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'm gonna race you race you race you race you back home
The sun's going down now
And I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go
'Cause there's dirt on my skirt and pebbles stuck in my toes
Oh which way should we go down
Nobody knows, nobody knows
I'm gonna race you back home
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ooh
I'm gonna race you back home
Ba ba ba ba ba ba oooh
'Cause there's a shortcut down the beaten path
One step to the right, three to the left
The moon's so high
The wind's so fast
Makes us feel like goddesses
1 2 3 set, ready set go
May heaven help you if you're slow
We're gonna run like bandits
While the flames are chasin'
Racin' racin' racin' racin' back home
Ooh I'm gonna race you race you race you race you back home
Everyone's waitin'
And your supper's gone cold, your supper's gone cold
Yeah the table's ready, your sisters all in a row
They're all waitin' to kiss you
And tell me you've grown, my how you've grown
I'm gonna race you back home
Ba ba ba ba ba ba oooh
I'm gonna race you back home
Ba ba ba ba ba ba oooh
Roll roll roll
Run run run
Meet me at the bottom
After I have won
Roll roll roll
Run run run
Meet me at the bottom
After I have won
I have won
'Cause there's a shortcut down the beaten path
One step to the right, three to the left
The moon's so high
The wind's so fast
Makes us feel like goddesses
1 2 3 set, ready set go
May heaven help you if you're slow
We're gonna run like bandits
While the flames are chasin'
Racin' racin' racin' racin'
Oh I'm gonna race you back home
Home home
Home.
The sun's going down now
And I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go
'Cause there's dirt on my skirt and pebbles stuck in my toes
Oh which way should we go down
Nobody knows, nobody knows
I'm gonna race you back home
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ooh
I'm gonna race you back home
Ba ba ba ba ba ba oooh
'Cause there's a shortcut down the beaten path
One step to the right, three to the left
The moon's so high
The wind's so fast
Makes us feel like goddesses
1 2 3 set, ready set go
May heaven help you if you're slow
We're gonna run like bandits
While the flames are chasin'
Racin' racin' racin' racin' back home
Ooh I'm gonna race you race you race you race you back home
Everyone's waitin'
And your supper's gone cold, your supper's gone cold
Yeah the table's ready, your sisters all in a row
They're all waitin' to kiss you
And tell me you've grown, my how you've grown
I'm gonna race you back home
Ba ba ba ba ba ba oooh
I'm gonna race you back home
Ba ba ba ba ba ba oooh
Roll roll roll
Run run run
Meet me at the bottom
After I have won
Roll roll roll
Run run run
Meet me at the bottom
After I have won
I have won
'Cause there's a shortcut down the beaten path
One step to the right, three to the left
The moon's so high
The wind's so fast
Makes us feel like goddesses
1 2 3 set, ready set go
May heaven help you if you're slow
We're gonna run like bandits
While the flames are chasin'
Racin' racin' racin' racin'
Oh I'm gonna race you back home
Home home
Home.
Lyrics submitted by Amandolin
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