Shapiro was born at Bethnal Green Hospital in the East End district of Bethnal Green, London. Her early childhood was spent in a Clapton council house in the London borough of Hackney, where she attended Northwold Primary School and Clapton Park Comprehensive School until Christmas 1961. She is the granddaughter of Russian Jewish immigrants; her parents, who were piece-workers in the garment industry, attended Lea Bridge Road Synagogue. The family moved from Clapton to the Victoria Park area of Hackney, on the Parkside Estate, when she was nine. "It was, and remains, a beautiful place," she said in a 2006 interview.
Although too poor to own a record player, Shapiro's parents encouraged music in their home (she had to borrow a neighbour's player to hear her first single). Shapiro played banjolele as a child and sang with her brother Ron occasionally in his youth club skiffle group. She had a deep timbre to her voice, unusual in a girl not yet in her teens: school friends gave her the nickname "Foghorn".
Aged ten, Shapiro was a singer with "Susie and the Hula Hoops," (with her cousin, 60s singer, Susan Singer) a school band which included Marc Bolan (then using his real name of Mark Feld) as guitarist. At 13 she started singing lessons at The Maurice Burman School of Modern Pop Singing, based in London's Baker Street, after the school produced singing star Alma Cogan. "I had always wanted to be a singer. I had no desire to slavishly follow Alma's style, but chose the school merely because of Alma's success", she said in a 1962 interview. Burman's connections eventually led her to a young Columbia Records A&R man named John Schroeder, who recorded a demo of Shapiro singing "Birth of the Blues".
In 1961, aged fourteen, she had a UK No. 3 hit with her first single, "Don't Treat Me Like a Child" and two number one hits in the UK, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness". The latter did not top the UK chart until 19 October 1961, by which time Shapiro had reached 15, on 26 September. She had a No. 2 in 1962 with "Tell Me What He Said", achieving her first four single releases in the top three of the UK Singles Chart. Most of her recording sessions were at EMI's studios at Abbey Road in north west London. Her mature voice made her an overnight sensation, as well as the youngest female chart topper in the UK.
Shapiro's final UK Top Ten hit single was with the ballad "Little Miss Lonely", which peaked at No. 8 for two weeks in 1962. Shapiro's recording manager at the time was Norrie Paramor.
Before she was sixteen years old, Shapiro had been voted Britain's "Top Female Singer". The Beatles first national tour of Britain, in the late winter/early spring of 1963, was as one of her supporting acts. During the course of the tour, the Beatles had their first hit single and John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song "Misery" for her, but Shapiro did not record the composition. In 1995, during a This is Your Life highlighting her life and career, Shapiro revealed, "It was actually turned down on my behalf before I ever heard it, actually. I never got to hear it or give an opinion. It's a shame, really." Shapiro lip-synched her then-current single, "Look Who It Is", on the British television programme Ready Steady Go! with three of the Beatles (John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison).
In 1962, Shapiro appeared as herself in the Billy Fury film Play It Cool, and played the lead female role in Richard Lester's movie, It's Trad, Dad!, which co-starred another early 60s hitmaker, Craig Douglas. On 31 December 1969, Shapiro appeared on the BBC/ZDF co-production Pop Go The Sixties, singing "Walkin' Back to Happiness".
By the time she was in her late teens, her career as a pop singer was on the wane. With the new wave of beat music and newer female singers such as Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Lulu, Shapiro appeared old-fashioned and emblematic of the pre-Beatles, 50s era. As her pop career declined, Shapiro turned to cabaret appearances, touring the workingmen's clubs of the North East of England. Her final cabaret show took place at Peterlee's Senate Club on 6 May 1972, where she announced she was giving up touring as she was "travel-weary" and had had enough of "living out of a suitcase". Later, after a change of mind, she branched out as a performer in stage musicals, and jazz (being her first love musically).
She played the role of Nancy in Lionel Bart's musical, Oliver! in London's West End and appeared in a British television soap opera, Albion Market, where she played one of the main characters until it was taken off air in August 1986.
Between 1984 and 2001, she toured extensively with legendary British jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton and his band, whilst still performing her own jazz and pop concerts. Her one-woman show "Simply Shapiro" ran from 1999 to the end of 2002, when she finally bade farewell to show business.
Her autobiography, published in 1993, was entitled Walking Back to Happiness. She appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4's 'The Reunion' in August 2012. In March 2013 she appeared on BBC Radio 3's 'Good Morning Sunday'
Helen Shapiro has been married since 31 August 1988 to John Judd (real name, John Williams), an actor with numerous roles in British television and cinema.
You Don't Know
Helen Shapiro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Woah, woah, woah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
All though I love you so
Oh you don't know
You don't know just how I feel
For my love I daren't reveal
I am so, I'm so afraid
You might not care
Every time you pass me by
Oh you don't know, you don't know
What I go through
Seeing someone else with you
Oh I wish the one with you, were me
But you don't know
I would tell you, if I believed
That you might care some day
But until then I'll never give this away
So a secret it must stay
And you don't know, you don't know
How hard to bear
Is this one way love affair
For it breaks my heart to be in love
When you don't know
I would tell you, if I believed
That you might care some day
But until then I'll never give this away
So a secret it must stay
And you don't know, you don't know
How hard to bear
Is this one way love affair
For it breaks my heart to be in love
When you don't know
Woah, woah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
Woah, woah, woah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
In Helen Shapiro's "You Don't Know," she sings about unrequited love and the pain that comes along with it. The song's lyrics reveal that although she loves the person she is singing to, she is afraid to reveal her feelings because he might not care about her in the same way. Shapiro describes the agony she feels every time he walks by her with someone else, wishing that she were the one he was with. However, she admits that this love affair is one-sided, and it breaks her heart to be in love with him when he doesn't even know how she feels.
The song portrays the complex emotions that come with loving someone who doesn't love you back. Shapiro acknowledges the fear of rejection and the hard reality of keeping her love for him a secret. Her inability to express her love openly makes the pain harder to deal with, yet still, she holds onto hope that someday, he may care for her in the same way.
In conclusion, "You Don't Know" is a painful yet beautiful depiction of unrequited love. Shapiro's lyrics reveal the complexities of having a crush on someone who doesn't feel the same way. The song expresses the fear of rejection, the agony of watching someone you love with someone else, and the heartbreak of having unreciprocated feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
Woah, woah, woah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
Repeating the same phrase to convey the singer's deep emotional distress
All though I love you so
Even though the singer deeply loves the person, they keep their feelings hidden
Oh you don't know
The person has no idea about the singer's feelings
You don't know just how I feel
The person is completely unaware of the depth of the singer's feelings
For my love I daren't reveal
The singer is afraid to express their love and reveal their true feelings
I am so, I'm so afraid
The fear of rejection is what holds the singer back from expressing their feelings
You might not care
The singer is worried that their feelings won't be reciprocated by the other person
Every time you pass me by
The singer is constantly reminded of their unrequited love whenever they see the person
What I go through
The emotional turmoil the singer experiences as a result of their unexpressed love
Seeing someone else with you
The pain of watching the person be with someone else
Oh I wish the one with you, were me
The singer longs to be the one with the person they love
I would tell you, if I believed
If the singer thought there was a chance the other person would reciprocate their feelings, they would express them
But until then I'll never give this away
As long as the fear of rejection exists, the singer will continue to keep their feelings hidden
So a secret it must stay
The singer's love must remain a secret for fear of rejection or making things awkward
How hard to bear
The pain of unrequited love is almost unbearable for the singer
Is this one way love affair
The singer's love is one-sided and unreciprocated
For it breaks my heart to be in love
The singer's unexpressed love is causing heartbreak and emotional pain
Woah, woah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
Repeating the same phrase to emphasize the singer's pain and frustration
Woah, woah, woah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
Repetition of the same phrase to further emphasize the singer's emotional distress
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN SCHROEDER, JOHN FRANCIS SCHROEDER, MICHAEL HAWKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Clarissa Tobia
Although I love you so
Oh, you don't know
You don't know
Just how I feel
For my love
I daren't reveal
I am so, I'm so afraid
You might not care
Every time you pass me by
Oh, you don't know
You don't know
What I go through
Seeing someone else with you
Oh, I wish the one with you
Were me
But you don't know
I would tell you
If I believed
That you might care some day
But until then
I'll never give this away
So a secret it must stay
And you don't know
You don't know
How hard to bear
Is this one-way love affair
For it breaks my heart to be
In love
When you don't know
I would tell you
If I believed
That you might care some day
But until then
I'll never give this away
So a secret it must stay
And you don't know
You don't know
How hard to bear
Is this one-way love affair
For it breaks my heart to be
In love
When you don't know
999carpet
She was the youngest female singer ever to reach number 1 in the uk charts in 1961 with this song. She was 14 , and still at school. The record still stands.
Kenneth Ridout
Fantastic memories what a Voice
Robert Maceanruig
She she recorded Sands for Ever. A Great in British music
William Henry
And if you close your eyes you would think it’s a 30 year old woman beautiful
Henry Smith
I know, that iconic picture of her waving goodbye to her schoolpals.
Peter Agius
Great lady great voice great song I was 11 when she sang this and i have been playing it eversince.
Mark Mahoney
My mum has dementia and this was one of her favourite songs, we're sitting in the sun listening to this, and she starts singing along!! What a beautiful moment and what a beautiful song x
David Grace
Mark Mahoney lovely song a d one I would also like to listen to with my mother .
yoonfoo choy
A lovely song..!! And please send my warmest regards to your mum..
Mary Lynn Johnson-Kerker
Beautiful story