53 Songs About Secrets and Keeping Secrets

The moment you share a secret, you've lost all control of it. It's no longer yours. That's because it's in people's natures to be tellers, particularly if there is no direct consequence to them.

If you have secrets—and who among us doesn't?—then here's a fun playlist about them to enjoy. We have a long list of pop, rock, and country songs to help you celebrate the intrigue of secret and secret keeping.

Tired of insincerity, the narrator in this 2009 song decides to open up and be truly authentic. No lies, no secrets, just him. The song has been used heavily to promote both products and entertainment, from the launch of a Ralph Lauren perfume to ads for the Pretty Little Liars television series.

What a perfect song to play when you're done hiding from the world! In this 2014 song, the saucy narrator spills her guts and decides to skip the shame. From being bipolar to sharing her homosexuality and family dysfunction, she embraces all the things that make her quirky:

They tell us from the time we're young
To hide the things that we don't like about ourselves
Inside ourselves.
I know I'm not the only one who spent so long attempting to be someone else.
Well I'm over it.

This 2002 alternative rock song alludes to being out of sync with one's partner during sex. The narrator wants to go faster than his partner, but there is a secret between them creating an unbridgeable distance. It sounds like someone is just going through the motions.

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead." This 2007 rock song is a twist on that famous quote.

The song contends that we're all compelled to be secret tellers and "two can keep a secret, if one of them are dead." Accordingly, secrets burn our brains and become our own living hell, so we have to reduce the tension and tell someone. The song became the theme song for Pretty Little Liars, a teen mystery-thriller television show.

This well-known 1966 song portrays the life of a spy as both dangerous and seductive. With his name replaced by a number, our James Bond-type figure must be careful what he says. The upside, however, is that he enjoys the perks of swinging on the Riviera and kissing persuasive lips.

Imagine being someone's side dish, a lover who is not important enough to be their main squeeze. Then imagine that your secret lover issues veiled threats against revealing your clandestine relationship or else it'll all be over. What would you do? How did you get yourself into this mess?

Clearly, this 2005 hit portrays a relationship with a power imbalance:

I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone, or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it).
My dirty little secret.

Sometimes, people find a more suitable partner after they are already married. In this 1985 pop song, two people who claim to have happy marriages risk it all to be together.

Apparently, however, they aren't ready to leave their marriages; very few affairs end up happily ever after. To protect their secret love affair, they find that they must sneak around and watch the clock during their trysts.

This pop ballad from 1986 is about family secrets, deceit, and mistrust. The narrator alludes to the emotional toll that secret keeping can take on a person.

This catchy 2002 song refers to the special gift that the narrator's love interest gives to him: "No one knows the gift that you give to me."

However, the message behind the remainder of the lyrics is apparently so secret that even the band acknowledges they aren't entirely sure of the meaning. (What?) Yep, sometimes songs are like poetry — mashups of words and phrases that blend well. And then there's that video to add to the secret randomness.

The narrator in this 2004 ballad has been up all night drinking. Her lover has left her after rumors around town revealed a secret about her. She hopes that it's not too late to save their relationship by coming clean about other secrets. But is she too late?

This 2010 is as touching as it is repetitive. It's about owning your secrets and being owned by them. Anyone with a big secret who struggles to keep it knows precisely what that feels like.

The protagonist in this 1981 song points out that jealous others are gossiping about the her and her friend. However, she tries to reassure her upset friend that rumors don't matter. She suggests that an effective technique is to simply ignore them and stand strong:

When you look at them
Look right through them.
That's when they'll disappear.
That's when we'll be feared.

In this 2011 song, the narrator has a secret that has caused "salty wounds" and feelings of shame, and it has stolen something intangible but valuable from him. Even worse, his family doesn't support him in his pain. He finds an alternative to allow him to cope with the secret and its effects.

Somniloquy, or sleep talking, is a real phenomenon, although rare. It occurs mostly in children and males and can involve gibberish, complex dialog, or uninterpretable mumbling. Sleep talking can be induced either by talking to the sleeper or it may occur spontaneously.

In this 1983 pop song, the narrator's lover gets awful chatty once she falls asleep. Luckily, the only secrets she's spilling is how much she loves the narrator.

You tell me that you want me.
You tell me that you need me.
You tell me that you love me.
And I know that I'm right
'Cause I hear it in the night.
I hear the secrets that you keep.
When you're talking in your sleep.

When you're getting extra lovin' on the sly, these things can happen: Unintended pregnancies. Now the protagonist in this 2004 song has to confess to his main squeeze what he's been doing. And he has to live with the consequences of his exposed secret. Someone's in deep trouble with the Mrs.

Some people have a magical way of making you love and believe in yourself again. The narrator in this pop song from 1994 is grateful that her lover has entered her life. He has a secret way of touching her soul and bringing her happiness.

The protagonist in this 2003 song pleads with her lover to open up his heart and tell all, like one does with a diary. She promises she won't tell a soul. She seems to be his secret lover.

This 1990 rock song describes the anguish of two lovers who cannot reveal their relationship to the world. They lead very different lives and are torn between attraction and letting go. They feel compelled to keep their secret:

Why do we keep this love together
Didn't we know right from the start
That we would have to keep this secret
Or be doomed to stay apart?

In this 2015 folk-pop song, the protagonist teases her lover by suggesting that he could be her dirty little secret or her rumor. She offers to meet him anywhere, whether in the backseat or in first class on an airplane. She says she's really into him and wants to show him how much.

If you've ever had a secret crush, then you can identify with the intense longing felt by the guy in this 2010 song. He barely knows his secret girl's name, however he finds himself thinking about her all the time. She's a great distance away and he wants to bridge the gulf that divides them.