Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Tracey Thorn

Producer: Mike Hedges Everything But The Girl

I'm getting too used to this way of life
Fame is a baby, she rocks me at night
Far from the cold and the brash city lights
We purchase from sorrow a moment's respite

And each time you smile
I know I would follow you a country mile
For all that I'm chasing is worthless and vile

I was a backwater girl, home most nights
That was before I saw my name in lights
Stardom and squalor were not dreams of mine
But I've seen the Hollywood sign now
And how it shines

But when you smile
I swear I would follow you a country mile
Please save me before I do things that aren't worth my while

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.

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Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

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Baby, the Stars Shine Bright (1986)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

A Country MileEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright