Sadly (or not), in doing my weekly half-assed research for this week's post, I discovered that the history of Keane is decidedly not that, uh, keen. Nothing bad, like being supporters of say, Donald Trump, but just a wee bit on the dull side. Give them credit, though, for forming as a band in 1995 (give or take) and slogging it out until their big break with their first major label release in 2004 (after being discovered by...the same guy, Simon Williams, who discovered their big brother). Piano player and chief songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley was heard playing by Chris Martin of their big brother and was offered a spot in Coldplay, which he wisely turned down to stick with Keane since Coldplay eventually did away with their keyboardist position. They are a rarity in pop music as as they are a piano first band, and while the guitar has gotten a bigger role through their career, it's still a background instrument. Other than that, they've released four studio LPs, an EP, sold over ten million records (which seems slight compared to their big brother's 90 million, but anyway you slice it, it's ten million more records than emaycee's ever sold), and had five major tours. While they've been much more commercially successful in their native U.K., they've also had more success here in the states than I would have guessed with two of their albums reaching the top ten (#4 and #7) on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: In 2008, Q magazine asked its readers to vote for the the best British albums ever, and Keane placed two albums (Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea) in the top twenty--joining the Beatles, Oasis, and Radiohead as the only artists with two albums in the top twenty. Pretty heady company there...
Released in 2004 on their aforementioned Hopes and Fears LP, "Somewhere Only We Know" would become a career making single for Keane. Though it only reached #50 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, it rose all the way to #3 on the UK Singles chart (so many cool kids in England)--and its success paved the way for future tunes to come.
Keane has stated the song is more of a symbol or a metaphor rather than having a specific meaning, though I've always kind of thought of it as a song about a couple struggling with their relationship trying to find their way back to a place where the relationship was flourishing. As I completely forgot the piano in last week's tune as I raved so much about Norah Jones' vocals, I don't want to make it two weeks in a row without noting that some succulent piano work helps carry "Somewhere Only We Know," as well. In fact, there are only two instruments featured in the song--piano and drums. Like last week's tune, though, it's the vocals that really shine. Tom Chaplin uses his voice to just the right effect, and doesn't turn an epic ballad into an overwrought pop song as happens far too often in the pop music world. Every now and again a good ballad helps get you through a bad day, and "Somewhere Only We Know" is one of those good ballads that's gotten me through many a bad day.
Lyric Sheet: "Oh simple thing where have you gone/I'm getting old and I need something to rely on..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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