Everything But The Girl

No matter where I roam
I will come back to my English rose
For no bonds can ever tempt me from she

I've sailed the seven seas
Flown the whole blue sky
But I've returned with haste
To where my love does lie

No matter where I go
I will come back to my English rose
For nothing can ever tempt me from she

I've searched the secret mists
I've climbed the highest peaks
Caught the wild wind home
To hear her soft voice speak
To hear her soft voice speak

No matter where I roam
I will return to my English rose
For no bonds can ever keep me from she

I've been to ancient worlds
I've scoured the whole universe
And caught the first train home
To be at her side

No matter where I roam
I will return to my English rose
For no bonds can ever keep me from she

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

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Fire and Skill: The Songs of the Jam (1999)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

English RoseEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Fire and Skill: The Songs of the Jam