The Beatles Song Half-Inspired by Snow White and Given to George Harrison Because He ...

Long before the days of vulnerable tracks like “I’m a Loser” and “Help!” (and even further from the raw emotions of “Cold Turkey” and “Mother”), John Lennon was hiding his sentimentality in plain sight. The songs he wrote for The Beatles didn’t always reference his past personal life. But there were a few glimpses to be had, if one knew where to look.

One such window into Lennon’s childhood came in the form of “Do You Want To Know A Secret”, an early single from the band’s U.K. and U.S. debuts, Please Please Me and Introducing… The Beatles, respectively. In a testament to his initial subversiveness, Lennon didn’t perform lead vocals on the song, despite being the one who wrote it.

Instead, George Harrison sang lead—a creative decision Lennon would later cite as a matter of practicality, not humility. In any case, a No. 2 placement on the Billboard Hot 100 proved this choice to be a positive one.
How Julia Lennon Helped Inspire “Do You Want to Know a Secret”

John Lennon had an incredibly turbulent childhood, experiencing emotional strain and trauma that no child should ever have to endure. His father was a seaman who was often absent. During one particularly long absence, Lennon’s mother, Julia, became pregnant with another man’s child. When Lennon’s father returned, the couple separated. Julia’s eldest sister, Mimi, deemed the recently single mother’s life “immoral” and complained to the local authorities multiple times until, eventually, she received full custody of Lennon.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis

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