Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Ben Watt Tracey Thorn

Producer: Ben Watt Tracey Thorn

[Verse 1]
Look at you now, you're disenchanted
Can't believe how things can change
Take a little out of life and things get strange
And now you find the wishes you were granted
Things you thought were in your hands
Have slipped away
How much can you withstand?

[Verse 2]
The wasted time, the money spent
A sign that reads 'For Sale or Rent'
And everything is at a standstill
And where's someone who'll be on hand till
You're no longer disenchanted
Thinking everything is wrong?
You know you're not the only one to wait so long
I wonder, can you try again?
Are you that strong?

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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Amplified Heart (1994)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

DisenchantedEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Amplified Heart