Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Tracey Thorn Ben Watt

Producer: Ben Watt

[Verse 1]
Slowly runs the lazy river
And in it I pitched all my dreams
And all the things I ever wanted
And watched them heading slowly downstream
For I have learned that such things fade
Like photographs and family holidays
And every Monday is goodbye Sunday

[Verse 2]
I guess you'd like me to throw away
That box of diaries and old letters
For they do nothing but feed my memories
But really you should know me better
For I am too fond of the past
But I think I am learning at last
That every Monday is goodbye Sunday
Every Monday is goodbye Sunday

[Bridge]
Yes it's true that I cling to things
That I should leave behind
As if those were the golden days
Well, I just hope that you really don't mind

[Verse 3]
Slowly runs the lazy river
For I am too fond of the past
But look I'm happy at last
And every Monday is goodbye Sunday
Every Monday is goodbye Sunday

[Outro]
Every Monday is goodbye Sunday
(Slowly runs the lazy river)
Every Monday is goodbye Sunday
(And in it I pitched all my dreams)
Every Monday is goodbye Sunday
(Slowly runs the lazy river)
Every Monday is goodbye Sunday
(And in it I pitched all my dreams)
Every Monday is goodbye Sunday
Every Monday is goodbye Sunday

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

Goodbye SundayEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Idlewild