Do You Want to Know a Secret

John and his mum, Julia

Written by John Lennon, the inspiration for this song came from a deeply rooted childhood memory of John. Julia, John's mum, used to sing I'm Wishing from Snow White and The Seven Dwarves to him when he was a young boy. The lines "Wanna know a secret? Promise not to tell?" was sung by Snow White to the doves while standing at the castle well. John later said that he had this sort of thing in his head, and together with Paul, they worked out a complete arrangement.

George Harrison

George Harrison is the lead vocal in this song despite the song being written by John Lennon. In 1980, Lennon said that he gave this song to George because it only had three notes and George was not the best singer in the world. George himself confirms this sentiment, saying that he did not like his vocal work on the song because he did not know how to sing yet. John did say in his 1980 interview that George has improved a lot since then.

In the Studio

An interesting fact about this song is that it was not considered a favourite among the band members. It had a short performance life as a Beatles song. Even though the song became a major US hit , The Beatles never saw fit to perform the song in the states. Even Paul who co-wrote this song with John, considered it to be  a hack song written to order as a filler for the first album.


Regardless of what The Beatles think of this song (no disrespect intended), to me this song is one that I will always hum to. I remember singing this song throughout my teenage years, dedicating it to my then puppy love. It stands on par with Can't Buy Me Love and  Love Me Do as The Beatles ultimate love songs. Enjoy the song below.