"I'll Be on My Way" is a Lennon/McCartney song, which was first released on 26 April 1963 by Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas as the b-side of their single "Do You Want to Know a Secret?", a song also written by Lennon/McCartney. The single reached number two in the UK charts while "From Me to You" by The Beatles was occupying the number 1 position. According to John Lennon, the song was mainly written by Paul McCartney:
In 1980 Lennon said "that's Paul on the voids of driving through the country."
"I'll Be on My Way" is considered to be the first song that Lennon and McCartney "gave away", and the Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas' version of the song is included on the EMI album The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away.
In 1963, the Beatles and Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas were both acts managed by Brian Epstein, with George Martin as their producer.
The song may have been influenced by the musical and lyrical style of Buddy Holly. The persona forces a happy-go-lucky view on his break-up to make himself feel better, similar in character to Holly's 1959 song "It Doesn't Matter Anymore".