Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Everything But The Girl

[Verse 1]
Well it's Saturday night
You're all dressed up in blue
I've been watchin' you go out
Maybe you're watchin' me too
So somebody ran out
Left somebody's heart in a mess
Well if you're looking for love
Honey I'm tougher than the rest

[Verse 2]
Some girls want a handsome Dan
Or some good-lookin' Joe
On their arm, some girls want
A sweet-talking Romeo
Well around here baby
I've learned you get what you can get
And if you're rough enough for love
Honey I'm tougher than the rest

[Bridge]
Well the road is dark
And it's a thin, thin line
But I want you to know
I'll walk it for you any time
Maybe your other girlfriends
Couldn't pass the test
But if you're up and ready for love
Honey I'm tougher than the rest

[Verse 3]
Hell it ain't no secret
I've been around a time or two
Yeah I don't know babe
Maybe you've been around too
But there's another dance babe
All you gotta do is say yes
And if you're up and ready for love
Honey I'm tougher than the rest
If you're rough and ready for love
Honey I'm tougher than the rest

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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Tougher Than the RestEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

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