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."
Directions say assembly required
Nothing's admired the majority's been
Hired, wired, the truth the roof is on fire
A life all I desire
Paychecks, respect disappears quickly
Situation tense trickly
Hand jobs, yes they have plenty
Backs cracked for copper pennies
Migraines, wrist sprains
Free samples of rogaine, fill me with anything
Regaining ground while the well endowed
Sit proud with their head in the clouds
Prophets predicted it
Inscribed on the minds of the ancient tribes
Mother nature striking back
Come suffer with me
(Man can only rape his mother for so long)
What will you do the chosen few?
With your Reebok shoes and your missing clues
Pretend it will all go away?
Oxygen levels growing thin
The opposite of birth unfolds within
Must prepare and be aware existence of man will disappear
No tunnel harps, angels to follow
Every man, women, child swallowed
No eight o' clock alarm tomorrow
Man returns the earth he borrowed
And while the meek obey to repeat defeat
(mother nature releases)
Come suffer with me
(Man can only rape his mother for so long)
One nine nine nine (what yeah)
Gotta get a grip on come on
What's this fuckin' world coming to?
Run for shelter, helter skelter
It's too bad, before too long there'll be no songs
No break of dawn, it'll all be gone 'cause Mrs. Mother Nature
She grow to hate ya
It's the apocalypse kid
A little karma for all that you did
You want to know where we're headin'
Armageddon
Come suffer with me
(Man can only rape his mother for so long)
(Will time erase the human race)
Nothing's admired the majority's been
Hired, wired, the truth the roof is on fire
A life all I desire
Paychecks, respect disappears quickly
Situation tense trickly
Hand jobs, yes they have plenty
Backs cracked for copper pennies
Migraines, wrist sprains
Free samples of rogaine, fill me with anything
Regaining ground while the well endowed
Sit proud with their head in the clouds
Prophets predicted it
Inscribed on the minds of the ancient tribes
Mother nature striking back
Come suffer with me
(Man can only rape his mother for so long)
What will you do the chosen few?
With your Reebok shoes and your missing clues
Pretend it will all go away?
Oxygen levels growing thin
The opposite of birth unfolds within
Must prepare and be aware existence of man will disappear
No tunnel harps, angels to follow
Every man, women, child swallowed
No eight o' clock alarm tomorrow
Man returns the earth he borrowed
And while the meek obey to repeat defeat
(mother nature releases)
Come suffer with me
(Man can only rape his mother for so long)
One nine nine nine (what yeah)
Gotta get a grip on come on
What's this fuckin' world coming to?
Run for shelter, helter skelter
It's too bad, before too long there'll be no songs
No break of dawn, it'll all be gone 'cause Mrs. Mother Nature
She grow to hate ya
It's the apocalypse kid
A little karma for all that you did
You want to know where we're headin'
Armageddon
Come suffer with me
(Man can only rape his mother for so long)
(Will time erase the human race)
Lyrics submitted by thewhitepony33
Human Piñata Lyrics as written by Kris Kohls David File
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
Keane
Zombie
Cranberries, The
Cranberries, The
"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.
System
Mel And Kim
Mel And Kim
Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning.
This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive.
She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end.
So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.
There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.
Anti-Hero
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
I believe this is another amazingly on point and nuanced commentary on the insanity that follows emotionally abusive relationships. The abuser has no anxieties, no emotional pain, or salience/memory for that matter, so the survivor appears to be the crazy one, obsessed with the abuse and that buzzword that seems to ignite arguments about diagnosing people without a degree, etc. funny how you say the words domestic violence, abuse, abuse survivor and boom the subject changes. Anyways, I especially relate to her midnights becoming afternoons, complex PTSD often leads to this phenomenon, whether due to purposeful sleep deprivation by the abuser, or just hyper vigilance associated with the PTSD, along with the fear of facing people, especially your loved ones, who
Never actually understand, even if they try, because all they see is you, on fire, screaming about the arsonist that no one ever sees, and who has been spreading lies about your alleged mental instability, deceptive personality, etc. the whole time. While the last thing survivors need is more blame, our society supports a narrative that blames the objectively innocent party because the blatantly guilty party has spent their entire lives fabricating a persona and we’re just being human, and human psychology is quite counterintuitive especially in the context of trauma. Look at Amber Heard. Vilified and not believed, regardless of what any abuse survivor could recognize as a fellow survivor instantly. But Johnny depp is a malignant narcissist, a man, and wealthy as all get out. It’s sick.
Still Luv
Kennedy Rd.
Kennedy Rd.
This standout song off her eponymously named album was produced by AVB & Itsashleetho and released on December 28, 2020.