"Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone)" (rendered "Lions in My Own Garden: Exit Someone" on initial release) is the first single by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released on the band's own Candle Records in 1982. The single was reissued in 1983 after the band were signed by Kitchenware Records. Composition The song was recorded on 25 February 1982 by a three-piece line-up of Prefab Sprout; Paddy McAloon provides vocals and guitar, Martin McAloon plays bass and Michael Salmon provides drums and percussion. McAloon has described this early lineup as sounding like a mix of the Clash and Steely Dan. Wendy Smith joined the band later in 1982. The song utilises simplistic instrumentation – acoustic guitar, bass, drums, harmonica and vibraphone – but the structure is complex, ignoring the conventional verse-chorus pattern. According to Adrian Thrills of NME, "the meandering melody line takes more than a cursory listen before it connects". Despite the song garnering comparisons to Scottish jangle pop bands Orange Juice and Aztec Camera, McAloon was influenced by the Beatles. McAloon would comment "For me, it’s very close to "Love Me Do", very pure, spontaneous." The lyric concerned McAloon's feelings about being apart from his one-time girlfriend, who had left England to study Law in the University of Limoges. McAloon wrote the song to show how much he missed her, and took the letters of Limoges to create the song title, with the name of the city acting as an acronym. McAloon explained in a 1988 interview "this idea of having lions watching you in your own garden matches the feeling of insecurity coming from the abnormality of the situation. Something scary, expressed in a language of my own". Music journalist Stuart Maconie has described the track as "enigmatic, melancholy, tuneful and therefore perfect for a jobless literature graduate with girlfriend problems". Release After having no success with major labels, Prefab Sprout set up Candle Records (slogan: The Wax That Won't Get on Your Wick) to release their first single, limited to 1000 copies. £800 Martin McAloon had earned from a two-month stint as a nightwatchman was used to fund the release. This 1982 release rendered the A-side's title as "Lions in My Own Garden: Exit Someone". The song was backed with "Radio Love", a song McAloon described as "a celebration of pop music". The song received airplay by John Peel on BBC Radio 1. Speaking on