Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Paul Simon

Producer: Phil Ramone

[Verse 1]
Tom, get your plane right on time
I know your part'll go fine
Fly down to Mexico
Doh-n-doo-doh-doo-doh-doo-doh
And here I am
The only living boy in New York

[Verse 2]
I get the news I need on the weather report
I can gather all the news I need on the weather report
Hey, I've got nothing to do today
But smile, doo-doh-doo-doh-doo-doh
And here I am
The only living boy in New York

[Bridge]
Half of the time we're gone
But we don't know where
And we don't know where

[Chorus]
Ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Here I am

[Bridge]
Half of the time we're gone
But we don't know where
And we don't know where

[Verse 3]
Tom, get your plane right on time
I know you've been eager to fly now
Hey let your honesty shine, shine, shine now
Doh-n-doo-doh-doo-doh-doo-doh
Like it shines on me
The only living boy in New York
The only living boy in New York

[Pre-Chorus]
Doh-n-doo-doh-doo-doh-doo-doh
And here I am
Doh-n-doo-doh-doo-doh-doo-doh
And here I am

[Chorus]
Ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Here I am
Ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Here I am

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 Only Living Boy in New York

From the albums

The Only Living Boy in New York (1993)
Worldwide (Deluxe Edition) (2013)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

The Only Living Boy in New YorkEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

The Only Living Boy in New York