Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Ben Watt

Producer: Ben Watt

[Intro]
Tears all over town
Tears all over town
Tears all over town

[Verse 1]
Don't be unkind, for once be untrue
Can't pretend I care for her, only you
Just be on time, spare me your shame
For once don't mention her name
Now I cannot claim angel's wings (No no)
But mention her name and I'll wreck everything

[Chorus]
I saw things not meant for my eyes
I was happy once and then twice
I said things I shouldn't have said
I told tales of days in your bed
In love and war there is nothing sacred

[Verse 2]
Just don't pretend, wherever you go
There are things that only I know
Because I'm sure, when she's there
That you tell a few of the secrets of yours
That I had kept for you

[Chorus]
But I saw things not meant for my eyes
I was happy once and then twice
I said things I shouldn't have said
I told tales of days in your bed
In love and war there is nothing sacred

[Post-Chorus]
Tears all over town
Tears all over town
Tears all over town
Tears all over town
I saw things not meant for my eyes
I said things I shouldn't have said

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

Tears All Over TownEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Idlewild