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."
Well I never want to fight
And I'm sorry that I bit her
But she always thinks she's right
And it makes me want to hit her
I don't want to scream and shout
I'd much rather hear her whisper
And it's all I think about
Whenever I'm with her
Well it wouldn't be so bad
If she'd tell me what's the matter
And I wouldn't get so mad
When I heard her vicious chatter
I hear voices in my ear
And I'm thinking with my zipper
But they always disappear
Whenever I'm with her
Well it wouldn't be so bad
If she'd tell me what's the matter
And I wouldn't get so mad
When I heard her vicious chatter
I hear voices in my ear
And I'm thinking with my zipper
But they always disappear
Whenever I'm with her
And I'm sorry that I bit her
But she always thinks she's right
And it makes me want to hit her
I don't want to scream and shout
I'd much rather hear her whisper
And it's all I think about
Whenever I'm with her
Well it wouldn't be so bad
If she'd tell me what's the matter
And I wouldn't get so mad
When I heard her vicious chatter
I hear voices in my ear
And I'm thinking with my zipper
But they always disappear
Whenever I'm with her
Well it wouldn't be so bad
If she'd tell me what's the matter
And I wouldn't get so mad
When I heard her vicious chatter
I hear voices in my ear
And I'm thinking with my zipper
But they always disappear
Whenever I'm with her
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