Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Ben Watt Tracey Thorn

Producer: Ben Watt

[Verse 1]
My three guardian angels say
Each time you smile that way
Dangers lies that way
No one will believe me
For that sort of thing's beneath me

[Verse 2]
But I keep repeating three words
It won't last, it won't last
I've been here before, it will pass
Don't say I'm mercenary
That's unnecessary

[Chorus]
That's not the way love is
Love is here where I live
Love is here here where I live

[Verse 3]
Desire is a child that clings
And I know the trouble it brings
I remind myself each minute
My home is here and my love is in it

[Chorus]
But that's not the way love is
Love is here where I live
Love is here where I live

[Verse 4]
So I keep repeating three words
It won't last, it won't last
I've been here before, it does pass
Reason is unkind
But still I'll know next time

[Chorus]
That's not the way love is
Love is here where I live
Love is here where I live
That's not the way love is
Love is here where I live
Love is here where I live

[Outro]
That's not the way love is
Love is here where I live
That's not the way love is
Love is here where I live
That's not the way love is
Love is here where I live

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 albums

Idlewild (1988)
Love Is Here Where I Live (1988)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

Love Is Here Where I LiveEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Idlewild