She grew up in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and studied English at the University of Hull, where she graduated in 1984 with First Class Honours. She lives with her EBTG partner Ben Watt in North London. The couple have twin daughters born in 1998, and a son born in 2001.
Thorn began her musical career in the group Marine Girls. The band released two albums (Beach Party in 1981 and Lazy Ways in 1982) and several singles. The group disbanded when Thorn decided to concentrate on Everything But The Girl.
Thorn's first solo work was a solo mini-album in 1982 entitled A Distant Shore. A re-recorded version of the track Plain Sailing was released as a single, and was included on the 'Pillows & Prayers' Cherry Red records compilation album.
Thorn and Ben Watt met at University when they were both signed separately, as solo artists, to Cherry Red Records. Their first album together was Eden, released in 1984. As a band, Everything But The Girl released a body of work that spanned two decades. Their biggest chart success came in 1995, when DJ Todd Terry remixed a song from their Amplified Heart album. Missing became a huge hit all over the world, especially in the U.S., where it reached number 2 in the Billboard Hot 100.
The duo has been on extended hiatus since 2002 while Watt has concentrated on his DJ work, and Thorn has been raising their children and writing and recording a solo album.
She collaborated with Massive Attack on several projects, including the soundtrack for the motion picture Batman Forever where she contributed with The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game. Their first project together was the song Protection from the album by Massive Attack of the same name. She also sings on the track Better Things.
Thorn has also contributed guest vocals and backing vocals for The Style Council, The Go-Betweens, Working Week, and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions.
Her first collaboration, after a lengthy singing hiatus, was on the song Damage by the band Tiefschwarz.
In March 2007, Tracey Thorn released her second solo album Out of the Woods on Virgin Records (Worldwide) and on Astralwerks (USA). It includes contributions from Cagedbaby, Ewan Pearson, Charles Webster, Sasse and Martin Wheeler.
In 2010, she released Love and Its Opposite on her husband's own label, Strange Feeling. Swedish singer Jens Lekman appears on Come On Home to Me.
Official website: www.traceythorn.com
Kentish Town
Tracey Thorn Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Houses all gone
Run-down state
Where once was your home
I found the church where you went
And I stood where you stood
It didn't feel the same
I knew I would
It sounds like the country
If you did enough
Here all around me
My family ghosts
Each day I walk up this hill
The one you took to the fair
And I imagine you there
I see your hair
It's too long ago now
To be undone
A second (?)
What's gone is gone
I pushed open the door
And I stood where you stood
I tried not to blink
And I tried not to think
I had one more drink
I knew I would
Tracey Thorn's song "Kentish Town" is a poignant reflection on revisiting the past and grappling with the passage of time. The first stanza sets the scene by describing the street where the singer's loved one once lived. The houses are all gone now and the area is run-down. The nostalgia is palpable as the singer reminisces about a time when the street was filled with life and her loved one had a home there. This sense of loss and longing is captured perfectly in the line "Where once was your home".
In the second stanza, the singer reflects on the church where her loved one used to go. She stands where her loved one stood, trying to connect with the past, but it doesn't feel the same. Despite this sense of disconnection, the singer keeps returning, driven by a strong impulse to reclaim a piece of the past. The phrase "My family ghosts" creates a sense of haunting, as if the memories of loved ones can never truly be laid to rest.
The final stanza speaks to the impossibility of undoing the past. The singer walks up a hill imagining her loved one at a fair, trying to picture what life was like for them before everything changed. But the past is too distant, too much of a mystery to truly recapture. The final lines of the song are especially heart wrenching, as the singer orders one more drink before leaving. It's as if the alcohol serves as a salve for the pain of lost time, but ultimately it can't really soothe it.
Line by Line Meaning
The street where you lived
The physical location where you resided
Houses all gone
The buildings that once stood at that location no longer exist
Run-down state
The area is in a state of disrepair and neglect
Where once was your home
The place where you once lived, no longer exists in the same form
I found the church where you went
I located the place where you worshiped
And I stood where you stood
I physically stood in the same place where you had once stood
It didn't feel the same
My experience was not the same as yours
But I came back again
I returned to the same location
I knew I would
I had an internal feeling that I would come back to this place
It sounds like the country
The sounds here are reminiscent of the countryside
If you did enough
Upon spending enough time in this location
Here all around me
The environment here is all encompassing
My family ghosts
There are memories of my family members who once lived here
Each day I walk up this hill
Each day, I physically ascend a hill in this location
The one you took to the fair
The same path you walked to attend the local fair
And I imagine you there
I envision you in my mind, walking this path
I see your hair
I can visualize physical features of you
It's too long ago now
The amount of time that has elapsed has been too great
To be undone
To reverse the effects of the past
A second (?)
Remainder of the line not provided
What's gone is gone
The past events cannot be changed or reversed
I pushed open the door
I physically entered a building through a door
And I stood where you stood
I was in the same position as you once were
I tried not to blink
I attempted to not blink my eyes
And I tried not to think
I attempted to clear my mind of thoughts
I had one more drink
I consumed one more beverage
I knew I would
I had a feeling that I would consume another drink
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: TRACEY THORN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind