Keane's Last Post

Q. If you're recording a lyric that Tim's written, do you have to fully understand that lyric before you sing it?
A. http://www.keanemusic.com/data/mp3/2721_tom%20answer%203.mp3 (audio)

What Tom answers:

You know what, I think probably yes, but I think I do anyway... I mean, my own interpretation is obviously important, or as important, but we know each other so well and all the stuff that we talk about sort of infects Tim's writing anyway - and y'know, we're quite passionate people and we get fairly het up, I think recently especially about kind of issues on the way we all act as human beings. I think everyone would probably, or most people would probably agree that its a fairly grim time in terms of humankind at the moment - we're sort of at a tipping point where I don't know and I don't think many other people know exactly where its going, and there's a lot of sort-of "philosophising" on the record and trying to sort-of work out who we are and what we should do next. And also just trying to explain some of the things that are happening around us and some of the crazy things that people seem to do... and what drives them to do those things, y'know - whether that's celebrity culture that we seem to have in our country, or (sigh) the lovely world of terrorism, corporations and superpowers. Those are things that we talk about, so they've infected the songs and from that perspective, I think I have a real grip on what Tim's written about and I would say they're songs that come from all three of us in a lyrical sense.

Vocabulary: Two notes on this one - in case non-English speakers are confused, "het up" is a phrase that means "worked up", to get annoyed or angry about something in a passionate way (at least that's the best translation you'll get from me when I'm just out of bed!). Also, when he says "... the lovely world of terrorism, corporations and superpowers", its said sarcastically... it doesn't come across when its transcribed.