 According to Jean Ryder, the ex-wife of songwriter Mike Hawker, "I Only Want to Be With You" was written soon after she and Hawker married on 1 December 1961, being inspired by Hawker's intense romantic feelings for his new bride.Ryder, who would later be a member of the Breakaways, had been a member of a vocal chorale, the Vernons Girls.Reportedly, she and Hawker had intended that she herself would record "I Only Want to Be With You".