7 lesser-known Keane songs I really enjoy

Posted on by

Somewhere Only We Know. Everybody’s Changing. This Is The Last Time. These are Keane’s mega-hits. They are played a lot and I enjoy them thoroughly.

But there are more songs. I would like to share with you seven songs of Keane that you may have never heard. I wish you a wonderful time getting to know them. I know I have.

1. She Has No Time

This song, hidden somewhere on their first album Hopes and Fears, is one of the saddest songs I know about relationships and deals with your partner not needing you (anymore). With a motive similar to The Beatles’ For No One, the lyrics evoke the loneliness and dependence the subject of the song is experiencing. If you happen to be in such a place, She Has No Time will definitely get to you.

You think your days are ordinary
And no one ever thinks about you
But we’re all the same
And she can hardly breathe without you

Keane from “She Has No Time”

2. The Frog Prince

While a whopping six singles were released from Keane’s second album Under The Iron Sea, this pleasant-to-the-ear mid-tempo song managed to stay under the radar. As only Tim Rice-Oxley writes them, The Frog Prince has chord progressions that are beautifully long and at the same time flow effortlessly with the vocals. The lyrics speak of the coming doom of a king and draw us deeply into this fantasy world. It makes you wonder whether this song is meant metaphorically and who they are talking about. Not to burst the fairy tale bubble, I’ll leave searching the internet on the topic to you.

3. You Don’t See Me

Again dealing with a lover not paying too much attention, you’ve got to appreciate the hyperbole in this song from Perfect Symmetry. With a quiet background, all the attention goes to Tom Chaplin’s voice and the superb way he can tell a story.

Oh truly we are, a fortunate few
Who turn on your axis, revolve around you
All spinning outwards from your sun
Passing your reflection on

Keane from “You Don’t See Me”

4. Again & Again

Who says Keane songs are mellow? Crank up the volume and sing your heart out to another Perfect Symmetry song. Again & Again! I was planning to do one song per album, but I just couldn’t leave this one out.

5. Back In Time

This song may be less quirky than the other songs on the in-between EP Night Train, but you can still hear Keane taking the freedom of not having to produce a well-rounded album. Without the vocals front and center, Back In Time nicely demonstrates the skill of drummer Richard Hughes of making every song more energetic and more interesting than it would have been without him. Just let your focus alternate between his drumming, the bass, the background guitar or piano, and okay, the vocals.

6. It’s Not True

A bonus track on Keane’s fourth album Strangeland, It’s Not True is hidden as best as it could be. As if Tom Chaplin is talking to you inside your head, the song takes you down your melancholic thoughts, but you will find yourself more optimistic when you come out at the end again.

Friends you once loved don’t know you
Even your own eyes don’t know you
You think this whole world’s trying to bury you
But it’s not true

So don’t you say
There’s something in your core that can’t be saved
‘Cause it’s not true
And every atom of my heart is missing you

Keane from “It’s Not True”

7. Put The Radio On

Probably the most personal and honest of them all, Keane’s fifth album Cause And Effect deals with the divorce of Tim Rice-Oxley. In this song, he shares much with us, and not all of it makes him more likable. Put The Radio On begins with a nearly endless repetition that perfectly mirrors the tension built up in the affair. Then, after a full two minutes, the tension is released with some very welcome and pleasant chords.

8. Bitter Pill

Okay, okay, this is not a Keane song. It is a song by Mt. Desolation, formed as a side project by Tim Rice-Oxley and bass player Jesse Quin, who joined Keane as an official member in 2011. If you ever wondered what Keane would sound like if Tim Rice-Oxley were the lead vocalist, this is the song to listen to. The band makes it sound pleasingly different from Keane songs, but the signature of grounded yet energetic song-writing remains strong.

What do you think? Did I miss one?

This is actually my very first post on this blog. I’d love to hear from you which lesser-known Keane song you really like and why.