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."
I got a fox
You know I treat her right
Don't have to stay out
Walk the streets at night
I treat her good
Like a good man should
Got a lot of love to give
And I don't have to stay out
And walk the streets
And I feel alright
I got a flower
You know I treat her right
Give her lots of love
I gotta soul full of light
When it gets cold
I can keep her warm
Give her shade from the heat
Shelter from the storm
Gonna give her lots of love
And light
Make her feel alright
When I'm getting restless
And I wanna play
If she said she didn't mind
She'd be jealous anyway
Cause we get spring fever
Every now and then
Virtue in my heart
Vice in my hands
When she's getting restless
And she wants to play
If I said I didn't mind
I'd be jealous anyway
Cause we get spring fever
Every now and then
I've got virtue in my heart
And in my hand
You know I treat her right
Don't have to stay out
Walk the streets at night
I treat her good
Like a good man should
Got a lot of love to give
And I don't have to stay out
And walk the streets
And I feel alright
I got a flower
You know I treat her right
Give her lots of love
I gotta soul full of light
When it gets cold
I can keep her warm
Give her shade from the heat
Shelter from the storm
Gonna give her lots of love
And light
Make her feel alright
When I'm getting restless
And I wanna play
If she said she didn't mind
She'd be jealous anyway
Cause we get spring fever
Every now and then
Virtue in my heart
Vice in my hands
When she's getting restless
And she wants to play
If I said I didn't mind
I'd be jealous anyway
Cause we get spring fever
Every now and then
I've got virtue in my heart
And in my hand
Lyrics submitted by Sideburnstijger
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