Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Tracey Thorn Ben Watt

Producer: Tommy LiPuma

[Verse 1]
I know you'd rather talk instead
About the things inside your head
But everything, everything that I overheard
Tells me you just don't have the words

[Chorus]
'Cause you never learned to speak the language of life
And here you are a grown man who can't talk to his wife
And the children you don't understand

[Verse 2]
You think you're come on pretty far
Still got the job, the house and the car
But there's one thing, one thing that you never get
A grip on life's sweet alphabet

[Chorus]
'Cause you never learned to speak the language of life
And here you are a grown man who can't talk to his wife

[Bridge]
When things get out of hand
And the kids you don't understand
Love is foreign land
Over words you have no command
(You have no command)
(Whoa)

[Piano Solo]

[Verse 3]
It's not that you don't care
Admit it baby and you're half way there
'Cause you know, you know that you feel much more
Than you ever have the words for

[Chorus]
'Cause you never learned to speak the language of life
And here you are a grown man who can't talk to his wife
And the children you just don't understand

[Outro]
You never
Never learned (Never learned)
You never learned
The language of life
You never
Here you are (Here you are)
Grown man (Grown man)
You never
Never learned (Never learned)
You never learned
The language of life
You never
And the children you just don't understand

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

The Language of Life

From the album

The Language of Life (1990)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

The Language of LifeEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

The Language of Life