Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Ben Watt

Producer: Mike Hedges Everything But The Girl

[Verse 1]
It takes two to make a home
But only one to break it down
Restless as the ocean roar
You've finally left town
Open up the bedroom door
There's a prince without a crown

[Chorus]
You could not care less
And that was the first sign
But now you guess
That you've been too careless this time

[Verse 2]
You left him sleeping like a child
In the arms of someone else
Found it hard to criticise
Because you've done the same yourself
Pleasure is a pretty thing
Oh but love they say is wealth

[Chorus]
You could not care less
And that was the first sign
But now you guess
That you've been too careless this time

[Instrumental]

[Chorus]
You could not care less
And that was the first sign
But now you guess
That you've been too careless this time
You could not care less
And that was the first sign
But now you guess
That you've been too careless this time
This time
That you've been too careless this time
Too careless this time
Too careless this time

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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Everything But The Girl

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