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 wanted to see it in your eyes
All this respect and love
But it was only an illusion
Of my hopeless dreams
Now I'm trying to survive
In your world full of rules
Your wish is an order to me
You're like a poison...
I don't care any more
I'm not sure about anything
You're like a poison to me...
Sometimes I can see fear in your eyes
But sometimes it's contempt
And I gives me the creeps
I don't get it it's rather strange
You're like a poison to me...
What's in your mind?
Tell me
"A violation of the human rights"?
You must be kidding…what rights?
Don't say it's toxic treaty
You're like a poison to me...
I hate you and I respect you...
I reject you and I want you...
You're guilty of my fears...
You are the witness of my madness...
I cannot look into your eyes
With no fear
There is no place for me
In your dreams
So listen I don't care any more
I'm not sure about anything
It was different, but now...
Life can kill every feeling
It's hard to say what I feel...
You can be mad, I know that
It was more that I could have stand
Now it's really hard...
All this respect and love
But it was only an illusion
Of my hopeless dreams
Now I'm trying to survive
In your world full of rules
Your wish is an order to me
You're like a poison...
I don't care any more
I'm not sure about anything
You're like a poison to me...
Sometimes I can see fear in your eyes
But sometimes it's contempt
And I gives me the creeps
I don't get it it's rather strange
You're like a poison to me...
What's in your mind?
Tell me
"A violation of the human rights"?
You must be kidding…what rights?
Don't say it's toxic treaty
You're like a poison to me...
I hate you and I respect you...
I reject you and I want you...
You're guilty of my fears...
You are the witness of my madness...
I cannot look into your eyes
With no fear
There is no place for me
In your dreams
So listen I don't care any more
I'm not sure about anything
It was different, but now...
Life can kill every feeling
It's hard to say what I feel...
You can be mad, I know that
It was more that I could have stand
Now it's really hard...
Lyrics submitted by Howodd27
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Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
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