Everything But The Girl

Songwriter: Tracey Thorn

Producer: Ben Watt

[Verse 1]
I dreamed about you again last night
You never have the same face twice
But I always know it's you and
And you're always looking better than you really do
And you really do

[Verse 2]
I walk around the whole next day
Feeling like a still have something to say
But I don't know what it is
And I don't know how to reach you even if I did, even if I did

[Chorus 1]
Do I wanna hear that you forgive me?
Do I wanna hear you're no good without me?
And am I big enough to hear that you never even think about me
Why should you ever think about me?

[Verse 3]
And I thought that I'd outgrow this kind of thing
Tell me, aren't we supposed to mature or something
But I haven't found that yet
Is this as grown up as we'll ever get?
Maybe this is as good as it gets

[Chorus 2]
And years may go by
But I think the heart remains a child
The mind may grow wise, but the heart just sulks, and it whines
And remains a child, I think the heart remains a child
Why don't you love me? Why don't you love me? Why don't you love me?

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

Walking Wounded

From the albums

Walking Wounded (1996)
Walking Wounded (Deluxe Edition) (2015)

Everything But The Girl popular songs

The Heart Remains a ChildEverything But The Girl

Everything But The Girl

Walking Wounded