Sometime during The Beatles December 1962 visit to Hamburg, Lennon taped a version of this song for demonstration purposes so Billy J. Kramer could learn it in preparation for his recording the piece. John made this demo version in the bathroom of a Hamburg nightclub because, as he insisted, it was the only place he could find that was quiet enough to do the recording. After he completed the song, John flushed the toilet, possibly to symbolize his opinion toward it at that time.
Only one proper session was needed to capture on tape this classic performance by The Beatles. It was the fourth of eleven songs recorded on the historic marathon session of February 11th, 1963 to complete their first British album “Please Please Me.” The afternoon session began at 2:30 on that day and, after recording the bulk of the song “A Taste Of Honey,” they commenced recording “Do You Want To Know A Secret” between approximately 3:15 and 3:45 p.m.
After five run-throughs of the song, not all complete performances, take six won the keeper, which all four performed musically without any edits and with full instrumentation. Harrison sang lead vocals simultaneously with the band on all of these takes, but no harmony vocals occurred yet. Take seven and eight were attempts at recording Lennon and McCartney’s harmony “doo-dah-doo”s while Ringo, at the suggestion of George Martin, tapped two sticks together during the song’s bridge. These takes were overdubbed onto take six of the song, while take eight saw the song as complete.
Both the mono and stereo mixes of the song took place on February 25th, 1963, as did the mixes for the rest of their first album. Both of these mixes surfaced from the complete take eight, which included the harmony and sticks overdubs. No Beatles were present at this session; only George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and A.B. Lincoln were present.
Song Structure and Style
The structure of this song is very similar to most of the songs on this album, being that it follows the 'verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse' (or aaba) pattern. One identifiable difference is the Spanish-flavored introduction, which adds a distinguished touch to the song and creates an air of anticipation.
Another noticeable trait of the song which makes it uniquely similar to “Love Me Do” is that each verse is lyrically identical. These are the only two Beatles songs in their whole catalog to follow this (some might call) skimpy pattern. Much experimentation continued to develop as Lennon, and McCartney matured as songwriters, as evidenced even as early as their next album (witness the confusing but identical structure of “It Won’t Be Long” and “Little Child”). It should be noted, though, that there are enough intricacies held within these uncharacteristically long 14 bar verses to make up for the skimpiness of the song’s structure.
Once again, the songwriters opted not to include a solo of any kind to the song, although, in the event the song is quite short in length (1:56) some may suggest that it needed one. If they decided to include a solo, though, the extended, identical verse would no doubt have repeated a fourth time, which would have made the skimpy song structure very noticeable, as in “Love Me Do.” Leaving it the way they did appears to have been the wisest choice because most listeners don’t notice the three identical verses without putting it under close scrutiny.
The song begins with a minor chord introduction, which loosely comprises four bars, this being a throwback to many of John's favorites from the 1930s and '40s, as well as something then utilized by one of his current favorite songwriting teams, Gerry Goffin and Carole King. An impressive rising guitar riff from Harrison then acts as a segue into the first verse. The melody line of the verses mainly consists of movement up and down the scale except for the falsetto highlight at the end of each verse. A distinctive descending chord pattern from George repeats five times per verse, which is each time accompanied by John and Paul’s “doo-dah-doo” harmony backing vocals on the second and third occurrences of the verse.
The song utilizes two changes in pattern within the verses between the 11th and 13th bar of each verse, which adds character to the song. The surprise falsetto at the end of the verse detracts from the repetitious melody line and acts as a tasteful segue into the next verse or bridge in the case of the second verse.
After a somewhat abrupt transition from the second verse, the short six bar bridge finds George singing solo to give the background vocals a short break, thus reducing its redundancy. The simple melody line repeats twice before a smoother transition occurs to lead us back into another identical verse, which this time is extended by repeating the last two bars until it fades.
As far as their performance, Harrison stands true to the fore with his strong Liverpudlian accent and skillful lead/rhythm guitar work. Opinion has it that one unnoticed vocal flub was left in because of the hurried nature from this full day's recording schedule. On the first line of the bridge, we hear George supposedly inverting the words "a" and "the" ("I've known the secret for a week or two") becoming "I've known a secret for the week or two." However, this is proven to be false by the release of the album "On Air - Live At The BBC Volume 2," also reveals George singing it exactly the same way as the EMI studio version we all know so well. It's just the Liverpudlian accent after all!
Lennon’s guitar work is hardly discernable throughout but is most noticeable during the song’s introduction where John plays a jangly guitar while George strums the discernable guitar chords. McCartney adds impressively complicated bass runs throughout the verses while occasionally flubbing a stray note here and there, most noticeably at the beginning of the bridge and during the fade-out. These flubs were no doubt left in because of the rapid-fire recording process instituted on that day.
Ringo plays a shuffle beat almost throughout the whole song without any drum fills. The only two exceptions to this are during the verses where, on the 11th and 12th bars, he plays a syncopated rhythm and then, during the 13th bar, he plays only eighth notes on his bass drum. The bass drum eighth notes then recur alternatively with the shuffle beat as the song fades.
The lyrics are a little more innocent and “cuddly” then what suited the band even back then, which most likely was the deciding factor in giving the song over to George to sing as well as donating it to Billy J. Kramer shortly afterwards. This innocence, though, comes across as very convincing and relatable to the young female fans, which overwhelmingly comprised their audience at the time. The intricacies of the chord and overall song structure, however, compensate for the simplistic and repetitive lyrics, creating a pleasant slice of 1964 Beatlemania.
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