Do You Want to Know a Secret

In Disney's 1937 film of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the main character sings a song that begins: "Want to Know a Secret? Promise not to tell?" Lennon's mother sang this to him when he was little, and the Beatles song emerged as a nostalgic favorite. McCartney added harmonies and arrangements, making it a common collaboration of these two gifted musicians. The lyrics begin with "You'll never know how much I really love you; you'll never know how much I really care." Then the song quotes the opening phrases from the Disney classic. Lennon reported that he and McCartney composed the song specifically for George Harrison to sing. In the famous February 11, 1963 session for the debut album, the Beatles hurriedly recorded this song in just a few takes. In the U.S., Do You Want to Know a Secret rose to number 2 in the charts, bested only by Can't Buy Me Love.