåìí
åàéï ìé àó àçã
àéï ìé àó àçã
àì úãàâ àéï ìé àçø áî÷åîê
àì úãàâ àðé çåìîú òìééê
åîúòåøøú òí ëåìí
àì úãàâ àðé îúä òìééê
åçéä òí ëåìí
åàéï ìé àó àçã
àéï ìé àó àçã
àì úãàâ àéï ìé àçø áî÷åîê
äéà ùé÷øä
àì úãàâ àðé çåùáú òìééê
àáì ùåëáú òí ëåìí
Lyrics submitted by Novartza
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Somewhere Only We Know
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