Everything But The Girl

Released: May 28, 1996

Songwriter: Tracey Thorn Ben Watt

Producer: Ben Watt

[Verse 1]
I wanted everything for a little while
Why shouldn't I
I wanted to know what it was like
I pushed you too far
And you started laying down the law
Till I didn't love you anymore

[Pre-Chorus]
Now you can pull a little bit
And there's a little give and take
And love will stretch a little bit
But finally it's gonna break

[Chorus]
Wherever you go I will follow you
'Cause I was wrong
Wherever you go I will follow you
'Cause I was wrong

[Verse 2]
So there we both were in that little house
Just hanging out
You didn't know what you were about
You turned to me as you were
Threading daisies on a chain
And you said, "It's decision time again"

[Pre-Chorus]
Now you can pull a little bit
And there's a little give and take
And love will stretch a little bit
But finally it's gonna break

[Chorus]
Wherever you go I will follow you
'Cause I was wrong
Wherever you go I will follow you
'Cause I was wrong

[Bridge]
And the ground's gonna swallow you
I was wrong
'Cause I was wrong
I was wrong
I was wrong
I wanted everything for a little while
Why shouldn't I
I wanted to know what he was like

[Pre-Chorus]
Now you can pull a little bit
And there's a little give and take
And love will stretch a little bit
But finally it's gonna break

[Chorus]
Wherever you go I will follow you
'Cause I was wrong
Wherever you go I will follow you
'Cause I was wrong
Wherever you go I will follow you
'Cause I was wrong
Wherever you go I will follow you
'Cause I was wrong
Wherever you go I will follow you
'Cause I was wrong
'Cause I was wrong
'Cause I was wrong
I was wrong
I was wrong

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.

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