Album: New (2013)
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Songfacts®:

  • The title track and lead single from Sir Paul McCartney's 16th studio album is a horn-driven Pop song that was produced by Mark Ronson. The producer-DJ is known for his work with a host of luminaries, including Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, and the late Amy Winehouse.

    Ronson emulates Beatle producer George Martin's style with a short reprise at the end of this tune. The song was given its first airing by Zoe Ball on August 29, 2013 during her on BBC Radio 2 show.
  • Sir Paul told BBC 6 Music's Matt Everitt about the song: "It's catchy, it's summery, it's a love song. I think people will recognize it as definitely me."

    He added: "It's a love song but it's saying don't look at me I haven't got any answers. It says I don't know what's happening, I don't know how it's all happening, but it's good and I love you."
  • Ronson first started working with McCartney after DJing his wedding to Nancy Shevell. Later, he got a call from the former Beatle to come down to the studio and the pair started messing around with ideas. Ronson told MTV News the first time he heard this track, he was sold. "It was just such an instant classic," he said. "I said, 'I would love to work on that song with you,' and that's how it started. It was a masterclass in learning how to put together a f--king incredible song - just watching his mind work."
  • McCartney told The Sun how the song was created: "It is the kind of thing that I could have done with The Beatles," he said. "There was always one way to do that song. It's very piano based, one of those things that if I play it with just me, piano and voice, it will sound very close to a finished record."

    "It's all in the piano part," McCartney added. "All the notes are in there. I wrote it late one night at my dad's piano and I had this little idea to get it down immediately on a little cassette machine with a Dictaphone. I thought, 'This is good, this will work.' It was just very quick inspiration."
  • When asked during a Twitter Q&A why he titled the album 'New,' McCartney replied: "I was playing around with more poetic titles but New was a simple word and the name of a song on the album."

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