Secret (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song)
1985 song by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
"Secret" is a 1985 song by the English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released as the second single from their sixth studio album Crush. Paul Humphreys sings lead vocals on the track. It became their second US Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at number 63, and also made number 34 on the UK singles chart.
The song was featured in the American romantic comedy film Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988) and on its soundtrack album; it was also re-released to radio in the US as the follow-up to The Best of OMD track "Dreaming", approximately one month prior to the film's premiere. Though it received renewed airplay on several US contemporary hit stations, it did not re-chart on the Hot 100.
Critical reception
Writing in Number One, Stuart Husband referred to "Secret" as a "pretty song" and "the Manoeuvres' cutest single for many a moon". Stateside, the Gavin Report dubbed it "the strongest OMD track since the tragically overlooked 'Souvenir'." Bill Merrill of the Altus Times noted the song's "smooth combination of airy vocals and catchy hooks", while Cashbox called it a "strong" and "very melodic" track with a "gently pulsing synth beat".
In a retrospective review, Dave Thompson of AllMusic observed an "emotive love song buried in an over-produced behemoth of a backing". Conversely, Thompson's colleague Mike DeGagne lauded the track as one of OMD's best 1980s singles, noting its "adolescent innocence". Rolling Stone's Paul Evans described "Secret", and previous release "So in Love", as "flawless singles".
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Secret (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song)” as 1985 song by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1985 song by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q9334836. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1985 and 1988.
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This entry incorporates text from “Secret (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.