PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete
Oh simple thing where have you gone
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?

Oh simple thing where have you gone
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don’t we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don’t we go
Somewhere only we know?

Oh simple thing where have you gone
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don’t we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don’t we go
Somewhere only we know?

This could be the end of everything
So why don’t we go
Somewhere only we know?

A PROPOS

« It’s about being able to draw strength from a place or experience you’ve shared with someone. I think it’s an idea a lot of people can relate to. » (Tim,The Mirror)

« I was thinking of something like David Bowie’s ‘Heroes ‘, which you drive along to a really rocking beat. I really like the bridge and it’s great fun to play live. It was one of the first things we recorded for the album. » (Tim, Billboard.com)

« 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… » (Richard, Rockfeedback.com Source)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

When you, when you forget your name
When old faces all look the same
Meet me in the morning when you wake up
Meet me in the morning then you’ll wake up
If only I don’t bend and break
I’ll meet you on the other side
I’ll meet you in the light
If only I don’t suffocate
I’ll meet you in the morning when you wake

Lovesick bitter and hardened heart
Aching waiting for night waiting for life to start
Meet me in the morning when you wake up
Meet me in the morning then you’ll wake up

If only I don’t bend and break
I’ll meet you on the other side
I’ll meet you in the light
If only I don’t suffocate
I’ll meet you in the morning when you wake

If only I don’t bend and break
I’ll meet you on the other side
I’ll meet you in the light
If only I don’t suffocate
I’ll meet you in the morning when you wake

I’ll meet you on the other side
I’ll meet you in the light
If only I don’t suffocate
I’ll meet you in the morning when you wake

A PROPOS

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

I don’t know your face no more
Or feel your touch that I adore
I don’t know your face no more
It’s just a place I’m looking for
We might as well be strangers in another town
We might as well be living in a different world
We might as well
We might as well
We might as well

I don’t know your thoughts these days
We’re strangers in an empty space
I don’t understand your heart
It’s easier to be apart

We might as well be strangers in another town
We might as well be living in a another time
We might as well
We might as well
We might as well be strangers
Be strangers
For all I know of you now
For all I know of you now
For all I know of you now
For all I know

A PROPOS

« This song is kinda about being forced to be away from someone you really love. » – Tom – London Basement gig – 26th February 2004

« This is a song about not being in love with somebody anymore. » – Tom – London Hammersmith gig – 28th March 2004

• « As you get older you realise that things just get more complicated and it’s just never a simple ‘everything’s delightful’ – I mean I find that I feel very happy with that side of my life, but at the same time there always bad things and always difficult things, and I’ll always like taking those and expanding on them and thinking where they might go and using those as ideas for writing. I don’t know if that just means I’m a ‘glass half empty’ person or whatever, but in a way those are the most interesting things to write about – it’s not particularly interesting to write a song about how ‘everything’s really lovely’. I think people are just very interesting, and those sorts of funny things that people say and do, and you don’t really know if they’re good or bad, but they’re just weird. The way people behave to each other is so strange. We Might As Well Be Strangers is definitely one of my favourites songs I’ve written because it’s so … unbelievably depressing. I feel that it builds up and it just sort of explodes, it’s like it smoulders along for a while and then there’s a big cry of frustration, and then it just hangs its head, and then goes back to the « for all I know of you now » bit. It’s a very sad song. – Tim – Strangers DVD

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

You say you wander your own land
But when I think about it
I don’t see how you can
You’re aching, you’re breaking
And I can see the pain in your eyes
Says everybody’s changing
And I don’t know why

So little time
Try to understand that I’m
Trying to make a move to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody’s changing
And I don’t feel the same

You’re gone from here
And soon you will disappear
Fading into beautiful light
Cause everybody’s changing
And I don’t feel right

So little time
Try to understand that I’m
Trying to make a move to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody’s changing
And I don’t feel the same

So little time
Try to understand that I’m
Trying to make a move to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody’s changing
And I don’t feel the same

A PROPOS

« It’s kinda about being stuck in one place and watching everyone else around you moving along, and feeling a bit depressed with it all…. (in a good way of course!) » (Tom – London ULU gig – 09/03/04)

« Everybody’s Changing is a song about something I think a lot of people will experience, which is when people’s lives start going different ways and you’re sitting there, thinking my friends are doing this, what I am I doing? What do I do with my life? I think things like that are quite common to people and are probably more important than a lot of things that people write songs about. I mean, we haven’t written any songs about politics. I think things like your friends, communication and love affect peoples lives more on a daily basis than who’s in charge of the budget! » (gig101 interview – Source)

« the song is about trying to work out where you are in the world, while some of the people around you are going off and doing different things. tim wrote it while we were really struggling to get anywhere as a band, and we were watching all our friends move away and get on with their lives, while we were stuck in battle getting nowhere, and wondering if we were doing the right thing. «  (Richard, messageboard)

« Everybody’s Changing is definitely world-weary. I wrote that at a time when we were quite low. We’d given up our London dream and had to slink back to Battle. We were feeling really isolated as a band. All our friends were making their way in the world and we were back at square one. Also, everyone I knew was jettisoning who they had been and was trying to be cool. I didn’t know whether to go with that or not. I decided to stay my geeky self. » – (Tim, Times interview)

« I guess the fact is that if you write about what you really feel, the chances are that a lot of people will probably feel the same way. So the things I’ve written about on the first record obviously are very personal either to me or to us as friends and a band, but by extension a lot of the songs are dealing with a things that are very recognisable to a lot of people – maybe in different contexts… Everybody’s Changing is kinda written from the point of view of someone in a band, which is what we were, just frustrated with everyone who seemed to alter who they were. It’s kind of an angry song, but again it’s sympathetic – I can understand why people feel they have to change. I just felt when we were in our early 20s/mid 20s, suddenly I felt there was more peer pressure, and everyone was desperately trying to be cool, and desperately trying to leave behind who they had been before and try and reinvent themselves as socialites – London types. And it’s just trying to dupe people, who know you weren’t like that is just stupid; I find it insulting really, because it’s so transparent and yet people try and hoodwink you in that way. But I think everyone is guilty of it, I’m probably guilty of it, so it is a sympathetic song. » (Tim, Strangers DVD)

« I wrote Everybody’s Changing some time in early 2002. I remember sitting at the piano at my Mum and Dad’s house one evening and playing the piano riff, then writing a song to fit around the riff.
We were working on Bend And Break and some other songs at that time, and I didn’t think Everybody’s Changing was as good a song, so I didn’t put much effort into the demo. However when I played it to the Tom and Richard and our friends at BMG Publishing (who had just signed us), they all loved it, so we finished the lyrics and went to work on it properly. » (Tim, keanemusic.com)

« Everybody’s Changing is definitely world-weary. I wrote that at a time when we were quite low. We’d given up our London dream and had to slink back to Battle. We were feeling really isolated as a band. All our friends were making their way in the world and we were back at square one. Also, everyone I knew was jettisoning who they had been and was trying to be cool. I didn’t know whether to go with that or not. I decided to stay my geeky self. » (Richard, The London Times)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

Well it’s a lonely road that you have chosen
Morning comes and you don’t want to know me anymore
And it’s a long time since your heart was frozen
Morning comes and you don’t want to know me anymore
For a moment your eyes open and you know
All the things I ever wanted you to know
I don’t know you, and I don’t want to
Till the moment your eyes open and you know

That it’s a lonely place that you have run to
Morning comes and you don’t want to know me anymore
And it’s a lonely end that you will come to
Morning comes and you don’t want to know me anymore

For a moment your eyes open and you know
All the things I ever wanted you to know
I don’t know you, and I don’t want to
Till the moment your eyes open and you know

For a moment your eyes open and you know
All the things I ever wanted you to know
I don’t know you, and I don’t want to
Till the moment your eyes open and you know

A PROPOS

« It’s a slightly unusual song for Keane… It was basically saying
(it’s a bit like Can’t Stop Now… it’s about eventually waiting and
waiting and eventually saying « well fuck you then, and sooner or later you’ll realise that we might have had something good ». It’s quite a simple song in a way. It is just a conflict I guess, it is a paradox thing where you can be completely mad about someone and sort of desperately want them to feel the same way about you, and yet they don’t and eventually… It’s a classic thing really, isn’t it? I probably had different pre-occupations, I mean that’s definitely about a particular person. Again it’s a classic Keane thing where it doesn’t quite add up – where I would have loved to have said it to that person and yet at the same time, I think what I was really […] willing myself to actually feel that way… whereas in fact I don’t think I ever did really feel that way. So maybe the whole song is an attempt at pulling the wool over your own eyes. » (Tim, Strangers DVD)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

You think your days are uneventful
And no one ever thinks about you
She goes her own way
She goes her own way
You say your days are ordinary
And no one ever thinks about you
But we’re all the same
And she can hardly breathe without you

She says she has no time
For you now
She says she has no time

Think about the lonely people
Then think about the day she found you
Or lie to yourself
And see it all dissolve around you

She says she has no time
For you now
She says she has no time
For you now
She says she has no time

Lonely people tumble downwards
My heart opens to you
When she says

She says she has no time
For you now
She says she has no time
For you now
She says she has no time

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

I noticed tonight that the world has been turning
While I’ve been stuck here dithering around
Well I know I said I’d wait around till you need me
But I have to go, I hate to let you down
But I can’t stop now
I’ve got troubles of my own
Cause I’m short on time
I’m lonely
And I’m too tired to talk

I noticed tonight that the world has been turning
While I’ve been stuck here withering away
Well I know I said I wouldn’t leave you behind
But I have to go, it breaks my heart to say

That I can’t stop now
I’ve got troubles of my own
Cause I’m short on time
I’m lonely
And I’m too tired to talk

No one back home
I’ve got troubles of my own
And I can’t slow down
For no one in town
And I can’t stop now

And I can’t slow down
For no one in town
And I can’t stop now
For no one

The motion keeps my heart running
The motion keeps my heart running
The motion keeps my heart running
The motion keeps my heart running

A PROPOS

« Can’t Stop Now is about the feeling that you’ve been standing still
sort of moping after someone, and suddenly snapping out of it and
feeling that you’ve a lot of catching up to do, and you can’t really
hang around. At almost any expense you need to get out and start doing things. I think most of the song is quite well-intentioned. I think it’s genuine, but then the last reprise bit undercuts it. You can never be sure what you’re doing really. It’s one of those things I think. It’s probably about convincing yourself to some extent. » (Tim, Strangers DVD)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

I hold you in my hands
A little animal
And only some dumb idiot
Would let you go
But if I’m one thing
Then that’s the one thing
I should know
Can anybody find their home
Out of everyone
Can anybody find their home

I hold you in cupped hands
And shield you from a storm
Where only some dumb idiot
Would let you go

But if I’m one thing
Then that’s the one thing
I should know
Can anybody find their home
Out of everyone
Can anybody find their home
Lost in the sun
Can anybody find their home
Come on, come on, come on
Can anybody find their home

Oh oh-oh-oh-oh
Can anybody find their home
Out of everyone
Can anybody find their home
Lost in the sun
Can anybody find their home
Come on, come on, come on
Can anybody find their home

Oooooh
Can anybody find their home

A PROPOS

[This song is about] « looking after stuff you love » (Tom, Cologne gig – 17th October 2004)

« It was the only song on album written on the guitar. It was written in France, it’s probably got a bit of the French atmosphere in it. … We wrote it out in the garden in France, and then rushed in and recorded it. » (Tim, Undercover interview 2004)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

This is the last time
That I will say these words
I remember the first time
The first of many lies
Sweep it into the corner
Or hide it under the bed
Say these things they go away
But they never do
Something I wasn’t sure of
But I was in the middle of
Something I forget now
But I’ve seen too little of

The last time
You fall on me for anything you like
Your one last line
You fall on me for anything you like
And years make everything alright
You fall on me for anything you like
And I no I don’t mind

This is the last time
That I will show my face
One last tender lie
And then I’m out of this place
So tread it into the carpet
Or hide it under the stairs
Say that some things never die
Well I tried and I tried

Something I wasn’t sure of
But I was in the middle of
Something I forget now
But I’ve seen too little of

The last time
You fall on me for anything you like
Your one last line
You fall on me for anything you like
And years make everything alright
You fall on me for anything you like
And I no I don’t mind
The last time
You fall on me for anything you like
Your one last line
You fall on me for anything you like
And years make everything alright
You fall on me for anything you like
And I know I don’t mind

A PROPOS

TITLT is indeed a confusing song, which is actually something i regret, but the meaning is hard to explain quickly and simply. here’s my attempt.it’s mainly about regret. i was thinking about how you can have a huge amount of affection for someone and yet not have that magic spark that makes you feel like you’re in love. whenever i hear the song i feel it’s a snapshot of the moment of two people saying their goodbyes…i can actually see them stood facing each other. what a rotten moment that is eh. anyway so you have a bond with someone but you don’t want to stay with them forever. so you decide to go. but you’re not saying ‘i hate you and i’m leaving’…you’re trying to say ‘i think you’re great but i’ve seen that there’s something more perfect and magical out there for me and i need to find it. but i will always be your friend if you need me.’ does that make sense? so the bridge (‘something i wasn’t sure of…etc’) is about the sense that there’s something more magical to be found. making that decision to leave something comfortable to search for something perfect is difficult, so the alternating lines of the chorus are almost a debate going on in your head…you’re saying ‘this is the last time we’ll share these intimate moments, time will make things better, and of course you can turn to me whenever you want to, i don’t mind.’ if you split the chorus into two parts using alternate lines it makes sense! i guess the feeling of conflict within yourself and the difficulty of making that decision is what the song is really about. it’s not sarcastic or anything but it is certainly confusing. sorry!i like trying to write about confusion and grey areas because life is not normally very clear-cut and simple, especially when it comes to the way people interact. hence the album’s title. how many songs are there at the moment about how you’re not good enough for me so **** you? the eamonn/frankee nonsense being an obvious example but look at any number of recent hits. how often is life really that simple? i guess that’s why ‘dry your eyes’ was such a popular song…it talks about the confusion and mess of breaking up, and that’s a reality that people recognise. » (Tim, messageboard)

« This Is The Last Time is a weird one. I feel that it’s a very well-intentioned song, and the idea behind it is good, but I don’t feel like I really said what I wanted to say in a very clear way, basically. The song is about being in a very comfortable relationship where you feel a lot of affection towards someone. It’s about feeling that’s all great and you don’t want to hurt this person, but at the same time you feel like you wanna get out there and find something that’s more kinda magical, and a real passionate love; it’s not just about being cosy and comfortable, it’s about finding something that really sort of makes you feel alive and lights up your life every day. So it’s about the dilemma of having to leave that person behind, and go off in search of something that’s more kinda unknown, and just a romantic idea. But at the same time it’s having to try and say that to the person you’re leaving behind, and how to explain that – obviously it’s a difficult thing to do. My kinda view of things isa little bit … I tend to always be looking for the more difficult and confusing things. Whenever I start off writing a song that’s kinda quite happy and positive, I always end up starting to undermine it and writing lyrics that undermine that, and by the time I’ve got to the end of the song it’s much more full of doubt. » (Tim, Strangers DVD)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

On a day like today
I looked at you and I
Saw something in the way
You stared into the sky
I saw you were sick
And tired of my wrong turns
If you only knew the way I feel
I’d really love to tell you

But I could never seem to say the words I needed to
On a day like today no other words would do

I saw you were sick
And tired of my wrong turns
If you only knew the way I feel
I’d really love to tell you

But I can never find the words to say and I don’t know why
I can’t find the words to say and I don’t know why

A PROPOS

« This song is about not being able to say the right thing, and the more you say, the more you fuck it up » (Tom, UK tour, October/November 2004)

« This is a song about two people, who are completely in love with each other, but for whatever reason just manage to completely fuck it up » (Tom, Bristol gig, 19th January 2005)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A house on fire
A wall of stone
A door that once was opened
An empty face and empty bones
Who ate your heart?
You’re cold inside
You’re not the one I hoped for
I’ll see you on the other side
I’ll see you on the other side

The wind wouldn’t blow me home
To lie in your heart of hearts
Will I ever see you again
And lie in your heart of hearts

Who ate your heart?
You’re cold inside
You’re not the one I hoped for
I’ll see you on the other side
I’ll see you on the other side

The wind wouldn’t blow me home
To lie in your heart of hearts
Will I ever see you again
And lie in your heart of hearts

A PROPOS

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

« Bedshaped is about feeling that you’ve been ‘left behind’ by an old friend or lover. and about hoping that you’ll be reunited one day so that you can live out the end of your lives together the way you started them. i guess there’s some anger at a friend who wants to move on in search of new, exciting, more sophisticated things, leaving behind the simple things you used to share….and a hope that they’ll eventually want to get away from the bright lights and come back home. it’s a sad and angry song, but also full of hope. i hope that makes sense.

I think i’m right in saying that in hospital when someone is ill or infirm and has to spend a lot of time in bed they can become ‘bedshaped’. it sounds a bit depressing…well i guess it is a bit depressing in reality, but in the context of the song i wanted to suggest old age and frailty, along the lines that i mentioned before about two old friends coming back together in the twilight of their lives. it’s great that you guys like bedshaped…it’s a song that means a lot to us. » (Tim, messageboard)

« I remember the words for Bedshaped; lying in bed one night and they just suddenly all emerged and I wrote them all down, and then it was finished which was really good – I like it when that happens! The word ‘bedshaped’ – I don’t know if it’s a made up word, but my mum’s always talking about people being bedshaped, just from spending too much time being bed-ridden basically. It’s quite a sad image of someone stuck there, stuck in a bed, until they become completely useless and start to lose their humanity. But just that idea of crumbling and being really frail and decrepid is something that eventually happens to everyone. That, I guess was the basis for the song in a way. So whatever happens when you’re younger, even if you go off in search of glamour and ambitious and exciting things; once you get to your really old age, you’ve got all that side of life that just disappears. (Tim, Strangers DVD)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

« This song’s about everything getting on top of you » (Tom, Birmingham gig – 3rd March 2004)

« It’s just a nice way of summing up what you think about in your life. Eventually everything you do is made up of hopes and fears. And that balance between hopes and fears and the fusion between the two we really liked. » (Tim, Billboard.com)

The line « Well now that’s done: and I’m glad it’s over. » (line 252) from T.S. Eliot’s « The Wasteland » helped to inspire « But the time has come and I’m glad it’s over » (Source : old messageboard)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

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Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

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Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

« fly to me is possibly
my favourite keane song. maybe that’s just because it still feels quite secret and
stuff, i don’t know. but i was listening to it on a ferry the other day and it
really brought a tear to me eye. i don’t even know why….i think it just captures
a feeling of missing people and wondering why life can’t just be a bit simpler
sometimes. reminds me of the song ‘so far away’ by carole king. » – Tim –
messageboard

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

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Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

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Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

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Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

« A dance in moderate duple meter first appearing in the early 16th century and was frequently followed by a more lively dance in triple meter or, in the 17th century, by the courante. In the 17th century it became a stylized dance type that was regularly used as the first movement of a dance suite. These allemandes are in a very moderate 4/4 time. » (Keaneshaped FAQ)

Apparently Tim’s told some fans that he saw some music on the family piano titled « Allemande », so was inspired by the title. (Keaneshaped FAQ)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

« It’s a really lovely song and one that is very close to our hearts. When we were asked to do a Christmassy-type song for Radio 1 there were some awful cheesy Christmas songs and we really racked our brains to think of something we’d be alright covering. But, in the end, we thought we’d do something of our own – it has a Christmassy message of warmth and love and I think that’s a really important thing. » (Tom to Radio 1)

The song was only given a title the week of it first being played on radio (beginning of December 2004), and previously refered to as « The Bing Crosby One », « The Bing Crosby Song » or « The Bing Crosby Number » due to it sounding Christmassy, and Bing Crosby’s assocation with Christmas (because of White Christmas)

PAROLES

Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

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Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

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Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

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Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

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Rice-Oxley/Chaplin/Hughes

A PROPOS

 » It’s about almost enjoying the feeling of being heartbroken, or even just generally despondent, and wallowing in the self-pity a little bit. I think there were rainy days in London when I felt a bit like that back in the day, and I guess it’s a bit of a slap in the face to myself. » Tim, keanemusic.com