Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Tracey Thorn

Producer: Robin Millar

[Verse 1]
Don't talk to me in that familiar way
When the keys are in my hand
Don't say that everything is here to stay
And I must try to understand

[Chorus]
When I'm trying not to look into your eyes
Trying not to listen to your lies
Trying just to keep hold of myself
Oh but it's hard when you leave me on the shelf

[Verse 2]
You say that I set a path for you to follow
And I've already given in
But I only meant for you to taste not swallow
Where I end is where you must begin

[Chorus]
And try not to look into their eyes
Try not to listen to their lies
Try just to keep hold of yourself
Oh I know it's hard when they leave you on their shelf

[Bridge]
She's such a sweet girl
Free of the taints of this world
Think that's a compliment
Don't be so full of sentiment
Why you worship sweetness
What virtue's there in weakness?
Being pushed about
Is nothing much to shout about I know

[Chorus]
So try not to look into their eyes
Try not to listen to their lies
Try just to keep hold of yourself
Oh I know it's hard when they leave you on their shelf

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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Eden

From the album

Eden (1984)

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Everything But The Girl

Eden