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."
Millions of city lights
Burning bright in the night
Too many circuits on plugged in machines
Neon lights disengage
Television is the rage
Life support systems
Supporting every need
Where are you going?
When the lights flicker
It's a power failure
An overload
The lights are out tonight
Children in darkness
Hearing lovers play their games
Babies crying, people fighting
Looters are in a rage
Too many circuits on plugged in machines
Atomic reactors
space technology
Where are you going?
When the lights flicker
It's a power failure
An overload
The lights are out tonight
Electrons disconnect
Negative charges exploding
Too many circuits on plugged in machines
Wire connecting wire
Social disease
Life support systems
Supporting every need
Where are you going?
When the lights flicker
It's a power failure
An overload
The lights are out tonight
Too many circuits on plugged in machines
Like irons, toasters, vibrators, heating pads,
swimming pools, air conditioners, calculators,
hair driers, blenders, electric toothbrushes,
record players, televisions, garages, tape machines,
night lights, microwave ovens, power saws,
vacuum cleaners, water pics, cuisinarts !
Burning bright in the night
Too many circuits on plugged in machines
Neon lights disengage
Television is the rage
Life support systems
Supporting every need
Where are you going?
When the lights flicker
It's a power failure
An overload
The lights are out tonight
Children in darkness
Hearing lovers play their games
Babies crying, people fighting
Looters are in a rage
Too many circuits on plugged in machines
Atomic reactors
space technology
Where are you going?
When the lights flicker
It's a power failure
An overload
The lights are out tonight
Electrons disconnect
Negative charges exploding
Too many circuits on plugged in machines
Wire connecting wire
Social disease
Life support systems
Supporting every need
Where are you going?
When the lights flicker
It's a power failure
An overload
The lights are out tonight
Too many circuits on plugged in machines
Like irons, toasters, vibrators, heating pads,
swimming pools, air conditioners, calculators,
hair driers, blenders, electric toothbrushes,
record players, televisions, garages, tape machines,
night lights, microwave ovens, power saws,
vacuum cleaners, water pics, cuisinarts !
Lyrics submitted by numb
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