Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Tracey Thorn

Producer: Everything But The Girl

[Verse 1]
I won't try to stop you when you speak of the past
Doubt is over now and I can join in when you laugh
But fascination makes us ask for more than we'd like to know
But I needn't explain, I bet you know

[Verse 2]
Reassure me when my heart's not bold enough to bear her name
If you were in my shoes and scared I would do the same
And though I may ask there's no need for past details
For though I may laugh, alone my courage fails
Did you know?

[Bridge]
See how I've changed now, my head's so clear
Still there are some things that I don't want to hear
There must be so much I know that you cannot forget
And I mustn't wish your life began the day we met

[Verse 3]
Places we go remind you of when you were here before
So you talk and tell me you don't think about it anymore
But there is something I know that hasn't quite been left behind
So I'll ask you once again to prove that I don't mind
To prove that I don't mind

[Outro]
Thank you.

Originating at the turn of the 1980s as a leader of the lite-jazz movement, Everything but the Girl became an unlikely success story more than a decade later, emerging at the vanguard of the fusion between pop and electronica.

Founded in 1982 by Hull University students Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt, the duo took their name from a sign placed in the window of a local furniture shop, which claimed “for your bedroom needs, we sell everything but the girl.” At the time of their formation, both vocalist Thorn and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Watt were already signed independently to the Cherry Red label; Thorn was a member of the sublime Marine Girls, while Watt had issued several solo singles and also collaborated with Robert Wyatt.

Everything but the Girl debuted in 1982 with a samba interpretation of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”; the single was a success on the U.K. independent charts, but the duo nonetheless went on hiatus as Thorn recorded a solo EP, A Distant Shore, while Watt checked in with the full-length North Marine Drive in 1983. EBTG soon reunited to record a cover of the Jam’s “English Rose” for an NME sampler; the track so impressed former Jam frontman Paul Weller that he invited the duo to contribute to the 1984 LP Cafe Bleu, the debut from his new project, the Style Council.

more tracks from the album

Acoustic

From the albums

Acoustic (1992)
Worldwide (Deluxe Edition) (2013)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

Fascination (Live)Everything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Acoustic