- Album This song officially appears on the New Official album.
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
Recording NEW with Mark Ronson #1
January 2012
Recording NEW with Mark Ronson #2
July 2012
Recording NEW with Mark Ronson #3
Mid-September 2012
April 2013
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Song facts
“Alligator” is a song from 2013 album “NEW“, produced by Mark Ronson, one of the four producers who worked on this album. This is the first song that Paul composed for this album.
I had a few weeks when I settled in a regular system. What I would do is, I’d take my little girl to school, my youngest daughter and then I’d come back, and I’d have some time before I would have to go and pick her up again. So, I’d just come home get myself a cup of green tea and sit with my guitar or piano. On Alligator I wanted to feel Zen. I was messing around and I staffed getting the idea: “I need someone to come home to. I need a place I can rest”. I knew that in about 3 or 4-hours’ time after I started I’d be ringing Nancy, who was in New York, and I knew I’d wake her up. It was about 12 o’clock, it was 7 o’clock for her. So this gave me a motivation to write something and ring her up and say: “Morning, baby. You wanna hear a song?”
Paul McCartney, interview with Zane Lowe, October 2013
From the NEW biography:
Mark’s other contribution, ‘Alligator’, afforded him the opportunity to get his hands on the original four-track recorder from Abbey Road that Paul had used on a lot of his solo recordings made post-The Beatles, up in Scotland. “That was one where we experimented a lot. Because his music is just so all around us now, we forget that Paul, with The Beatles and solo, was always on the cutting edge of technology. So it makes sense that he would want to try out all these new pieces of equipment. We used a TC Helicon for the vocals, which is what Kanye uses a lot on his stuff, so there’s some really interesting things going on with the vocals in the bridges of that song.”
Last updated on June 3, 2019
Lyrics
I want someone to come home to
I need somewhere I can sleep
I need a place where I can rest my weary bones
And have a conversation not too deep
Everybody else is busy doing better than me
And I can see why it is
They got someone setting them free
Someone breaking the chains
Someone letting them be
I want someone who can save me
When I come home from the zoo
I need somebody who’s a sweet communicator
I can give my alligator to
Everybody seems to know what they are talking about
And I can see why it is
They got someone breaking them out
Someone finding the key
Someone setting them free
Could you be that person for me
Would you feel right setting me free
Could you dare to find my key
I want someone who can bail me
When I get up to my tricks
I need somebody used to
Dealing with a sinner
Whenever I get in a fix
Everybody else is busy doing better than me
And I can see why it is
They got someone setting them free
Someone breaking the chains
Someone letting them be
Could you be that person for me
Would you feel right setting me free
Could you dare to find my key
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 2013
3:27 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Celeste, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Percussion, Play-me-a-song book, Synthesizer, Vocals
- Rusty Anderson :
- Guitar
- Abe Laboriel Jr. :
- Drums
- Paul Wickens :
- Keyboards
- Brian Ray :
- Guitar
- Mark Ronson :
- Producer
- Eddie Klein :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Kevin Mills :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Jamie Kirkham :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Mark 'Spike' Stent :
- Mixing engineer
- Geoff Swan :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Al O'Connell :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Josh Blair :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Robert Mallory :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Tyler Hartman :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Session Recording:
- January 2012
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- July 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Overdubs:
- September 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Mixing:
- April 2013
- Studio :
- Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Official album • Released in 2013
3:27 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Celeste, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Percussion, Play-me-a-song book, Synthesizer, Vocals
- Rusty Anderson :
- Guitar
- Abe Laboriel Jr. :
- Drums
- Paul Wickens :
- Keyboards
- Brian Ray :
- Guitar
- Mark Ronson :
- Producer
- Eddie Klein :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Kevin Mills :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Jamie Kirkham :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Mark 'Spike' Stent :
- Mixing engineer
- Geoff Swan :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Al O'Connell :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Josh Blair :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Robert Mallory :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Tyler Hartman :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Session Recording:
- January 2012
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- July 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Overdubs:
- September 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Mixing:
- April 2013
- Studio :
- Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Official album • Released in 2013
3:27 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Celeste, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Percussion, Play-me-a-song book, Synthesizer, Vocals
- Rusty Anderson :
- Guitar
- Abe Laboriel Jr. :
- Drums
- Paul Wickens :
- Keyboards
- Brian Ray :
- Guitar
- Mark Ronson :
- Producer
- Eddie Klein :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Kevin Mills :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Jamie Kirkham :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Mark 'Spike' Stent :
- Mixing engineer
- Geoff Swan :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Al O'Connell :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Josh Blair :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Robert Mallory :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Tyler Hartman :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Session Recording:
- January 2012
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- July 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Overdubs:
- September 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Mixing:
- April 2013
- Studio :
- Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Official album • Released in 2014
3:27 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Celeste, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Percussion, Play-me-a-song book, Synthesizer, Vocals
- Rusty Anderson :
- Guitar
- Abe Laboriel Jr. :
- Drums
- Paul Wickens :
- Keyboards
- Brian Ray :
- Guitar
- Mark Ronson :
- Producer
- Eddie Klein :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Kevin Mills :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Jamie Kirkham :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Mark 'Spike' Stent :
- Mixing engineer
- Geoff Swan :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Al O'Connell :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Josh Blair :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Robert Mallory :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Tyler Hartman :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Session Recording:
- January 2012
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- July 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Overdubs:
- September 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Mixing:
- April 2013
- Studio :
- Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Official album • Released in 2014
3:27 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Celeste, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Percussion, Play-me-a-song book, Synthesizer, Vocals
- Rusty Anderson :
- Guitar
- Abe Laboriel Jr. :
- Drums
- Paul Wickens :
- Keyboards
- Brian Ray :
- Guitar
- Mark Ronson :
- Producer
- Eddie Klein :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Kevin Mills :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Jamie Kirkham :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Mark 'Spike' Stent :
- Mixing engineer
- Geoff Swan :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Al O'Connell :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Josh Blair :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Robert Mallory :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Tyler Hartman :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Session Recording:
- January 2012
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- July 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Overdubs:
- September 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Mixing:
- April 2013
- Studio :
- Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles
NEW (Limited Edition - Pink LP)
Official album • Released in 2018
3:27 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Celeste, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Percussion, Play-me-a-song book, Synthesizer, Vocals
- Rusty Anderson :
- Guitar
- Abe Laboriel Jr. :
- Drums
- Paul Wickens :
- Keyboards
- Brian Ray :
- Guitar
- Mark Ronson :
- Producer
- Eddie Klein :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Kevin Mills :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Jamie Kirkham :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Mark 'Spike' Stent :
- Mixing engineer
- Geoff Swan :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Al O'Connell :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Josh Blair :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Robert Mallory :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Tyler Hartman :
- Recording engineer (?)
- Session Recording:
- January 2012
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- July 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Overdubs:
- September 2012
- Studio :
- Avatar Studios, New York, USA
- Session Mixing:
- April 2013
- Studio :
- Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Bootlegs
Unofficial album • Released in 2014
3:36 • Alternate take • B • Alternate studio version, extended intro, different end
Unofficial live
3:58 • Soundcheck
Concert From the concert in Tokyo, Japan on Nov 19, 2013
Unofficial live
3:28 • Soundcheck
Concert From the concert in Tokyo, Japan on Nov 21, 2013
Out There TOKYO 3rd Nov. 21, 2013
Unofficial live • Released in 2013
3:27 • Soundcheck
Concert From the concert in Tokyo, Japan on Nov 21, 2013
Out There TOKYO 2nd Nov. 19, 2013
Unofficial live • Released in 2013
3:40 • Soundcheck
Concert From the concert in Tokyo, Japan on Nov 19, 2013
Live performances
“Alligator” has been played in 23 soundchecks.
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