Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Tracey Thorn Ben Watt

Producer: Ben Watt

[Verse 1]
I have a friend and she comes from the high plains
Wise as the hills and fresh as the rains
Took me an atlas to find her town
And to realise that the world is round

[Verse 2]
I have a friend and she taught me daring
Threw back the windows and let the air in
She taught me how to be easy too
And I had lots of unlearning to do

[Chorus]
For all she knows
Bless my blue moon rose
Oh for all she knows
Bless my blue moon rose

[Verse 3]
I have a friend and we talk about books
She comes around and she drinks while I cook
She seems at home in this tiny place
But with her she brings wide open space

[Chorus]
And all she knows
Bless my blue moon rose
Oh for all she knows
Bless my blue moon rose

[Verse 4]
(For all she knows)
I have a friend and she comes from the high plains
(Bless my blue moon rose)
Wise as the hills and fresh as the rains
(Oh for all she knows)
She seems at home in this tiny place
(Bless my blue moon rose)
But with her she brings wide open space

[Chorus]
For all she knows
Bless my blue moon rose
Oh for all she knows
Bless my blue moon rose
Oh for all she knows
Bless my blue moon rose
Oh for all she knows
Bless my blue moon rose
Bless my blue moon rose

[Verse 5]
I have a friend, we talk about books
She comes around and she drinks while I cook
I have a friend, she taught me daring
Threw back the windows and let the air in

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

Idlewild

From the album

Idlewild (1988)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

Blue Moon RoseEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Idlewild