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."
Oh, my life is changing everyday
In every possible way
And oh, my dreams
It's never quite as it seems
Never quite as it seems
I know I felt like this before
But now I'm feeling it even more
Because it came from you
Then I open up and see
The person falling here is me
A different way to be
Aah, la-ah-la-ah
La-la-la
La-ah-la-ah
I want more, impossible to ignore
Impossible to ignore
And they'll come true
Impossible not to do
Possible not to do
And now I tell you openly
You have my heart so don't hurt me
You're what I couldn't find
A totally amazing mind
So understanding and so kind
You're everything to me
Oh, my life is changing everyday
In every possible way
And oh, my dreams
It's never quite as it seems
'Cause you're a dream to me
Dream to me
In every possible way
And oh, my dreams
It's never quite as it seems
Never quite as it seems
I know I felt like this before
But now I'm feeling it even more
Because it came from you
Then I open up and see
The person falling here is me
A different way to be
Aah, la-ah-la-ah
La-la-la
La-ah-la-ah
I want more, impossible to ignore
Impossible to ignore
And they'll come true
Impossible not to do
Possible not to do
And now I tell you openly
You have my heart so don't hurt me
You're what I couldn't find
A totally amazing mind
So understanding and so kind
You're everything to me
Oh, my life is changing everyday
In every possible way
And oh, my dreams
It's never quite as it seems
'Cause you're a dream to me
Dream to me
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"Then I open up and see
The person falling here is me
A different way to be"