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."
Take, take a look behind you
A little look inside you
'Cus all you've known has gone up and down
And break, I'm just a little bit angry
Yeah a little bit angry
'Cus all I've got is this shell I've found
I know, how long
Until you all fall down
All I've got is dead
You're not effective is all I'm fed
All I've got is dead
So for the time I'm gonna live in my head
Look, look at those who have told you
Those who have sold you
They pretend they're on higher ground
Then burn, I say, burn those that scold you
'Cus it was those before you
Who created this hell I've found
I know, how long
Until you all fall down
All I've got is dead
You're not effective is all I'm fed
All I've got is dead
So for the time I'm gonna live in my head
All I've got is dead
I'm not effective, no I'm not effective is all that I have ever been fed
All I've got, all I've got is dead
So for the time I'm gonna live in my head
From the time you get up, until the time you lay cold
Till the time you wake up in your life
You're already old
Does a life that breathes take time to heal your head?
It doesn't matter 'cause you're already dead
You're dead, you're dead, you're dead, you're dead
You're dead, you're dead, you're dead, you're dead
You're dead, you're dead, you're dead
You're dead
You're dead
A little look inside you
'Cus all you've known has gone up and down
And break, I'm just a little bit angry
Yeah a little bit angry
'Cus all I've got is this shell I've found
I know, how long
Until you all fall down
All I've got is dead
You're not effective is all I'm fed
All I've got is dead
So for the time I'm gonna live in my head
Look, look at those who have told you
Those who have sold you
They pretend they're on higher ground
Then burn, I say, burn those that scold you
'Cus it was those before you
Who created this hell I've found
I know, how long
Until you all fall down
All I've got is dead
You're not effective is all I'm fed
All I've got is dead
So for the time I'm gonna live in my head
All I've got is dead
I'm not effective, no I'm not effective is all that I have ever been fed
All I've got, all I've got is dead
So for the time I'm gonna live in my head
From the time you get up, until the time you lay cold
Till the time you wake up in your life
You're already old
Does a life that breathes take time to heal your head?
It doesn't matter 'cause you're already dead
You're dead, you're dead, you're dead, you're dead
You're dead, you're dead, you're dead, you're dead
You're dead, you're dead, you're dead
You're dead
You're dead
Lyrics submitted by dsfire
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