Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Ben Watt

Producer: Ben Watt Tracey Thorn

[Verse 1]
I was sixteen when the story began
And you used to say come as soon as you can
And I'd leave right away with the stars up above
The common was dark but I was in love

[Chorus]
And I'd come straight back to you
At the sound of your name
Straight back to you
To see you again
And you'd leave me a light
And I'd find my way
Straight back to you and stay

[Verse 2]
When I was eighteen as the story unfolds
And I moved away though the house was unsold
And the day that I left, you gave me a ring
We weren't engaged but it meant something

[Chorus]
For I'd have gone straight back to you
If I felt that I could
Straight back to you
To your neighbourhood
And you'd leave me a light
And I'd find my way
Straight back to you and stay

[Verse 3]
When I was twenty things gradually turned bad
And I should have left then and I wish that I had
But you say to yourself that things will improve
And they never do and it's then that you lose

[Chorus]
For I'd have gone straight back to you
If I thought things would change
Straight back to you
The past to exchange
And you'd leave me a light
And I'd find my way
Straight back to you and stay (Hey)

[Verse 4]
When I turned twenty-one things came to an end
And you lived with someone who was once just a friend
And before I left I did one last thing
I came to your house and brought out the ring

[Chorus]
And gave it straight back to you
Though I felt no remorse
Straight back to you
And let love run its course
And you left me a light
And I found my way
Straight out of there and away
Straight out of there and away
(Yeah, away, hey, oh yeah, mmm hmm)
Straight out of there and away

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

Amplified Heart

From the albums

Rollercoaster - EP (1994)
Amplified Heart (1994)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

Straight Back to YouEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Amplified Heart