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 believe in Satan
Who rend both heavens and earth
And in the Antichrist
His dearly misbegotten
The anguish ov our future
A Bastard spawned from lie
Born ov a harlot nun
Reign high in luxury
Aloft the kings ov man
I use words sharp as a sword
To rake Saints 'shins bestrewn
Three days risen – the grand deceiver
I bless the world with ire and woe
So, can you hoard host like Zion's coin
Belie progeny ov your pain?
IHWH, thou sayeth unto me:
Thou, disrupter, imbalance my creations!
Hence I transfix in bliss ov flagellation
I burnt in rapture, wafted ash about...
Became the law above all laws
In asymmetry ov the horns
I cut loose the cord ov li(f)e
Depart celestial source
Rub mould in holy pages
Let woodworms eat the cross
I prayed I'd die in you O Lord
I pray you'd die in me...
Who shall crucify the last prophets
And have them wilt on splintered stems?
Who shall churn hells across the earth
And reascend to seat himself...
At the left hand ov Satan
Be gaoler ov the living
...And ov the dead
As it was in the beginning
Now and shall ever be
...World without end
Amen
Who rend both heavens and earth
And in the Antichrist
His dearly misbegotten
The anguish ov our future
A Bastard spawned from lie
Born ov a harlot nun
Reign high in luxury
Aloft the kings ov man
I use words sharp as a sword
To rake Saints 'shins bestrewn
Three days risen – the grand deceiver
I bless the world with ire and woe
So, can you hoard host like Zion's coin
Belie progeny ov your pain?
IHWH, thou sayeth unto me:
Thou, disrupter, imbalance my creations!
Hence I transfix in bliss ov flagellation
I burnt in rapture, wafted ash about...
Became the law above all laws
In asymmetry ov the horns
I cut loose the cord ov li(f)e
Depart celestial source
Rub mould in holy pages
Let woodworms eat the cross
I prayed I'd die in you O Lord
I pray you'd die in me...
Who shall crucify the last prophets
And have them wilt on splintered stems?
Who shall churn hells across the earth
And reascend to seat himself...
At the left hand ov Satan
Be gaoler ov the living
...And ov the dead
As it was in the beginning
Now and shall ever be
...World without end
Amen
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Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
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Zombie
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"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
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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.
The Last Dance
Within Temptation
Within Temptation
@Kahiara Actually I think the husband passed away,
"She sang for you last night
She heard you were calling"
Many people say they have felt, heard, or seen their loved ones after they have passed.
"Don't be scared now
Close your eyes
She holds guard tonight
Go on forward no remorse
Life will take it's course"
This is said to the late husband by a third part (never named), who encourages him to pass on. Because life will eventually continue. The phrase "holds guard" refers to the ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… ) which is a Christian ceremony held after someone dies. Now it is usually held right after the funeral, but in most celtiic countries the wake is held before the funeral.
"She danced with you last night so you will remember
All you have shared, a lifetime."
This sentence feels as if the only thing it wants to convey is their history together, namely, husband and wife. For the rest it just refers back to the first verse.
MAZZA
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Olivia O'Brien
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