Keane - Sovereign Light Café | The Story Behind The Song | Top 2000 a gogo

Musician and songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley from the band Keane tells on the coast of Bexhill-on-Sea in England the story behind the song 'Sovereign Light Café'. An interview from 2019.

[@JF-kv1gm]

This song is already 10 years old!? As someone who grew up in Bexhill, I admit that it's always like going home when I have visited family who returned to area. I love reading comments from people who have travelled or intend to travel from so far away to visit the town, thanks to this song.

[@leonardozhao6296]

I will be there next month, from Beijing China (^～^)

[@coupleinarizona8900]

I always wanted to go to England and finally had the opportunity to go as adult with my wife and kids in 2018 and 19. The first place we stopped at was Bexill On Sea, where The Sovereign Light Cafe is located. We fell in love with this town. Beautiful seaside town. I hope that we can go again in the near future and smell the ocean breeze sitting Ioutside the Sovereign Cafe.

[@OliverWhiteMusicArt]

I came all the way from Australia to see the Sovereign Light Café last year (I also took my own Strangeland photo). They do brilliant sausages in the Sovereign Light Café.

[@timboharty7325]

Last time I was in the UK , ( I live in Austria) I did exactly that ,visited all the roads and areas mentioned in the song in Battle , and obviously had a cup of tea and a slice of cake at the sovereign light cafe in Bexhill , happy days !

[@florisvandoorn1146]

Such a poignant song still. Absolutel gem!

[@heinkle1]

This song has always been Keane’s Summer of ‘69 to me

[@ApKH221]

This song is about a quiet age and troubleless times that are long gone and will never return.

[@Yawnyaman]

This song really captures that strange feeling when you return to a place that was familiar from your childhood after a long absence. ‘I wheel my bike off the train, down the North Trade Road, and look for you down the shops on Marley Lane..’ (All this takes place in nearby Battle).

[@slaneyside]

my favourite Keane song...so nostalgic

[@furiousdean13]

One of my bucket list ❤ hope to get there soon ☺️ love from The Philippines 🇵🇭

[@snoordman4831]

❤️ Keane! Absolutely powerful songs!

[@Landshark928]

Awesome vibe by Keane!

[@captainstone5512]

A dream to be able to visit that place before dying... YEAAAAAAHHHHH I'M GOING TO THE PEOPLE KNOW MY NAME 🎵🎶🎵🎶 Brutal lyrics...

[@JoaoPaulo-ht8yo]

I came from Brazil 🇧🇷 to see it Amazing city, and amazing people Battle is a lovely city as well, I miss the UK

[@adingdingdiiing6740]

One of my most favorite Keane songs. Of course my favorite album is still Hopes & Fears but what I loved about Strangeland is that the songs had that same vibe as H&F. This song, specifically. ☺️ I hope one day I could take stroll there and see Sovereign Light Cafe.

[@sergiosaunier]

Hopes And Fears and Under The Iron Sea are masterpieces but Strangeland is not far behind. My bucket list also includes a visit to the Sovereign Light Café!

[@MithunOnTheNet]

'Strangeland' was such a good album!

[@sergiosaunier]

Couldn't love Keane more. Thank you!

[@julianwust488]

that´s the wright video what you need to understand what´s the story behind the song sovereign light cafe. Best discription you could do....great done

[@gert-janvanderlee5307]

Beautiful song

[@Pearcewreck]

Went to UK, from Australia, with my family in Sept 2022, and we had the best trip. Loved it. The only sad bit was that when we went to the Sovereign Light Café it was closed. 😥 Still, gives me an excuse to go back next time.

[@dennydarrington7792]

kent....where i came from but live in the nederlands....but the most important...i love Kean have seen them maybe 7 times with my kids ( 36 40 41 ) we can all sing to the songs...

[@richardsweetman7689]

East Sussex m8 not Kent.

[@more-fun5494]

I always enjoy these shorts :)))

[@AgentAO7]

I think the Sovereign Light Cafe in a way, is Tim’s “Somewhere Only We Know”.. Based on his story, childhood memories w/ family, in the small town where the group came from. A small coffee shop with fond memories for him.. Now, everybody knows about this place.. 😁

[@robertrowan9893]

As someone who's gone over to the keto/IF diet front, the mere sight of a plate of battered fish and chips does inevitably whet the appetite somewhat. But getting back to the song at hand, although Somewhere Only Where We Know will likely always be my quintessential Keane song, you can't lie that a lot of their other output measuring up favourably too. It's doubly great that the local community is able to get in on the act as well. Bit like the Two-Tone Trail in far away Coventry, for example. Let's hope the tourists will be safely flocking back soon, local fish and chips washed down with maybe something a tad stronger. Yeah, let's hope.

[@balalaika0]

Am I the only one who feels like something is missing from the explanation of the song's origin and meaning here? Everything Tim says makes sense and it seems genuine, but lines like "I didn't know I was finding out how I'd be torn from you, when we talked about things we were gonna do" or "I'm a better man now than I was that day" seem to point to some specific nostalgic grief, like a first love fallen out of touch etc. Similar to Bedshaped and some other Keane songs, it sounds as if it were written for and to a particular person from long ago and not just a youthful ensemble of classmates or neighbors. I'm probably just putting my own damper on it but I do wonder if it's more specific than he lets on. from NY state

[@TheLoading12]

Probably lots of personal details or references that would take too long to explain or confuse your feeling with the song. Not knowing gives us the freedom to interpret the way we like to.

[@Erika29.17]

Yeah, I do believe it talks about one of his first girlfriend or something cause also one phrases he says we were friends and lovers and cluless clowns... also it says: we were wide are dreamers and wisers too.. I definitely believe it talks about an early girlfriend but he mostly wanted to praise the small coffee place cause it's bringing fans from all over the world...

[@benedictearlson9044]

Hey there. Hearing the bridge lyric makes me think the song is about the band - or the ones who grew up locally in Battle that is - was that just Tom and Tim? Maybe Richard too. Anyway the lines about running away and buying bigger possessions appears to me to be about them finding success in the group and leaving their old lives behind by going on tour and moving to London etc. Maybe after Keane had a break (Mt Desolation days) I'm thinking Tim wrote the song after returning to his home town and thinking about his life-journey with Keane and Tom to that point. Perhaps he was nostalgic for the camaraderie of nights out in Bexhill (exotic for kids from Battle no doubt) with his school friends. The line about them being lovers could just mean they were young men with girlfriends, 'clueless clowns' supports that feel too. 'I'm a better man now than I was that day' - always thought this was to do with an argument between the boys which caused the band to stop work for a while? Perhaps there was talk at that time of Keane not continuing as Mt Desolation kicked off and Tom did solo stuff. 'Oh why did we ever go so far from home?' - well this kind of definitely speaks to the experience of the band because it also suggests a return has occurred, so did they all move back to the area after a while away? Or is he just talking about the endless touring where the is no sense of home? 'You can run away boy, but you won't go far' - could be talking to himself or to one of the others. What do you think balal? Would be interesting to know your thoughts.

[@mikebusby1471]

This is my favourite Keane song. Last Saturday at the age of 62 I went to Bexhill to visit the Sovereign Light Cafe for the first time. I have been promising to go for years but never found the time. I guess the song resonates with me because when I go back to where i grew up I remember the people I grew up with and the plans we all had to make our way in life.I still know some of them and they may be older and richer and wiser but still the same. For me its a very nostalgic song.

[@AgentAO7]

I think this cafe is Tim’s “Somewhere Only We Know”. A small place with fond memories for him.. that’s why he wrote about it..

[@mjm5081]

❤

[@marialuisagaudino8359]

🤗🤗🤗🤗💖💖💖💖💖

[@brickymcbrickerson9506]

I’d kill for one of them sausage rolls..

[@kiereluurs1243]

Unintended (I hope) 'product placement'. But well, good for them. Never heard of the song before. Very relatable story about the name.

[@geengijs]

Vraag het graag nog een keer! Wanneer komt de documentaire van Vlinder online? Was dit seizoen echt prachtig.

[@Top2000agogo]

Die komt vanzelf hier op het KZbin kanaal, we plaatsen elke twee weken een nieuwe reportage.

[@geengijs]

@@Top2000agogo dank voor de reactie!

[@81millionvotes]

Not to be confused with the freedom glow diner..

[@dinarkhomsyah6102]

One day i got retired . Going for a walk in sunny saturday, spending relax weekend at soverign light cafe 🤣😂😍

[@adityanugraha1640]

agree, will be one of my bucket list as well