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."
It must be your skin, I'm sinking in
Must be for real 'cause now I can feel
And I didn't mind, it's not my kind
It's not my time to wonder why
Everything gone white, everything's grey
Now you're here, now you're away
I don't want this, remember that
I'll never forget where you're at
Don't let the days go by
Glycerine
Glycerine
I'm never alone, I'm alone all the time
Are you at one or do you lie?
We live in a wheel where everyone steals
But when we rise, it's like strawberry fields
If I treated you bad, you'd bruise my face
Couldn't love you more, you've got a beautiful taste
Don't let the days go by
Could've been easier on you
I couldn't change though I wanted to
Should've been easier by three
Our old friend fear and you and me
Glycerine
Glycerine
Don't let the days go by
Glycerine
Don't let the days go by
Glycerine, glycerine
Oh, glycerine, glycerine
Bad moon white again
Bad moon white again
As she falls around me
I needed you more, you wanted us less
Could not kiss, just regress
It might just be clear, simple and plain
Well, that's just fine, that's just one of my names
Don't let the days go by
Could've been easier on you, you, you
Glycerine
Glycerine
Glycerine
Glycerine
Must be for real 'cause now I can feel
And I didn't mind, it's not my kind
It's not my time to wonder why
Everything gone white, everything's grey
Now you're here, now you're away
I don't want this, remember that
I'll never forget where you're at
Don't let the days go by
Glycerine
Glycerine
I'm never alone, I'm alone all the time
Are you at one or do you lie?
We live in a wheel where everyone steals
But when we rise, it's like strawberry fields
If I treated you bad, you'd bruise my face
Couldn't love you more, you've got a beautiful taste
Don't let the days go by
Could've been easier on you
I couldn't change though I wanted to
Should've been easier by three
Our old friend fear and you and me
Glycerine
Glycerine
Don't let the days go by
Glycerine
Don't let the days go by
Glycerine, glycerine
Oh, glycerine, glycerine
Bad moon white again
Bad moon white again
As she falls around me
I needed you more, you wanted us less
Could not kiss, just regress
It might just be clear, simple and plain
Well, that's just fine, that's just one of my names
Don't let the days go by
Could've been easier on you, you, you
Glycerine
Glycerine
Glycerine
Glycerine
Lyrics submitted by spitfirek7, edited by bobudo, antiaverage, Alek Bunny
Glycerine Lyrics as written by Gavin Rossdale
Lyrics © DistroKid, BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"It's nitroglycerine, as opposed to hand soap. I'm fascinated by an inanimate object that can cause so much destruction. It can sit there like a fat ward, and then it blows up..."- Gavin Rosedale
"Glycerine is a form of explosive, and that's what the feeling of losing someone really special feels like inside."-Gavin Rossdale
"I was trying to be involved with someone who (a) didn't want me to be involved with her and (b) couldn't be involved with me because her life was too busy and too full for me. It's about the magic of love and loss."- Gavin Rossdale
So there you have it.
Sweet is not a flavor so I still think it's tasteless. ...and did anyone notice that he
starts with Glycerin (95% Glycerol) and then at the end it's Glycerine, the less purified.
I don't think it's the explosive side, it's a relationship thing as in, don't let things fester
and don't let them not fester. Act and repair or act and split, but do something.
You’re smart to dissect the “glycerine” aspect.