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7.16pm
20 January 2015
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I’d like to know a few Beatle secrets.
Anyway, I digress, I always thought Do You Want To Know A Secret ? Was The Beatles own take on “Till There Was You ” It even includes that distinctive 3 chord descent on rhythm guitar.
The Beatles are English - They have influences from all over - but they are English
7.36pm
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14 April 2010
Offline meanmistermustard said
Where is there no question mark at the end of the title? Surely it should be ‘Do You Want To Know A Secret ?’.
They were not too swift when it came to punctuation. See ‘Oh! Darling ‘.
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sir walter raleighTo the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
4.58am
30 August 2021
Offline Why does George sing “I’ve known A secret for THE week or two” when it should obviously be the other way around?
I recently bought the “Love Letters from Lennon & McCartney” compilation with the Billy J. Kramer version, and he sings it the way I’ve always thought it should be.
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8.52am
14 June 2016
Offline Could be just what he sang at the time and it remained there. The recording schedule was pretty tight. I like it actually as it gives this version its own personality.
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8.28am
11 April 2016
Offline I was always under the impression that it was “I’ve known a secret for a week or two”.
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6.29pm
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20 August 2013
Online WeepingAtlasCedars said
I was always under the impression that it was “I’ve known a secret for a week or two”.
I kind of hear “duh” instead of the or a.
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7.40pm
11 September 2018
Offline WeepingAtlasCedars said
I was always under the impression that it was “I’ve known a secret for a week or two”.
That’s what I hear too. It’s what he sings.
9.09pm
23 January 2022
Offline It’s definitely “for a week or two”, but his scouse ‘r’ followed by ‘a’ pronounced like ‘uh’ could be mistaken for ‘the’.
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12.00am
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20 August 2013
Online Ah, yes, thanks for that Scouse reminder, @meaigs!! Have an apple 
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11.29pm
3 August 2012
Offline I’ve been listening to some early pre-Beatles songs from the 60s and I noticed that the song Sweet Nothings by Brenda Lee, while not musically similar really, has several lyrical similarities to this song.
The Brenda Lee song has the rhyme “my baby whispers in my ear, he knows the things I’d like to hear”.
Also there’s a mention of keeping secrets in the song too. Honestly sounds like a song that George could have sung too in 1962, sounds a bit like Reminiscing- that Buddy Holly style.
I’ve not seen anyone else mention this song as an influence but it probably was, subconsciously or otherwise. Kinda interesting anyway.
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Von Bontee, Richard, Ahhh Girl, sigh butterfly, RubeTimes I find it hard to say / With useless words getting in my way
1.13am
14 December 2009
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Hey Pepperland , welcome back!
Brenda Lee had more North American hits between the late 50s and mid ’60s than nearly anyone; she didn’t have as many in the UK in that time, but “Sweet Nothins” was one of her biggest, peaking at #4 in 1959; so I’ll bet the Beatles did hear it; I know the song but not the lyrics. (Although if you started playing it, my memory might kick in and supply many of the words; I heard the song regularly over the two pandemic years I spent playing oldies and card games near daily with my mother…)
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10.13pm
3 August 2012
Offline Thanks for the welcome @Von Bontee! 
I appreciate it.
As I am older now and a little bit slower (I’m 22) I’ll pop in every Now And Then if I have any interesting thoughts. I’m still slogging through getting my Music Production degree and I am most certainly going to write my dissertation on the Beatles if at all possible.
Also of note is that Helen Shapiro covered Sweet Nothin’s on a 1962 album which perhaps she would have sung on stage, but I believe the theory is that John wrote DYWtKaS in late 62 and they weren’t on a bill together till January right?
So I guess the answer is he probably just had it in the back of his mind from 59 when the Brenda Lee one was a hit. I doubt he listened to Helen Shapiro’s album for some reason, but could be wrong!
It’s very easy to subconsciously take lyrics from other songs. I wrote a song that I was really proud of last year with each verse ending with the phrase “someone else to occupy my mind”. I only just realised that the melody to that bit is almost identical to the Bob Dylan song Mama You’ve Been on My Mind… 
And then you realise “oh his lyrics were way better too”.
Oh well.
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3.58pm
25 November 2024
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Daily Beatles Song Review 11/213: Do You Want To Know A Secret ?
This is George’s second place on the record to shine vocally, and I think it’s a better showcase for his talents than Chains . The song is moodier, which fits George both in his own temperament and also how his voice sounds when he sings. It also features less backing vocals from John and Paul, which allows him to stand on his own. I don’t think George’s vocal performance here is great by any means, but it is certainly good, and demonstrates where he could go in the future. I do think this is the worst/most egregious use of echo effects on Please Please Me , something George Martin luckily learned better than to do on later records.
Overall, the song is not great or interesting. I think the lyrics are a cute idea, and it does something I like, which is when love songs describe a specific situation rather than a more abstract depiction. The song’s kind of repetitive though, and is also short even by early ‘60s standards. The instrumentation is yet again good but not special. The best part is probably the rhythm guitar part from John. Ringo’s drumming is also good, although in the stereo mix it’s panned too much (as is often the case, it’s just especially notable here.)
Score: 6/10.
Favorite cover: Here’s a somewhat contemporary cover by the band The Dakotas.
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Richard, sir walter raleigh, TimpetusThere will be an answer; let it be.
2.56pm
20 March 2018
Offline There’s a lot I like about this song. My wife and I sing the opening line to each other all the time when we have some good gossip! 
However, the middle eight or bridge section is very off-putting to me musically. The Beatles did some amazing, adventurous chord changes though the years, but it just seems awkward here. Maybe I’m alone in feeling this way, but I hardly ever listen to the whole song because of it.
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4.27pm
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1 May 2011
Offline It’s kind of fun hearing the outtake with the backing vocals all the way thru, tho thankfully that was dropped as it is too much. It’s equally as fun hearing the track without any backing vocals. Overall the twice thru arrangement is probably the best but it is a mediocre song.
But I think they all knew that.
Still reached #2 in the US tho and Billy J. Kramer had a top 2 hit (#1 in one chart) in the UK tho so it did very well.
And
The song reached the No. 1 position on Billboard in 1981 and No. 2 in the United Kingdom as part of the cover-medley “Stars on 45”.
Source: Wiki
I look forward to the 50th anniversary release of ‘Stars on 45’.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
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