an essay about the song eleanor rigby by the beatles

• Eleanor Rigby

The Meaning Behind “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles

by Alex Hopper June 28, 2022, 10:20 am

“Eleanor Rigby” was released by The Beatles in 1966 as part of their Revolver album roll-out. A unique offering for the famed group, the song features only a string arrangement and vocal from Paul McCartney across the verses. The full group joins in on the chorus for a few moments of classic Beatles harmony.

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Paul McCartney recounted the song’s origin and meaning in a 2018 interview with GQ, saying “Over the years, I’ve met a couple of others, and maybe their loneliness made me empathize with them. But I thought it was a great character, so I started this song about the lonely old lady who picks up the rice in the church, who never really gets the dreams in her life. Then I added in the priest, the vicar, Father McKenzie. And so, there were just the two characters. It was like writing a short story, and it was basically on these old ladies that I had known as a kid.”

Behind the Lyrics

McCartney, who penned most of this song, got the name from the actress Eleanor Bron, who appeared in the 1965 Beatles film Help! . “Rigby” came to him while in Bristol, England when he spotted a store named Rigby and Evens Ltd. Wine and Spirit Shippers. He liked the way the two names ringed together because it sounded natural and matched the rhythm he wrote.

As the opening chorus makes perfectly clear, the song is a sort of character piece about “all the lonely people.” The song’s intricate string arrangement underscores the narrative Paul McCartney sings about across the track’s three verses. The two characters, Eleanor and Father McKenzie, are both isolated in their own lives before finally “meeting” after Eleanor’s death, with the priest burying her.

Eleanor Rigby Meaning

The first verse follows the titular Eleanor as she tidies up after a wedding send-off and peers through the window at her house.

Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice In the church where a wedding has been Lives in a dream Waits at the window, wearing the face That she keeps in a jar by the door Who is it for

When McCartney first introduces us to Eleanor she is living in a “dream” world of her own, picking up rice from a wedding that was thrown over the happy couple. With the opening lines, he quickly lets the listener know that the closest Eleanor comes to getting married herself is tidying up after everyone has left.

Eleanor Rigby, died in the church And was buried along with her name Nobody came Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt From his hands as he walks from the grave No one was saved

Later it’s revealed that Eleanor died, leaving no one to carry on her name. McCartney adds a bit of irony towards the end of the song by having the song’s two characters cross paths a little too late. If the two had met earlier they might have become friends with something in common, but it was too late. Eleanor died leaving Father McKenzie to “meet” her while officiating the funeral. He also implies that McKenzie’s sermon “saved” no one given that nobody attended.

Father McKenzie

The second character featured in the song’s lyrics is Father McKenzie. Without having much of a congregation, McKenzie is forced to write sermons that “no one will hear.” He later talks about darning his socks. Question is, if no one else will see if his socks are darned, why does he care? The second verse’s lines speak to the priest’s isolation and lack of companionship.

Father McKenzie, writing the words Of a sermon that no one will hear No one comes near Look at him working, darning his socks In the night when there’s nobody there What does he care

McCartney spoke about this section of the song in a November 2020 piece for Rolling Stone saying, “Father McKenzie is ‘darning his socks in the night.’ You know, he’s a religious man, so I could’ve said, you know, ‘preparing his Bible,’ which would have been more obvious. But ‘darning his socks’ kind of says more about him. So you get into this lovely fantasy.”

More Popular Than Jesus

“Eleanor Rigby” was released just weeks after John Lennon made the widely controversial claim that “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now.”

With the addition of a priest and the many mentions that “no one was saved,” the song could be seen as a swipe at Christianity and the concept of being saved by Jesus.

Despite the controversy still brewing around the band thanks to Lennon’s comments, the song largely evaded any criticism, possibly because of the lilting string section making the song’s dark lyrics easier to handle.

Eleanor Rigby’s Gravestone

Fans can actually go to Eleanor Rigby’s gravestone in St. Peter’s Churchyard in Woolton, England—the suburb of Liverpool where McCartney and Lennon first met.

The gravestone bearing the name shows that she died in October of 1939 at 44. Elsewhere in the cemetery is a gravestone with the name McKenzie written on it. Despite the two names appearing in such close proximity, McCartney has denied that the gravestones were the source of the names. Although he has agreed that they may have registered subconsciously.

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“Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles

Introduction.

Eleanor Rigby is a song written by Paul McCartney and released on The Beatles 1966 album “Revolver” and as a single with “Yellow Submarine.” The song was usually performed by The Beatles band and later by McCartney with guest musicians (The Beatles 2016). The style of the song is more experimental compared to previous rock and rock-n-roll compositions of the band. This paper aims to present the song Eleanor Rigby and provide suggestions about why it makes such a strong impression on the audience.

The song was recorded with the participation of string musical instruments – a violin, and a cello. On a video of Paul McCartney’s live performance with orchestra musicians, one can see five violinists and two cellists, as well as Paul McCartney, with a six-string acoustic guitar. Lyrics were written mainly by McCartney, with the participation of the rest of the quartet, McCartney himself describes the contribution of his comrades as 20% and his contribution as 80%.

The text of the song tells about loneliness and about older people who live lonely lives. The mood of the song is mysterious and tragic, but at the same time, cheerful and life-affirming. It is the combination of these seemingly unrelated components that makes this song one of my favorites. The syncopic rhythm creates a unique mood; the use of Dorian mode as a melodic base, the participation of stringed instruments, and a rather fast tempo do not allow listeners to become upset.

Thus, an Eleanor Rigby song by Paul McCartney and The Beatles was described, and the reasons why it has so many devoted listeners were presented. To summarize it, perhaps the fact is that the style of the song is experimental and studio-based. Besides, the participation of string instruments and deep lyrics together make a strong impression. It’s safe to say that this song has millions of fans around the world.

The Beatles. 2016. “Eleanor Rigby.” YouTube video, 2:11. 2020. Web.

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Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles

Songfacts®:

• Paul McCartney wrote most of this song. He got the name "Eleanor" from the actress Eleanor Bron, who appeared in the 1965 Beatles film Help! . "Rigby" came to him when he was in Bristol, England, and spotted a store: Rigby and Evens Ltd Wine and Spirit Shippers. He liked the name "Eleanor Rigby" because it sounded natural and matched the rhythm he wrote.
• McCartney explained at the time that his songs came mostly from his imagination. Regarding this song, he said, "It just came. When I started doing the melody I developed the lyric. It all came from the first line. I wonder if there are girls called Eleanor Rigby?" McCartney wasn't sure what the song was going to be about until he came up with the line "picks up the rice in a church where a wedding has been." That's when he came up with the story of an old, lonely woman. The lyrics "wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" are a reference to the cold-cream she wears in an effort to look younger.
• The song tells the story of two lonely people. First, we meet a churchgoing woman named Eleanor Rigby, who is seen cleaning up rice after a wedding. The second verse introduces the pastor, Father McKenzie, whose sermons "no one will hear." This could indicate that nobody in coming to his church, or that his sermons aren't getting through to the congregation on a spiritual level. In the third verse, Eleanor dies in the church and Father McKenzie buries her.
• "Father Mackenzie" was originally "Father McCartney." Paul decided he didn't want to freak out his dad and picked a name out of the phone book instead.
• After Eleanor Rigby is buried, we learn that "no one was saved," indicating that her soul did not elevate to heaven as promised by the church. This could be seen as a swipe at Christianity and the concept of being saved by Jesus. The song was released in August 1966 just weeks after the furor over John Lennon's remarks, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now." For the most part, the song eluded controversy, possibly because the lilting string section made it easier to handle.
• A string section scored by Beatles producer George Martin consisting of four violins, two violas and two cellos were used in recording. Paul may have been inspired by the classic composer Vivaldi.
• The Beatles didn't play any of the instruments on this track. All the music came from the string players, who were hired as session musicians.
• Paul McCartney recounted this song's origin story in a 2018 interview with GQ . He said: "When I was really little I lived on what was called a housing estate, which is like the projects - there were a lot of old ladies and I enjoyed sitting around with these older ladies because they had these great stories, in this case about World War II. One in particular I used to visit and I'd go shopping for her - you know, she couldn't get out. So I had that figure in my mind of a sort of lonely old lady. Over the years, I've met a couple of others, and maybe their loneliness made me empathize with them. But I thought it was a great character, so I started this song about the lonely old lady who picks up the rice in the church, who never really gets the dreams in her life. Then I added in the priest, the vicar, Father McKenzie. And so, there was just the two characters. It was like writing a short story, and it was basically on these old ladies that I had known as a kid." In Observer Music Monthly , November 2008, McCartney said: "These lonely old ladies were something I knew about growing up, and that was what 'Eleanor Rigby' was about - the fact that she died and nobody really noticed. I knew this went on."
• There is a gravestone for an Eleanor Rigby in St. Peter's Churchyard in Woolton, England. Woolton is a suburb of Liverpool and Lennon first met McCartney at a fete at St. Peter's Church. The gravestone bearing the name Eleanor Rigby shows that she died in October 1939, aged 44. However Eleanor was not like the lonely people in McCartney's song, as she was married. Another of the gravestones there has the word "McKenzie" written on it. McCartney has denied that that is the source of the names, though he has agreed that they may have registered subconsciously.
• This was originally written as "Miss Daisy Hawkins." According to Rolling Stone magazine, when McCartney first played the song for his neighbor Donovan Leitch, the words were "Ola Na Tungee, blowing his mind in the dark with a pipe full of clay." >> Suggestion credit : Bertrand - Paris, France
• The lyrics were brainstormed among The Beatles. In later years, Lennon and McCartney gave different accounts of who contributed more of the words to the song.
• During recording, microphones were placed very close to the instruments to create an unusual, vaguely distorted sound.
• Ray Charles reached #35 US and #36 UK with his version in 1968; Aretha Franklin took it to #17 US in 1969. A year later, an instrumental by the group El Chicano went to #115. The song reached the chart again in 2008 when David Cook of American Idol fame took it to #92.
• Because of the string section, this was difficult to play live, which The Beatles never did. On his 2002 Back In The US tour, Paul McCartney played this without the strings. Keyboards were used to compensate.
• This song was not written in a normal chord, it is in the dorian mode - the scale you get when you play one octave up from the second note of a major scale. This is usually found in old songs such as "Scarborough Fair." >> Suggestion credit : Rachel - Bath, England
• Vanilla Fudge covered this in a slowed-down, emotional style, something they did with many songs, including hits by 'N Sync and The Backstreet Boys. Their version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was a #6 US hit in 1968. Fudge drummer Carmine Appice told Songfacts : "Most of the songs we did, we tried to take out of the realm they were in and try to put them where they were supposed to be in our eyes. 'Eleanor Rigby' was always a great song by The Beatles. It was done with the orchestra, but the way we did it, we put it into an eerie graveyard setting and made it spooky, the way the lyrics read. Songs like 'Ticket To Ride,' that's a hurtin' song, so we slowed it down so it wouldn't be so happy. We would look at lyrics and the lyrics would dictate if it was feasible to do something with it or not."
• In 1966, this song took home the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance, Male. It was awarded to Paul McCartney. >> Suggestion credit : Tommy - Flower Mound, TX
• In August 1966, the long-defunct British music magazine Disc And Music Echo asked Kinks frontman Ray Davies to review the then newly released Revolver album. This is how he reacted to this song: "I bought a Haydn LP the other day and this sounds just like it. It's all sort of quartet stuff and it sounds like they're out to please music teachers in primary schools. I can imagine John saying: 'I'm going to write this for my old schoolmistress'. Still it's very commercial."
• The chorus of this song was sampled as part of Sinead O'Connor's 1994 song "Famine," which is based on the story of the potato famine in Ireland. >> Suggestion credit : Annabelle - Eugene, OR
• In 2008 a document came to light that showed that McCartney may have had an alternative source for the Eleanor Rigby name. In the early 1990s a lady named Annie Mawson had a job teaching music to children with learning difficulties. Annie managed to teach a severely autistic boy to play "Yellow Submarine" on the piano, which won him a Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award. She wrote to the former Beatle telling him what joy he'd brought. Months later, Annie received a brown envelope bearing a "Paul McCartney World Tour" stamp. Inside was enclosed a page from an accounts log kept by the Corporation of Liverpool, which records the wages paid in 1911 to a scullery maid working for the Liverpool City Hospital, who signed her name "E. Rigby." There was no accompanying letter of explanation. Annie said in an interview that when she saw the name Rigby, "I realized why I'd been sent it. I feel that when you're holding it you're holding a bit of history." When the slip went up for auction later that year, McCartney told the Associated Press: "Eleanor Rigby is a totally fictitious character that I made up. If someone wants to spend money buying a document to prove a fictitious character exists, that's fine with me."
• This was released simultaneously on August 5, 1966 on both the album Revolver and as a double A-side with " Yellow Submarine ."
• The thrash band Realm covered this song on their 1988 album Endless War . It is a speed metal version of the song that got them signed to Roadrunner Records. >> Suggestion credit : Ben - Phoenix, AZ
• McCartney told Q magazine June 2010 that after recording the song, he felt he could have done better. He recalled: "I remember not liking the vocal on Eleanor Rigby, thinking, I hadn't nailed. I listen to it now and it's… very good. It's a bit annoying when you do Eleanor Rigby and you're not happy with it."
• Former US President Bill Clinton has stated that this is his favorite Beatles song. >> Suggestion credit : Adrian - Wilmington, DE
• Richie Havens covered this on his 1966 debut album, Mixed Bag , and again on his 1987 Sings Beatles and Dylan album.
• The "wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" lyric was inspired by McCartney's mother's love of Nivea face cream. "My mum's favorite was Nivea and I love it to this day," he revealed on the podcast McCartney: A Life In Lyrics . "It kind of scared me a little that women used quite so much cold cream, and it was my dread, when I got older and got married, that I would marry someone who would and put one of those big shower caps on and the curlers and have masses of things... So that played on my mind quite a bit, so she's wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door."
• More songs from The Beatles
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Comments: 149

• Wesley Griffin from Usa Who played piano on Aretha's version of Eleanor Rigby? It sounds like Aretha.
• Ryan this uhh, a lot of this is correct but its actually a song about just how empty post war Britain felt after all those who were shipped off to the war died, and left their wives and families at home to live on their own
• Brandon from Princeton, Ma I think of Rigby from Regular Show.
• Ben from Syracuse, Ny After this song was released, the band named America released a song called "Lonely People" in response. Apparently, the America songwriter was religious and wanted to offer hope to people that went through life lonely and unpurposeful, as he states "This is for all the lonely people, thinking that life has passed them by. Don't give up until you, drink from the silver cup, and ride that highway in the sky..."
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny One of my favorite Beatles' songs!!!
• Stacy from Usa So after all these comments, I just wanted to add 2cents which most people probably realize, but not much delve into "darning the socks". Darning socks is where you fix holes in your socks. It's usually a job that your wife would do, like putting a button back on a shirt, but since no one is there with him, he doesn't have a wife, he does this alone. The odd thing about this is that the only people that are going to know if you have holes in your socks or not, would be someone that you live with, someone very close that would see you with your shoes off... that's what I found so unique about it, it's a mirror image to Elenor putting on make up for no one. They both are doing things that are in vain. For whatever reason, they weren't able to keep each other company, and fill each other's holes in their lives. I also get the feeling that Eleanor is waiting for her husband to come back. Waiting by the window. I never thought it was sinister, that father mckinzie killed her or anything like that. Just that they are two very lonely people living two very separate lives, and that if all of those lonely people would only meet, they wouldn't be lonely when death comes for them. To me the saddest thing of all is to die alone.
• Mike from Australia Surprised there is no mention here of a very rocking version of this song by the Australian band Zoot featuring a very young Rick Springfield. Radically different to the original, it was released in about 1971 and shows what I always consider to be the mark of a great song, in that it can be done in many different ways by different people and the quality still shines through.
• Aiken Nutz from Tahlequah Ok Very melancholy song by The Beatles. However, it is just fascinating to listen to. When it was released in '66, I was a freshman at the University of Kansas and it was perfect for a freshman far away from home feeling blue and desperate. It was a cut from the 'Revolver' LP which was a landmark work itself. I eventually had great wonderful memories with this song later in the freshman year. What a year 1966 was for The Beatles!
• Deryk Houston from Victoria Bc Canada I have included Eleanor Rigby in one of my paintings inspired by the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil. I have created a 3 minute video...Changing our world one small corner at a time. I love the Beatles and my work for peace around the world has drawn me to their songs. As an artist I also like their process of creativity. You can view the video here. https://youtu.be/Bm5DIIpYmAE Hope it inspires you to create music and art.
• Steve from Derbyshire Uk Rachel from Bath is right to say that this song uses the Dorian Mode but, as with many Beatles songs, it shifts between several different modes or scales. First line of the verse "Eleanor Rigby ... wedding has been" is Dorian, "Lives in a dream" shifts back to more conventional minor/aeolian mode. In the chorus it uses a pentatonic scale and the intro is in the Aeolian mode. This constant shifting of modes is a real characteristic of Paul's writing. Listen to "Fixing a Hole" for another great example.
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny On August 21st 1966, "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #65; and on September18th, 1966 it peaked at #11 {for 2 weeks} and spent 8 weeks on the Top 100... It reached #1 on the United Kingdom and Canadian Singles charts... The week it peaked at #11 the record's flip-side, "Yellow Submarine", was at #4 on the Top 100, the week before it was #2... "Real Love" in 1996 was their only other record to peak at #11, but they did manage to have thirty-five Top 10 records, with eighteen of them reaching #1... R.I.P. John and George.
• Zy from Philadelphia, Pa Here's my thought as to the meaning of this song: Eleanor Rigby is an older lady, who has been alone most of her life. She gets dressed up and pretty for no one, and though she knows that she can change her loneliness, she doesn't. So, in a sense, Paul is asking why do the lonely people do the things they do. When it talks of Father Mackenzie preparing a sermon that no one will hear, it means that he is preparing one for Eleanor's funeral, and Paul asks why does he care. It poses a good question, because Eleanor was no one important as she was all alone. Near the end of the song, Eleanor is buried along with her name, basically meaning that since she was so lonely, no one really knew her, so who would remember her name? Father Mackenzie walks away from her grave with dirt on his hands because it is custom that a priest would sometimes sprinkle dirt on the casket before all the dirt was put in, really putting emphasis that he attended the funeral. No one was saved because no one heard Father giving his prayers. He may have spoke of loneliness. And the lines "look at all the lonely people" may have been Father Mackenzie giving his prayer. The line is very symbolic, and my thinking is that he is saying all the lonely people come from themselves (because they put it on themselves), and they all belong dead (not necessarily that people deserve to die, but eventually they only live to die). This is just my thinking. I think it's very logical, and it tells of an important story. This is just my interpretation, and Paul may totally disagree.
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny On December 8th, 1968, Ray Charles performed "Eleanor Rigby" on the CBS-TV program 'The Ed Sullivan Show'... Six months earlier on June 2nd it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; eventually it peaked at #35 and spent 10 weeks on the Top 100... It reached #30 on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart... Two years earlier in 1966 the Beatles took the original version to #11 on the Top 100 (the flip-side was "Yellow Submarine", it reached #2 for 2 weeks)... And in 1969 Aretha Franklin covered it, her version peaked at #17 on the Top 100.
• Exterminans from Louisville, Ky, Ky @ John in Williamsburg NJ: You are misinformed about the origin of the custom of throwing rice at weddings. It was not done to "distract demons". It was a fertility gesture which symbolized ejaculation, ensuring good luck in the bearing of children.
• Jessi from South Bloomfield, Oh This song is so addictive...
• Bob from Berkeley, Ca I remember when this song came out that there was a lot of Christian religious fuss about the line "No one was saved." Many were irked that the Beatles were asserting that there is no salvation. I simply assumed that John Lennon stuck in that line to shake people up.
• Donna from New Jersey, Ny As I understand it John did not contribute to these lyrics pretty much at all. His friend Pete Shotton, who was there, also said that John hadn't contributed. Paul had the idea with the old woman and the priest. It was not John's idea to name him McCartney, Paul had already used that name in the lyric but John did suggest rather sullenly to keep the name as McCartney but Paul decided to change it because otherwise it might seem disrespectful to his own father, implying he was lonely and sad. There is also an interview in 1966 which is on the Beatles Anthology, it's at a press conference in 1966 during the tour and they ask them about writing and performing songs on their own, solo, and this song is brought up as an example, by George Harrison, of Paul doing so(though obviously he did call around for input) even though it was on a Beatles albums. John who was sitting right next to Paul at the time, made a snarky comment about how the rest of them just sat around drinking tea, and seeming a bit put out. Paul himself didn't comment. It seemed like it might be a bit of a touchy subject between them. So as I've understood it Paul wrote the song and he played it, before the lyrics were fully finished, for Donovan. Donovan has mentioned this. Paul had the basic story of the lyrics, the general direction it was going, and the first verse, the older woman who "keeps her face in a jar by the door"(very evocative that), the idea of the priest and the church. The theme of loneliness. At first he was going to include an unrequited romance between Eleanor, who worked in the church, and the priest but it was decided that would be too involved. So to sum up, it appears that George Harrison(who helped on the All the lonely people line) and Ringo Starr(who helped on darning the socks) actually had more input lyrically on this song than John Lennon did, who, being put out that Paul had asked other people in the room for their opinions on finishing the lyric, sulked around and made unhelpful suggestions(re: keeping it Father McCartney) which were dismissed. With regards to religion, Paul had very hard feelings about religion, especially at that time. His father was not religious and when his mother died when Paul was 14, Paul grew very bitter towards religion. In a 1965 interview Paul basically says he doesn't believe in God(I think it was a belief he shared with then girlfriend Jane Asher, I don't know if she still considers herself an atheist but apparently she did at one time). It was something he was pretty outspoken about when the subject came up(I think he talked about in the 1965 Playboy interview, but I could be remembering the wrong article) If you really watch and read the old interviews in their full forms from 1963 to 1967, you find that Paul McCartney was rather outspoken on a variety of subjects that were fairly an interview done with the same reporter for the same series of interviews that John got roasted for the "Bigger than Jesus" remark, Paul was commenting on racism in America, he was very critical.
• Lee from Huntsville, Al eleanor was a nun, and lived in the church...notice how she picked up rice after the wedding when everyone had left,and then again references her being in the church upon her death.she lived a very secluded and lonely life until she passed away. a life devoted to god in steady prayer and readiness. her only true friend was father mckenzie. note how she was buried along with her name...how clever to say that she was buried and no one will remember her name.
• Hayley from Virginia Beach, Va this was my first ever favorite beatles song! its amaazing!
• Ginny from Chicago, Il An even sadder song(in my opinion)is "She's Leaving Home". It's such a good song but I guess it reminds me of leaving home and hurting my family too.
• Dougee from San Bernardino, Ca There is an awesome instrumental cover of this song by a folk music group known as "Freeway Philharmonic."
• George from Belleville, Nj What can I say about this song that hasn't been said.This is what songwriting is all about.Telling a story with a piece of music that is pop and classical at the same time.The melody is so sublime and sweet,totally different from what was being written at that time or even to this day.Another masterpiece from Lennon and McCartney.
• Giovanni from Lynhurst, Nj Joel not the first time the Beatles would use contrastng modes. On "Norwegian Wood" they went from dorain to mixolydian. There is not one rock instrument on this track. It's a string octet with vocals sometimes in counterpoint. Talk about going against the grain this so unlike what rock musicians were doing at the time.
• Joel from Philadelphia, Pa On the use of the Dorian mode in Eleanor Rigby, the song is not fully in the Dorian, it switches between Dorian and Aeolian (or minor). If you are looking for a song that expresses Dorian completely, the theme to Gilligan's Island would be a better example. Also, all the explanations of modes are a bit off in your comments. Dorian mode is most simply as having the scale begin and end on "re" in solfege, so on a piano, it would be from d to d on all white keys.
• Michelle Rigby from Orem, Ut My grandma's name is Eleanor Rigby. No joke. She was born before the Beatles came along-her name was Eleanor and she just happened to marry a Rigby. Not sure if this was after the song was written or before-I don't know what year she was married. But anyway she called a radio station once to tell them that was her name, and they wouldn't believe her. She tried to tell them she was serious and wasn't really joking, but they wouldn't. Just kind of a cute story :)
• Heather from Los Angeles, Ca It is an old practice for everyone surrounding the open grave to throw a clod of the unearthed dirt onto the coffin before it's buried. I think that's why it says that Father McKenzie wiped his hands as he left the grave site.
• Chelsey from Sistersville, Wv I don't know that it could actually be the other way around. The face in the jar would be a mask, so it would have to be the happy face that she kept in it. If her mask is that of a lonely, hopeless old woman, then she's not really hopeless and lonely. She would have to put on a mask of happiness when she goes out into the world rather than a mask of hopelessness when she goes back into her house.
• Vivel from Killian, La I see your point Deb, but it could also be the other way around: the face she keeps in a jar could be her hopeless face, and she stares out the window, waiting for someone who will never come back. Then, when she has to go, she puts it back in its jar, and goes out into the world with a brave face. It's a lovely song, and it's amazing that it has the sadness of the lyrics, but the strings give it an upbeatness, similar to Obi-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. One of my favorites.
• Deb from Melbourne, Australia A few people here talk about Eleanor's "face" being make-up - I just don't think it's that superficial. "Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" could simply be the brave face she wears to the outside world - a happy face, a smile that hides her lonliness. This is the face she wears when she opens the door or leaves the house.
• Peter from Quahog, Ri I Have Seen the Grave where she lies. Eleanor Rigby DID live
• Chloe from St. Louis, Mo I absoultely love this song, some of paul's best. I always see the story play out in my head when I hear it. For some reason I never pictured eleanor old, (although I know thats how he wrote it) but as a lonely young woman who's family is all gone, so she turned to the church for comfort. Though theres none to be had, because no one is ever there except for father mackenzie ("What does he care?"). (sounds like john's influence on the lyrics. I can definately understand his issues with organized religion) My friend and I also wonder endlessly what sort of relationship eleanor and father mackenzie had- did they have an affair, ("Who is it for?") did he kill her, ("Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave") or was she just so lonely that she talked to a priest all day? Certainly overthinking it, I know, but its interesting to wonder exactly what he meant, if he meant exactly anything at all.
• John from Sao Paulo, Brazil It is usual to say that The Beatles were one step ahead of all other popular bands. No, the fact is that they were many steps ahead , no comparison is possible. I read somewhere from someone [sorry, I cannot remember detais , it happened a long time ago] that the competition that really was fiercy between many groups during the 60´s , ended when the album Rubber Soul was released. After that , it became clear that only the second place was avaiable.
• Jessie Steele from Bartlett, Tn Im not gonna analyze it,its a story song so just listen to the lyrics lol. But its such a pretty song,sad yet..not sad. Great job,posibly my favorite beatles song
• Oldpink from New Castle, In One of the most unusual songs in their entire canon, and one with some of their finest lyrics, period. Quite a leap from "Hold Your Hand" to this, wouldn't you say?
• Jessie from Dallas, Tx I love david cook's version of this song =) its really cool...gothic even
• G from Potomac, Md If you need to know what key signature to play in for Dorian, move two spaces counter clockwise on the circle of 5ths. So for D Dorian, you get the key signature of C (no sharps/flats). Very simple. I propose leaving the technical explanations to people who have any idea of what they're talking about.
• G from Potomac, Md People, don't you understand that a mode is the same thing as a scale? You can start it on any tone you please and just build the intervals off of the root. And Chris, the dorian mode contains the minor seventh, you know that. If it had a minor third, major sixth, and the major seventh then it would be the melodic minor!!!! Look in your theory book, it's in the first chapter.
• G from Potomac, Md Poor explanation of the Dorian mode. It is built on the intervals that would keep a D to D scale entirely on white keys. Root-W-H-W-W-W-H-W (w= whole step; h = half)
• Tay from San Diego, Ca this is the first beatle song i listen to. it mad me sad, but it was so pretty. it talks about loneliness and sadness, and yet people of all kinds love it. quit odd isn't it?
• Greg from Franklin, Nh Sarah - My interpretation has always been that Lennon (who was very well known to be against organized religion) was using the line "Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there.. What does he care?" to reference Father Mackenzie's part as yet another cog in the machine that is "The Church". I believe that line specifically meant that he (Father Mackenzie) is spending his spare time working for himself and his church's image (by writing/improving upon his sermon for posterity/perfection, and darning his socks in order to serve his own vanity and to properly maintain his priestly image) instead of using that time to help the people his church claims to care for and serve. The song as a whole (in my opinion) is essentially the story of Eleanor (the general religious public) turning to faith due to her loneliness (depression/mourning/need for attention/whatever else) in order to fill that hole in her life. Father Mackenzie's (representing the church as a whole) attention is focused entirely on superficial goals (sounding good to attract more potential tithers and looking good to maintain image) to notice Eleanor's needs - something a "true" man of faith would have put ahead of his own desires. I've always wondered about her death, though. How I interpret the song has always lead me to think that Eleanor committed suicide (although F.Mac. buried her even though she committed a mortal sin, possibly suggesting that the church lacks belief in it's own faith?) so people would finally realize that she had needed help, but even after her death her priest (the uncaring "faithful") ignored her, leading to what I believe to be the most important line of the song - "No one was saved" - essentially saying that both the faithful and the Church are going about religion in a horribly perverse manner. (The needy grasping at faith to "fix" their lives, and organized religion taking advantage of them.. being concerned more with looking good and growing it's own numbers/power/money than with doing good.) Or I could be over analyzing the song, which is far more likely ;)
• Akara from Birmingham, Al Uh... this really has nothing to do with the song, but rice doesn't really hurt birds. They can eat it. Back on topic, Eleanor Rigby is a beautiful but sad song. I think a lot of you guys are trying to over-analyze it though. It's really pretty simple, imo.
• Emily from Newcastle, Australia evan LaFragola, Edison, NJ. It is a sign of good luck.
• Miklos from Érd, Hungary I loved this song from the very firts time I'd listen to, and still feel so! The unusual strings effect most probably due to some sound engineering tricks at that time of recordings. But as good as it is! A very sad story, and amazing music.
• Seamus from Denvill, Nj Responding to Chris in Athens re Dorian mode Excellent musical analysis - works for me. But one oversight - "When you turn it into dorian, you start your scale with A instead of G -- A, B, C (flattened third), D, E, F#(major sixth), G (major seventh)." The interval between A and G is a MINOR seventh, not a major seventh. Cheers.
• Evan Lafragola from Edison, Nj does anyone know what the eye on george harrisons hand means in that famous picture?
• Mak from Orlando, Fl Well now, I always imagined that this song was about the death/murder of Eleanor Rigby by Father McKenzie. I always imagined in a more sinister light to be honest. This was mostly caused by the lines "wiping the dirt from his hands". To the best of my knowledge priests don't bury the dead themselves. (I could be wrong about that) But after reading William from Memphis, TN's judgment I'm not so sure anymore.
• Peter Griffin from Quahog, Ri Eric, I get that about the string players, but what I'm saying is, I don't think this can be classified as a rock song. Also the Eleanor Rigby grave being near where John first met Paul is rather creepy. Quite an eerie coincidence.
• Michael from Melbourne, Australia I believe George Harrison came up with the line all the lonely people and John lennon based on an idea of friend Peter Shotton wrote the verse about ER's death
• Peter Griffin from Quahog, Ri This is good, but contains absolutely no elements of rock. No guitar, no keyboards, no drums.
• William from Memphis, Tn I always found that this song was about two really lonely people who finally come to a meeting point. Unfortunately they can't be together and be friends because she has died and he is the priest presiding over the funeral. To me Eleanor Rigby signifies the people who have never given up but hide their true feelings under another face, in her case makeup. Father McKenzie to me reprsents the people who continue feeling they will make a difference one day. "What does he care?"- Father McKenzie will never give up. "Who is it for?"- Eleanor Rigby will never be noticed but she won't stop. "All the lonely people, where do they come from?"- This is the exasperation of people that confront these two characters. "Noone was saved."- Noone cares anymore about anyone or anything. This song, to me, is about the lives of the the everymen and their fight to be noticed by people who don't care. It is about the lonely people essentially. This is to tell people to turn around and say 'thank you' or 'how are you?' instead of just walking away. Eleanor Rigby is the want to be noticed. Father McKenzie is the need to have someone notice. Eleanor wishes to have someone care enough for her so the rice she picks up represents her desire to be noticed by doing something that will catch people's attention. The sermon noone will hear represents McKenzie's attempts, noone will care. "Eleanor Rigny died in the church and was buried alone with her name. Nobody came. Father McKenzie, wipes his hands of the dirt from the grave. Nobody was saved."
• Forrest from Rochester, Mn No one was saved because Eleanor Rigby died and nobody learned anything from her death because she spent her life alone, alienated from the rest of the world. Think about it people.
• Gary from Seattle, Wa One of two songs on which The Beatles performed no instruments. The other was Your Mother Should Know. Enjoy. Gary
• Jozsef from Bekescsaba, Hungary To Chris, Athens, GA: A-C minor 3th not flattened A-G minor 7th not major You talk about "D minor dorian mode" which is wrong. Either minor mode or dorian. But only one of them. They are different things. A scale cannot be minor and dorian at the same time. Minor (aeolian) intervals: tsttstt. Dorian intervals: tstttst. Joe
• Heather from Los Angeles, Ca Seems that what is really lacking here is any kind of discussion about the impact loneliness has on all of us. It seems as though it is not mentioned much in any of these discussions because frankly people are embarrassed to admit that they've ever been lonely. Perish the thought. As one person here put it, the characters in this song are "losers". What, just because they're lonely? Another person here said, "failure". These judgements seem silly, shallow and condemning. They don't seem in keeping with the sympathy that the song evokes. Keep it real, folks.
• Nunzio from Darwin, Australia Rick Springfield was in Oz band ZOOT in the 60's & 70'a & they did a Heavy Metal version of this. It's so bad it's funny. The version they did on GTK (an old pop show showcasing local bands on the ABC is priceless. Love those camera zooms in & out... Watch Rick throw his guitar in the air & caqtch it again. This was Zoot's only charting top 40 hit & NO radio station plays it anymore.
• Agostina from Newick, England yes, Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie are real. I stayed on Eleanor's grave at Saint Peter's church's graveyard. In front of it is father Mckenzie's one.
• Ranjit from Madras, India I remember hearing his song in late 1966 when I was a child, and the effect it had on me. In fact it was the only Beatles song that I can remember from when it actually came out. Like an earlier commentor, I agree that it is a stunning song - along with "A Day in the Life", I would call it the Beatles' most remarkable song. Because we have all heard it so many times it is easy to forget its initial impact. - Paul, Sacramento, CA Paul - I am in total agreement with you - A Day in the Life is my favorite Beatle number (an extremely difficult choice to make since they have so many brilliant songs!) - Eleanor Rigby is all have said out here - a stunning masterpiece
• Andrew from Birmingham, United States I like this song. I'm thinkin' that this song ought to be played at a symphony. I mean, think about it: the violin. That's so classical. The Beatles mixed rock-and-roll with classical. I think that's catchy. Something catchy in that way was missing until the Beatles filled in that Gap.
• Alex from New City, Ny I dont know who did the cover but a covr of this song was played in the movie "Accepted" starring Justin Long when he looks outside and all of the kids who clicked the website are standing there.. Also,,,,,i LOVE this song.
• Maha from Auckland, New Zealand One of the "facts" above states that Paul got the title from a store (Rigby) and a movie star (Eleanor Bron). About six boxes down it states that there is a gravestone for an Eleanor Rigby at the St. Peter's Churchyard in Woolton (misspelled as Wooton), England. What are the odds! Not. Someone should check their facts don't contradict each other before posting them up. P.S. The 2000 film In His Life: The John Lenon Story supports the gravestone story. But that movie has quite a few little miss-truths in it, so I wouldn't count on its authority.
• Krissy from Boston, Ma There is something about this song that I like. It's a little sad but it's awesome.
• John from Melbourne, Australia, Australia Correct-amoondo Aussie band Zoot's version is sensational.
• George from Belleville, Nj Eleanor Rigby is a classic masterpiece the likes of which you won't hear from any other band,proving that the Beatles were always one step ahead of all the other bands.This song combines string orchestration with a pop sound unique for it's time or any time for that matter.
• Fred from Laurel, Md *** There's been a lot of questioning and speculation about the meanings of several key phrases in this song, and having been college age at the time it came out, I thought I'd throw my two cents in. First let me say that this is the most depressing lyric they ever wrote. The Beatles were always the bright, cheery ones, while their alter-ego, the Stones, were the satanic, maniacal ones. There are a few exceptions to this on each side, and this is the most glaring one on their side. *** The Beatles (and quite a few other rock/pop groups of that era, but the Beatles were the most visible/vocal, esp. John) saw 'traditional' religion as foolish, a waste, enslavement of ordinary folks, at best a collection of pointless ritual, and this song oozes this attitude quite thickly. From this point of view, all religion does is to create legions of lonely people. So they give two examples. *** First there's E.R., who picks up wedding rice, maybe thinking it good luck for her own future marriage prospects, rather than actually going out and meeting people; and she "lives in a dream," "waits by the window," keeps her "face" (makeup) in a jar by the door, and "who is it for?" -- meaning, why does she bother when she has no one to look pretty for? *** Then there's that other loser, Fr. McK., who works all week on a sermon that nobody listens to anyway. The most useful thing he does is darn his socks alone at night, and he really doesn't give a hang about his flock, you know. *** So what becomes of these two? E.R. "dies in the church" (which, by the way, has a specific meaning, not the very literal one, but rather that she died 'in the faith,' or 'in a state of grace'). And Fr. McK. goes through the usual, zombie-like ritual that befalls him as a man of the cloth (Patrick of Tallapoosa, Ga, et al, has the explanation for the dirt). No one was saved (in the spiritual sense), because it's all just meaningless ritual, anyway. No one is ever saved by this stuff. *** So that's what I take away from what the boys from Liverpool meant. Having said this, I must also add that this is one of their most stunning compositions. My kid sister was in HS at the time, and her English teacher had the class analyze the lyrics one day as they did any great classic or modern poem. (I hasten to add that I never learned what they said about it, so none of that has informed the views given here.) My view is, whether you agree with the point of view in the song or not, it makes a very persuasive appeal qua argument. As one tiny example, the two words, "Father McKenzie," immediately tell everyone, "Catholic priest," and much more succinctly than any of this rambling commentary I've written says anything at all. *** I also want to commend several of the other commentators here (and you know who you are! - lol) for sharing their excellent impressions, and thereby causing me to question some of my own.
• Matt from Walled Lake, Mi Well, anyone who thinks the Father McKenzie killed Eleanor Rigby because of the "wiping the dirt from his hands" thing. Do you remember that at funerals, sometimes the preacher sprinkles dirt on the coffin and says a short prayer before the dirt is shoveled over the coffin? I just figured I would let anyone who didn't know that, know it. lol I figured it might be useful.
• John from Didcot , England I have one outstanding memory of this song it was released as the B side to yellow submarine which I am told was released on 11 Aug 1967 ( my 3rd birthday) and sang it so much a grandmother bought the single for me ( my first record) the truely outstanding memory of a wonderful song is That I remember playing Eleanor Rigby as I did my homework at around 10 11 pm to wake the next morning to find John Lennon had been Shot and killed around the time I played my reord ( I have never played it since) SAD AND SPOOKY FOR A SAD AND HAUNTING SONG
• Alekx from Colorado Springs, Co This song is so beautiful. It was the 2nd Beatles' song I ever heard... I fell in love!
• Joe from Montvale, Nj The vocals were sent through a Leslie speaker and then with ADT and the song is in Dorian Mode and Paul did help with the string arrangemen.
• Sandy from New York, Ma I think the song is brillant. What I found most interesting is the irony of Eleanor's death in the church. The lyrics obviously imply that Eleanor ribgy and the priest live lonely lives, and perform their actions in vain. In the final verse, Eleanor's attendence to church is the only opportunity to connect with the priest, and resolve her/his loneliness, but death takes her first. Sad, and ironic. One of the reasons I enjoy this song is that is open to interpretation, and its not conventional. It's quirky, different, and obviously well composed.
• Sal from Bardonia , Ny I can't think of a song by a rock group with no rock instruments and only having a string octet and vocals also a number 1 song. Sal,Bardonia, NY
• Tom from Drexel Hill, Pa I dont know if this is true or not, but I was told by a friend of mine that the string part towards the end of the song, right when it gets pretty loud and forceful sounding, is actually taken from psycho. He said that paul actually met with the creator of psycho and i think there was mention that the same musicians were used that played that music in the movie. just thought i'd throw that in there to see if anyone knows or not. my source is very reliable when it comes to this kind of thing so......
• Sarah from Sarasota, Fl I agree with most of the comments but what I want to know is what the verse "Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there,What does he care?" means! little weird?
• Lizz from Tampa, Fl Ok here's my opinion(sorry in advance it's so long): it seems like no one knows the old expression about 'putting on her face'. It means a woman's makeup. I think it was around at least into the beatles' childhoods. A woman 'put on her face' before she went outside, poeple didn't go around without being dressed up. so eleanor made herself look good before she went outside,that's why it's by the door. Then it asks who it was for, as in no one notices her anyway. Father McKensey(?) gives a sermon every week which while be ignored by the church goers. Most people(that i know) don't much pay attention to the speeches gives at church. He tries to look his best too, but no one notices him, and they ask 'what does he care?'. Then eleanor dies and was buried 'along with her name', as if no one thought of her after. No one even knew her enough to go to her funeral- well the Father went, but that doesn't count :). No one got 'saved' by him, as in none of the church goers really absorbed his message.
• Jennifer from Los Angeles, Ca One of my favorites! The music is catchy, and the odd lyrics- in my opinion- keep it from becoming sappy. A lesser band might have written something cheesy like: Waits at the window/wearing a face aged with hope and dispair/nobody cares The enigmatic lady who wears the face that she keeps in a jar by the door is way more interesting.
• Chris from Athens, Ga To J, from Brooklyn. You questioned whether "Eleanor Rigby" is actually in dorian mode or not. Dorian mode has a minor (flattened) third, and a major sixth and seventh. Before I get really technical, anyone who might not understand music theory might not want to read on because you may become even more confused than before. The reason that you can't find the C# in the actual key signature is because this song is written in E-minor, which is that same as G-major. G-major only has one sharp, which is F. The dorian mode is built on the second step of the major scale using the same notes. It's very very similar to a natural minor scale, EXCEPT that the sixth note is raised a half step. Take D-minor, for example. The typical D-minor scale would have a B flat in it, while the dorian mode scale would have a B natural. Because it is so similar to a minor scale, it's easier to play in dorian mode over a minor seventh. The natural B in the D-minor dorian mode has less dissonance than the B flat would from the typical D-minor. When you use dorian mode over the minor seventh, there aren't any notes to avoid. So to explain what I just wrote: The song is in E-minor, but you can look at it from a G-major point of view with only one sharp, F. When you turn it into dorian, you start your scale with A instead of G -- A, B, C (flattened third), D, E, F#(major sixth), G (major seventh). So, although it seems somewhat suspicious, with some C sharps written in (most likely to stop dissonance between chords and notes), it really is written in dorian mode. Sorry I had to be so in-depth, but there really isn't a much easier way to explain it without stating technicalities. Cheers.
• Nirvana from Candada, Canada When it says "no one was saved" it means that noone converted to Christianity and thus "saved" because father McKenzie was doing everything in vain.
• Emily from Asdf, Ia Thrice did a cover of this song.
• Stephen from Bellport, Ny Ok, this is what this song is about, it is about a woman who really wants to get married, hense the first verse. Face in a jar is she gets all dressed up for nothing. Father McKenzie may like Eleanor but cant get married cuz hes a priest and she dies lonley, any questions comment back
• Garrett from Nashville, Tn George Martin did not "compose" this song. He added the score for the backing string section (obviously influenced by Vivaldi), but Paul wrote the melody, and he and John wrote the lyrics. Both Paul and the 60's artist Donovan insinuated that Donovan may have contributed to the song, and Lennon smarted about this very thing in a later interview (the idea that Paul would ask anyone who happened to be near to help contribute to whatever song he was working on) when speaking about the writing of this tune. George Martin's contributions were significant, but he was merely polishing the raw stuff the Beatles brought to him.
• Rachael from -, Canada "Wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door..." I think that this signifies that when she goes out, she doesn't act like herself. She acts like somebody else. While when she's at home, that is not the case.
• Rafa? Kawiorski from Kielce, Poland I've just been married here in Poland and it's still a very common custom to throw rice at the couple as well as small change and sweets. It took us a few minutes to pick up all of the sweets and money but nobody was interested in collecting the rice. We joked about using a vacuum cleaner as there was nobody to pick it up. Placing dirt on the casket is also practised at funerals.
• Darius from Lancaster, Ca I Love This Song. But there is one thing that always confused me? Who Said "Ah! Look at all the Lonley People"?
• Buzz from Hamilton Ian from lethbridge, My friend thought the exact same way! She's still singing 'lonely people'!!! LOL
• Paul from Sacramento, Ca I remember hearing his song in late 1966 when I was a child, and the effect it had on me. In fact it was the only Beatles song that I can remember from when it actually came out. Like an earlier commentor, I agree that it is a stunning song - along with "A Day in the Life", I would call it the Beatles' most remarkable song. Because we have all heard it so many times it is easy to forget its initial impact.
• Pete from Ny, Ny There's a mashup out there of Eleanor Rigby and Kraftwerk, by 2 Many DJs (?). It's the most damned beautiful thing I've ever heard.
• Scott from Chattanooga, Tn This was actually composed by George Martin,the Beatles producer. Paul had intended the song to be guitar, bass, and drums,but Mr. Martin felt that it would be better his way. George Martin was very influencial in the direction many of their songs took, and his unofficial title was the "fifth Beatle".
• John from Williamstown, Nj i hate how people here are saying things about the song as if everything you said was fact. say that its your interpratation not "this song IS about" its kinda concited sounding.
• John from Williamstown, Nj too many people seem to be unimformed as to the origins of the rice throwing tradition so here it is. back in the old superstitious days people thought demons flocked to events such as weddings to feed upon all the happiness of the people, so they would throw rice to distract he demons. people stopped believing in the traditions but habits die hard. however after people had been "wounded" it ceased
• Brian from Sydney, Canada Paul compsed this song in a different manner than he was accustomed to. He did it at the piano with only the notes, the difference is that he usually composes with full chords. He also noted that "You Won't See Me" was composed in the same manner-picking notes rather than playing chords.
• Chitra from Bangalore, India W.H Auden's poem 'miss gee' really reminds me of this song. I was wondering if the Beatles were ever inspired by the poem
• Steve from Fenton, Mo This is a stunning song. It was this song that caused my daughter to take notice of the Beatles music. My son and I visited Liverpool last summer and decided to see if we could find the Eleanor Rigby grave. We located St. Peters church and it was late afternoon on a Sunday. We were wandering around the cemetery looking and someone came out of the church. I thought he was going to yell at us, but he didn't. He was very nice and pointed out the tombstone. He even gave us a reprint of the church bulletin that advertised the performance by the Quarry Men from July 6, 1957, which was where John and Paul first met. We gave him a few pounds for a donation to the church. If you ever get the chance to visit England, spend a couple of days in Liverpool. You will really enjoy seeing the early Beatles landmarks and boyhood homes, etc.
• Mike from Plainfield, Ct I had always thought that this song was about a little puritan settlement that was plagued and slowly but surely the entire town died. As loved ones passed on their survivors suffered alone."All the lonely" would go to church and pray during the day ,so father McKenzie would only have time for himself at night.Elenors face in a jar was make up to hide the sores and the sermon he wrote was his last,for her.Think about it "no-one comes near"
• Ian from Lethbridge, Canada I always thought they were saying "lovely people", not "lonely people." Now this song makes much more sense!
• J from Brooklyn, Ny C# is the note that would make this song in dorian. I just checked my Beatles score book and they also do not put the C# in the key signature but instead write it as an accidental when in it occurs. Now I and a well researched score book agree that this is not in the dorian mode. Now all the claims on this page are suspect.
• J from Brooklyn, Ny Maybe I'm being picky, but I just did a very quick check and not in depth analysis of the claim that it's in the dorian mode and to me it looks like at best it's a mixed mode of dorian and the normal minor scale. This casts doubt on the rest of the claims on this page. Was any fact checking done or is this just a list of rumored facts you've heard about this song?
• Stefanie from Rock Hill, Sc I was a little younger when I first heard this song, so I'm still forming an opinion on it. I think these are good interpretations though.
• Patrick from Tallapoosa, Ga This is about two souls who live alone, both involved with the church. Father McKinzie, being of the collar, is forbidden to marry. Eleanor Rigby, for the same reasons, cannot marry him. She wants to date him, be with him, but the religion forbids it. Sort of like "Romeo and Juliet". The closest she can come to him is volunteering at the church, cleaning up the rice thrown after a wedding ceremony. Even though she cannot be with him, she can dream. She still puts on her makeup before she sees him, whether it's for Sunday services or otherwise. He is probably older than she is, or the same age. He finds out she has died, and decides to pay his last respects to her by placing the handful of dirt on her grave. The term "no one was saved" could possibly mean that no one was saved the heartbreak from her death, since he was secretly in love with her too. We can only assume that he either goes on with his life in the parish, or else takes his own life to be with her in the hereafter. The sermon no one hears could be his suicide letter. And why should he care? He will soon be with his beloved Eleanor.
• Patrick from Tallapoosa, Ga Another tidbit: the part dealing with the Father brushing dirt off his hands. In old traditions, it was customary for all the funeral attendees to place a handful of dirt on the casket while passing by, during the interment ceremony. The priest is the last to place a handful of dirt onto the casket after it is lowered into the grave. Very rarely is this tradition still followed today.
• Alyssa from New Orleans, La Interesting how one song can mean different things to different people. I always took this song to be about mental illness. People who are mentally ill lead pretty lonely lies most times and they do things that don't seem to have any rhyme or reason to the rest of us. The also "live in a dream." Just my thoughts.
• Martyn from Toronto, Canada The facts are that Mcartney and Lennon as kids, played in the graveyard as youngsters opposite where they first met and performed music when John was still in the quarrymen. fact is there is an eleanor Rigby buried in the church grounds and two graves over is coincidently the grave of john mckenzie.
• Howard from St. Louis Park, Mn "Ah, look at all the lonely people" begins a Beatles classic, one of the first songs of the rock era to use classical instruments.
• Sean from San Diego, Ca Paul says that this song is about an old, lonely woman. That's why I interpret the lyrics "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in her jar by the door" as the fact that her husband was cremated and she has had the same sad face ever since.
• Lania from Nevada, Nv I fell in love with this song at the age of seven...I had some odd attachment to it as well as the rest of the songs. I always connected it with a fire at the church where Eleanor was being married, and that Eleanor was somehow responsible, therefore she was living forever in the church. This might just be my far-fetched, adolescent mind wandering into the realm of imagination, however the words simply conjure up this image for me. I believed people blamed Eleanor for the mass deaths of people attending the church, and that Father McKenzie, being the religious man he is, was obliged to write a sermon or eulogy about her, which no one would hear. The rice, at a wedding, of course...the mask, maybe something she wears just to relieve her problems with herself (?). All I know, is that this is my favorite song. Maybe not as well known as some others, but high above so many others.
• Amanda from New York City, Ny This song was also covered by Joan Baez - the song can be found on "Joan". It's very beautiful version, in my opinion! :)
• Austin from Volga, Sd My class discussed this song in literature. She might have picked up the rice because her only friends were birds. It causes birds to die if they eat rice. "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door". That could be refering to makeup, so she could have been trying to have someone notice her, but nobody did. This next part gets interesting. We thought that mabee Father McKenzie may have killed Eleanor Rigby. He was writhing a sermon that no one will her. Her could have known nobody would come to her funeral. He might not have any friends, so of course he would be alone when he darned his socks. Father McKenzie could have killed her in the church. He could have felt them growing together, but he was afraid of change, so he killed her. Then thats the sermon he was preparing. Then he burried her. Then he wasn't saved from his lonliness.
• Dan from Lee, Nh John Lennon claims he wrote %70 of this song while Paul McCartney claims Lennon only wrote 5 words. I almost think this is a McCartney song, but that doesn't change the fact that Lennon kicks Paul's fat rear end.
• Lee from Clearwater, Fl Sum Sum, One can tell you must be young, or not familiar with older customs in this country. Picking up rice from the church where a wedding has been... When I was married in 1969, it was the tradition to throw rice at the couple for good luck. (by the way....it didnt work!!)
• Anonymous I've never had the chance to play them back to back to know for sure if it's all in my head or not, but I think this song and Three Dog's Night "One" (1969) sound very similar. I'm not sure if that's coincidence, or another example of the Beatles's influence. The themes of both songs are, at any rate, the same. Oh, the rice question. I always thought Elenor worked at the same church as Father McKenzie. I pictured her cleaning up in the empty church after a wedding, which only accentuates (sp?) how alone she really is. Like being in a place haunted by someone else's joys that you're forever barred from. (Sort of like Peter Pan when he's watching the lost boys and Wendy share their adventures with Mr. and Mrs. Darling at the end of the book.) I just realized that may not be what the question was asking, so to answer both possible meanings, it's not really done anymore, (It's not good for the birds if they eat it, and it's caused injuries. Juliette Gorden Lowe lost her hearing in one ear because of it.) but it used to be tradition to shower a newly-wed couple with rice as they left the church. I don't know the origins of that tradition, though. (If I had to guess, I'd say it's somehow connected with wishing the couple prosperity and fertility, and so on.)Hope that thoroughly answers the question.
• Sum Sum from New Delhi, India I think "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" refers to the pancake that she uses before going out..somehow i didnt understand "picks up the rice in the church where the wedding has been". Whats wedding got to do with picking rice?
• Lee from Clearwater, Fl The press told Paul that someone said the song was about a lesbian. Pauls answer was: We like to write songs about lesbians. I loved it!
• Tiago from Lisbon, Portugal I think that the line "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" means that she wears makeup at the window, for others to see her, except no one notices her.
• Mark from Barrow-in-furness, England George, John and Ringo do backing vocals and no instruments while Paul does lead vocals and plays BASSOON!! amazing!
• Mauricio from Hanford, Ca Just another reminder that people die everyday, and we don't even notice, or even care...
• Sophia from Mesquite, Tx The title 'Eleanor Rigby' came from an actual gravestone that was there when Paul first met John. I love this song to death.
• Ben from Albuquerque, Nm Eleanor Rigby is about a woman named Eleanor and a man named Father Mckenzie who are both very lonely. If they had just met eachother they would not have been lonely any more, but Eleanor died before they got the chance. So the line "no one was saved" means that if they had met, both of them would have been saved from their lonliness.
• Calum from Edinburgh, Scotland I remember as a child being miserable each time I heard this song because it was so sad. I was upset with The Beatles for having written it.
• Ken from Louisville, Ky John Lennon claimed that he wrote the last verse of the song when Paul cound't come up ith how to end the story. John also claimed that he came up with the idea of "Father McCartney" but Paul vetoed it, in deference to his father.
• Laura from Santa Fe, Nm My friend and I have a pencil adoption buisness (don't ask) and whenever we saw someone walk by we woul sing "All the lonely pencils, where do they all belong, all the lonely pencil, where do they all come from?" It was pretty funny. Awesome song.
• Erica from Hampstead, Nc This song is pretty cool it has a realy unusal sound but the song itself is kinda depressing. makes you think about sad lonely things and you start singing that song where they are like "all bye myself don't wana be all by myself" and you relize life realy sucks and you want to crawl under a rock and watch the world go by...or mabye thats a little to extreame you could just go eat a lot of chocolate and put in yellow submarin that song always makes me smile
• Mammothdave from London, England i heard that in about 1984, while in liverpool, paul stumbled upon a gravestone with the heading 'elenor rigby'. he said it really freaked him out. And it was very close to were he first met john. odd.
• Nick from Erwin, Nc In early 2004, the chorus was sampled on "Lonely People", a song done by rapper Talib Kweli. Kanye West produced the beat and had violinist Miri Bin Ari play the violin melody when not using the sample of the actual song. It was originally going to go on Kweli's album "The Beautiful Struggle" but the album leaked onto the internet before it was officially finished. Kweli made some changes before releasing the album in September 2004. This song wasn't included on the official album, probably because Kanye couldn't get the sample cleared. Though it didn't make the official album, it was used on "The Beautiful Mix CD", a 13-track mixtape collection of freestyles and newly recorded offerings.
• Enrique from Lima, Peru This song and a variation/adaption of it is used in the film GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROAD STREET when Paul McCartney is searching for the lost master tape of his last recording.
• Vickie from Philadelphia, Pa To Charles in North Carolina -- how do you know that Ringo contributed the line about the priest "darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there"? I'm just curious. Also, I've thought for some time that Ringo had more singing ability as a Beatle (in addition to his terrific drumming) than he's given credit for -- as for writing lyrics, I don't know how much of that he did as a Beatle. Thanks.
• Darren from Chicago, Il "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door"..? what is the point? I've heard that what Paul was referring to by this is a jar of makeup. Rather the "face" that a woman puts on when she is dolled up and ready to go out. This song is a masterpiece with pretty smart, poetic writing. Who needs rock and roll instruments? The strings and the writing make this song.
• Luna from Esbjerg, Denmark I love this song..!!! Its brilliant and also so, so sad! Just the other day I heard the "String version" and it was great, But McCartneys voice were missing..! There is only one thing about the song I sont get; "Waits at the window, wering the face that she keeps in a jar by the door"..? what is the point? I have heard that some people think that Paul already knew about the real E.R. and that it was from her Paul got his inpiration for the song..! Anyway.. you gotta love the song
• Reg from Kemptville, On, Canada I must have heard this song for 5 - 10 years before I noticed it lacked the staples for (almost) all rock/pop music: no drums, no bass guitar, and no electric (or acoustic) guitar. Pretty nifty, eh? - Reggie, Kemptville, ON
• Tom from Brisbane, Australia Paul actually hated having the strings, and said recently he regretted having them in the first place.
• Paul from Sandiego, Ca Nice song. Thought inspiring. Too bad the Beatles didn't know the truth about lonliness and people.
• Andrew from Chicago, Il To Mike from Chicago: If you're referring to the line near the beginning, it sounds a bit like "where her wedding has been" but I'm pretty sure that it's "where a wedding has been." Definitely a sad song.
• Merry from Linton, In You can see a picture of Eleanor Rigby's stone in Woolton (her name is about half way down)here: http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/courses/rock/england/rigby.gif
• Catherine from Glasgow, England There's a statue of Eleanor Rigby sitting on a bench in liverpool it says "to all the lonely people" you can sit on the bench and keep Eleanor company.
• Dave from Springfield, United States the strings add everything
• Mike from Chicago, Il If you look at the lyric closely you can see that Elenor has/had a husband. Very sad song, indeed
• Annabelle from Eugene, Or The chorus of "Eleanor Rigby" was sampled as part of Sinead O'Connor's Song, "Famine" in 1994.
• Corey from Vancouver, Canada I love how trippy this song, the way the lyrics go from left to right then during the courus it goes to both speakers...it really messed me up for a bit
• Kabrams from Dallas, Tx great song, sad story
• Shirley from Ocean, Nj This is a great song; too bad other bands can't find their own music to play. Just goes to show you how great the Beatles were! I love them and never get tire of hearing them and this sounds weird but I would feel like I was being unfaithful listening to another band do one of their songs; lol. I grew up with them and am a Beatles nut and had a huge amount of respect for all four of them as a group and solo.
• Si from London, England Father McKenzie was a priest in Scotland who performed satanic rituals? Not as far as I can recall! Paul McCartney wanted a name that started with "Mc", so he stuck a pin in the "M" section of the Liverpool telephone directory and, with McCartney being a fairly common name, as luck would have it, he came up with "McCartney". However, he thought that if he used that name, then people would be forever asking "Is that about your dad then?" so he changed it to "McKenzie".
• Paulo from New York, Ny I agree that this is a pretty sad song. Kind of strange that it's in Yellow Submarine, but then, that's a pretty strange movie. ;)
• David from Gosford, Australia Australian band Zoot had a hit with what I reckon is the coolest ever version of this track in 1971. Rick Springfield, who was guitarist in the band at the time, arranged it. It totally rocks!
• Patrick from Conyers, Ga When word first got out that the original priest's name was to be McCartney, it helped to fuel the rumors that Paul was dead.
• Adam from St. Paris, Oh the chords are Em,C thats all!
• Don from Rapid City, Sd useless trivia: Eleanor Bron was an actress in the film "Help!"
• Marie from Nyc, Ny I've actually seen Eleanor Rigby's grave in Liverpool, it is across the street from where John and Paul met for the first time.
• Rory from Camden, Nj father mackenzie was a priest in scottland who aledgedly preformed satanic ceremonies and was leader of a religeous cult
• Charles from Charlotte, Nc Ringo contributed the line about the padre 'darning his socks in the night'.
• Matthew from New York, Ny What does this song mean? Listen to the lyrics--they are among the most brilliant the Beatles ever wrote. Elenor Rigby is a lonely old women with no husband/friends. She goes about life without truly living. Father McKenzie is a preist who also has no friends/loved ones and preaches to a church that no one goes to. He goes about his daily routines but, as Paul quips, "what is it for?" Finally, E.R. dies and "is burried alone with her name; nobody came." Father McKenzie burries her but since there is no audience, "No one was saved" and he is a failure. "All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?" Sad stuff.
• D from Bay Shore, Ny What does the song actually mean?
• Ross from Auckland, New Zealand According to "The Beatles Anthology" pg 208, the graveyard that Eleanor Rigby is buried in is in Woolton, not Wooton. Paul is sure he made up the name from two different sources but the fact there is a real person with this name seems an amazing coincidence. Apparently, a few yards to the right of E.R.'s grave there is someone called McKenzie!

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Writing “Eleanor Rigby”

By Paul McCartney

My mum’s favorite cold cream was Nivea, and I love it to this day. That’s the cold cream I was thinking of in the description of the face Eleanor keeps “in a jar by the door.” I was always a little scared by how often women used cold cream.

Growing up, I knew a lot of old ladies—partly through what was called Bob-a-Job Week, when Scouts did chores for a shilling. You’d get a shilling for cleaning out a shed or mowing a lawn. I wanted to write a song that would sum them up. Eleanor Rigby is based on an old lady that I got on with very well. I don’t even know how I first met “Eleanor Rigby,” but I would go around to her house, and not just once or twice. I found out that she lived on her own, so I would go around there and just chat, which is sort of crazy if you think about me being some young Liverpool guy. Later, I would offer to go and get her shopping. She’d give me a list and I’d bring the stuff back, and we’d sit in her kitchen. I still vividly remember the kitchen, because she had a little crystal-radio set. That’s not a brand name; it actually had a crystal inside it. Crystal radios were quite popular in the nineteen-twenties and thirties. So I would visit, and just hearing her stories enriched my soul and influenced the songs I would later write.

Eleanor Rigby may actually have started with a quite different name. Daisy Hawkins, was it? I can see that “Hawkins” is quite nice, but it wasn’t right. Jack Hawkins had played Quintus Arrius in “Ben-Hur.” Then, there was Jim Hawkins, from one of my favorite books, “Treasure Island.” But it wasn’t right. This is the trouble with history, though. Even if you were there, which I obviously was, it’s sometimes very difficult to pin down.

It’s like the story of the name Eleanor Rigby on a marker in the graveyard at St. Peter’s Church in Woolton, which John and I certainly wandered around, endlessly talking about our future. I don’t remember seeing the grave there, but I suppose I might have registered it subliminally.

St. Peter’s Church also plays quite a big part in how I come to be talking about many of these memories today. Back in the summer of 1957, Ivan Vaughan (a friend from school) and I went to the Woolton Village Fête at the church together, and he introduced me to his friend John, who was playing there with his band, the Quarry Men.

I’d just turned fifteen at this point and John was sixteen, and Ivan knew we were both obsessed with rock and roll, so he took me over to introduce us. One thing led to another—typical teen-age boys posturing and the like—and I ended up showing off a little by playing Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” on the guitar. I think I played Gene Vincent’s “Be-Bop-a-Lula” and a few Little Richard songs, too.

A week or so later, I was out on my bike and bumped into Pete Shotton, who was the Quarry Men’s washboard player—a very important instrument in a skiffle band. He and I got talking, and he told me that John thought I should join them. That was a very John thing to do—have someone else ask me so he wouldn’t lose face if I said no. John often had his guard up, but that was one of the great balances between us. He could be quite caustic and witty, but once you got to know him he had this lovely warm character. I was more the opposite: pretty easygoing and friendly, but I could be tough when needed.

I said I would think about it, and a week later said yes. And after that John and I started hanging out quite a bit. I was on school holidays and John was about to start art college, usefully next door to my school. I showed him how to tune his guitar; he was using banjo tuning—I think his neighbor had done that for him before—and we taught ourselves how to play songs by people like Chuck Berry. I would have played him “I Lost My Little Girl” a while later, when I’d got my courage up to share it, and he started showing me his songs. And that’s where it all began.

I do this “tour” when I’m back in Liverpool with friends and family. I drive around the old sites, pointing out places like our old house in Forthlin Road, and I sometimes drive by St. Peter’s, too. It’s only a short drive by car from the old house. And I do often stop and wonder about the chances of the Beatles getting together. We were four guys who lived in this city in the North of England, but we didn’t know one another. Then, by chance, we did get to know one another. And then we sounded pretty good when we played together, and we all had that youthful drive to get good at this music thing.

To this very day, it still is a complete mystery to me that it happened at all. Would John and I have met some other way, if Ivan and I hadn’t gone to that fête? I’d actually gone along to try and pick up a girl. I’d seen John around—in the chip shop, on the bus, that sort of thing—and thought he looked quite cool, but would we have ever talked? I don’t know. As it happened, though, I had a school friend who knew John. And then I also happened to share a bus journey with George to school. All these small coincidences had to happen to make the Beatles happen, and it does feel like some kind of magic. It’s one of the wonderful lessons about saying yes when life presents these opportunities to you. You never know where they might lead.

And, as if all these coincidences weren’t enough, it turns out that someone else who was at the fête had a portable tape machine—one of those old Grundigs. So there’s this recording (admittedly of pretty bad quality) of the Quarry Men’s performance that day. You can listen to it online. And there are also a few photos around of the band on the back of a truck. So this day that proved to be pretty pivotal in my life still has this presence and exists in these ghosts of the past.

I always think of things like these as being happy accidents. Like when someone played the tape machine backward in Abbey Road and the four of us stopped in our tracks and went, “Oh! What’s that?” So then we’d use that effect in a song, like on the backward guitar solo for “I’m Only Sleeping.” It happened more recently, too, on the song “Caesar Rock,” from my album “Egypt Station.” Somehow this drum part got dragged accidentally to the start of the song on the computer, and we played it back and it’s just there in those first few seconds and it doesn’t fit. But at the same time it does.

So my life is full of these happy accidents, and, coming back to where the name Eleanor Rigby comes from, my memory has me visiting Bristol, where Jane Asher was playing at the Old Vic. I was wandering around, waiting for the play to finish, and saw a shop sign that read “Rigby,” and I thought, That’s it! It really was as happenstance as that. When I got back to London, I wrote the song in Mrs. Asher’s music room in the basement of 57 Wimpole Street, where I was living at the time.

Around that same time, I’d started taking piano lessons again. I took lessons as a kid, but it was mostly just practicing scales, and it seemed more like homework. I loved music, but I hated the homework that came along with learning it. I think, in total, I gave piano lessons three attempts—the first time when I was a kid and my parents sent me to someone they knew locally. Then, when I was sixteen, I thought, Maybe it’s time to try and learn to play properly. I was writing my own songs by that point and getting more serious about music, but it was still the same scales. “Argh! Get outta here!” And, when I was in my early twenties, Jane’s mum, Margaret, organized lessons for me with someone from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she worked. I even played “Eleanor Rigby” on piano for the teacher, but this was before I had the words. At the time, I was just blocking out the lyrics and singing “Ola Na Tungee” over vamped E-minor chords. I don’t remember the teacher being all that impressed. The teacher just wanted to hear me play even more scales, so that put an end to the lessons.

When I started working on the words in earnest, “Eleanor” was always part of the equation, I think, because we had worked with Eleanor Bron on the film “Help!” and we knew her from the Establishment, Peter Cook’s club, on Greek Street. I think John might have dated her for a short while, too, and I liked the name very much. Initially, the priest was “Father McCartney,” because it had the right number of syllables. I took the song to John at around that point, and I remember playing it to him, and he said, “That’s great, Father McCartney.” He loved it. But I wasn’t really comfortable with it, because it’s my dad—my father McCartney—so I literally got out the phone book and went on from “McCartney” to “McKenzie.”

The song itself was consciously written to evoke the subject of loneliness, with the hope that we could get listeners to empathize. Those opening lines—“Eleanor Rigby / Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been / Lives in a dream.” It’s a little strange to be picking up rice after a wedding. Does that mean she was a cleaner, someone not invited to the wedding, and only viewing the celebrations from afar? Why would she be doing that? I wanted to make it more poignant than her just cleaning up afterward, so it became more about someone who was lonely. Someone not likely to have her own wedding, but only the dream of one.

Allen Ginsberg told me it was a great poem, so I’m going to go with Allen. He was no slouch. Another early admirer of the song was William S. Burroughs, who, of course, also ended up on the cover of “Sgt. Pepper.” He and I had met through the author Barry Miles and the Indica Bookshop, and he actually got to see the song take shape when I sometimes used the spoken-word studio that we had set up in the basement of Ringo’s flat in Montagu Square. The plan for the studio was to record poets—something we did more formally a few years later with the experimental Zapple label, a subsidiary of Apple. I’d been experimenting with tape loops a lot around this time, using a Brenell reel-to-reel—which I still own—and we were starting to put more experimental elements into our songs. “Eleanor Rigby” ended up on the “Revolver” album, and for the first time we were recording songs that couldn’t be replicated onstage—songs like this and “Tomorrow Never Knows.” So Burroughs and I had hung out, and he’d borrowed my reel-to-reel a few times to work on his cut-ups. When he got to hear the final version of “Eleanor Rigby,” he said he was impressed by how much narrative I’d got into three verses. And it did feel like a breakthrough for me lyrically—more of a serious song.

George Martin had introduced me to the string-quartet idea through “Yesterday.” I’d resisted the idea at first, but when it worked I fell in love with it. So I ended up writing “Eleanor Rigby” with a string component in mind. When I took the song to George, I said that, for accompaniment, I wanted a series of E-minor chord stabs. In fact, the whole song is really only two chords: C major and E minor. In George’s version of things, he conflates my idea of the stabs and his own inspiration by Bernard Herrmann, who had written the music for the movie “Psycho.” George wanted to bring some of that drama into the arrangement. And, of course, there’s some kind of madcap connection between Eleanor Rigby, an elderly woman left high and dry, and the mummified mother in “Psycho.” ♦

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“ELEANOR RIGBY”

(John Lennon – Paul McCartney)

“I don’t think we ever try to establish trends. We try to keep moving forward and do something different.” This quote from Paul McCartney in 1966 typifies the insistent "forward movement" attitude that became The Beatles creed, especially from that year onward. While seemingly every move they made musically did indeed become the new “trend” by being imitated by anyone desirous of making their mark on the charts, their objective was simply to be innovative for innovation's sake.

Songwriting History

Research done to spell out the songwriting history of most Beatles songs reveals interesting details, convincing testimony related from eyewitnesses and the writers themselves settling the matter once and for all. There may be conflicting details unearthed from interviews that cast doubt on some aspects, but overall the reader can get a clear enough picture to understand the general genesis of that particular composition. A detailed quote right from "the horse’s mouth" is usually enough to squelch previously conceived ideas the listener may have held for many years.

In regards to the melody line chosen, Paul attempts to explain this as well. “I can hear a whole song in one chord. In fact, I think you can hear a whole song in one note, if you listen hard enough. But nobody ever listens hard enough. OK, so that’s the Joan of Arc bit…I wrote it at the piano, just vamping an E-major chord: letting that stay as a vamp and putting a melody over it, just danced over the top of it. It has almost Asian Indian rhythms…I couldn’t think of much more, so I put it away for a day.”

“It was either complete coincidence or in my subconscious,” Paul continues. “I suppose it was more likely in my subconscious, because I will have been amongst those graves knocking around with John and wandering through there. It was the sort of place we used to sunbathe, and we probably had a crafty fag in the graveyard…but there could be 3000 gravestones in Britain with Eleanor Rigby on. It is possible that I saw it and subconsciously remembered it…So subconscious it may be – but this is just bigger than me. I don’t know the answer to that one. Coincidence is just a word that says two things coincided. We rely on it as an explanation, but it actually just names it – it goes no further than that. But as to why they happen together, there are probably far deeper reasons that our little brains can't grasp.”

But could there have been an actual Father McKenzie? “It wasn’t written about anyone,” Paul insists. “A man appeared, who died a few years ago, who said, ‘I’m Father McKenzie.’ Anyone who was called Father McKenzie and had any slim contact with The Beatles quite naturally would think, ‘Well, I spoke to Paul and he might easily have written that about me,’ or he may have spoken to John and thought John thought it up.”

It appears by the above account that the writing of the song was complete here at John’s Kenwood home. However, one further account, that of John, appears to indicate that more writing needed to be done while in the recording studio. In his Playboy interview of 1980, he includes this interesting interchange:

Therefore, my dear Beatles fans, it’s up to you to be the judge.

Recording History

Following Paul’s instructions to have the strings sound “biting,” Geoff Emerick "took note of what he said and began thinking how to accomplish that…String quartets were traditionally recorded with just one or two microphones, placed high, several feet up in the air so that the sound of the bows scraping couldn’t be heard. But with Paul’s directive in mind, I decided to close-mic the instruments, which was a new concept. The musicians were horrified! One of them gave me a look of disdain, rolled his eyes to the ceiling, and said under his breath, ‘You can’t do that, you know.’ His words shook my confidence and made me start to second-guess myself. But I carried on regardless, determined to at least hear what it sounded like."

One of the viola players, Stephen Shingles, comments about that session: “I got about five pounds (the standard Musicians’ Union session fee was nine pounds) and it made billions of pounds. And like idiots we gave them all our ideas for free.” Being that they were going strictly off of George Martin’s pre-written score, it can easily be assumed that their “ideas” had to be minimal.

Geoff Emerick concludes: “In the end, the players did a good job, though they clearly were annoyed, so much so that they declined an invitation to listen to the playback. We didn’t really care what they thought, anyway – we were pleased that we had come up with another new sound, which was really a combination of Paul’s vision and mine.” Upon listening to the "Talking (Keep)" selection made available in the Deluxe editions of " Revolver ," however, we can hear these musicians laughing and discussing their performances with George Martin, thus suggesting that maybe they weren't too "annoyed" as Geoff Emerick remembered. By 7:50 that evening, the session concluded for the day.

The reason they were never used was that, on June 6th, 1966, an idea to include an additional vocal passage in the conclusion of the song was recorded, making the previous mono mixes unusable. After assorted tape copying and mono mixing of recently recorded “ Revolver ” tracks were completed, Paul stuck around EMI Studio Three so that, at midnight, he could have a go at adding two vocal lines (“ aah, look at all the lonely people ”) to be superimposed on top of his previously recorded vocals in the conclusion of the song. By 1:30 the next morning, this was complete and so was “Eleanor Rigby.”

An instrumental stereo mix of "take 14" from the first four-track tape was made in 1995 by George Martin and Geoff Emerick for inclusion on the “Anthology 2” album, the strings being remixed for a good stereo presence.

Also to be mentioned is a new recording of the song by Paul McCartney in 1983 for inclusion on his soundtrack album “Give My Regards To Broad Street,” this being recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1983 with George Martin as producer. On the album, this recording quickly segues into a similarly titled instrumental “Eleanor’s Dream.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A BRIEF AUDIO HISTORY OF THIS SONG ON OUR PARTNER WEBSITE "THE BEATLES SONG BY SONG"

Song Structure and Style

Without warning, Beatles fans (and popular music fans alike) were treated to a side-step into Classical music within the two-minute format of AM pop radio in 1966. Classical music buffs may shudder at my insinuation that “Eleanor Rigby” fits into that genre by any stretch of the imagination, but we can at least view it as a fusion with the popular music form of that era. Funnily enough, the majority of Beatles enthusiasts of that decade (as well as ours) accept the song as impressively entertaining and not too “high brow” for their taste.

The listener is startled by the downbeat of the very first measure of the song with its three-part harmony lyric “ aaah, look at all the lonely people ” (which suspiciously sounds like “ lovely people ” to a lot of ears) on top of the pulsing quarter notes of the octet of string musicians. The held out sighing melody line of the cellos and saw-like jumping eighth notes of the violins make for an impressive but busy eight-measure introduction to the song.

The second five-measure verse appears immediately thereafter with Paul repeating the exact same melody line. This time, however, the arrangement intensifies with the violins doubling their chorded chops to eighth notes above the cellos quarter notes. The violas play the raising melody line of the fourth measure this time around instead of the cellos.

The chorus is then repeated with the exact configuration as heard the first time, with the exception of the single violin playing an ascending passage just after the lyrics “ where do they all come from .” While vibrato is decided against in this performance, the final note of this passage requires it. A repeat of the intro is then heard as the bridge of the song, the instrumentalists’ performances identical to a tee, right down to the differing staggered cellist lines of the third and seventh measures. This is the last we will hear of the three-part harmonies of Paul, John and George.

Paul’s vocal performance is stunning in its simplicity while "spot on" in pitch. His delivery conveys the despair of his story perfectly. John and George’s harmonies, while not intrinsically important, nonetheless are performed well and add a “Beatle-ness” to the song. (And shame on you, John, for singing “ lovely people ” or " lowly people " instead of “ lonely ,” if that is what you did…that would be something he would do.  :-) )

As was his soon-to-be-established habit, Paul took to introducing characters and painting a vivid picture (arguably his most vivid) of their story. First off, though, he expresses his observance of “ all the lonely people ,” then beginning with his first example of a lonely person, “ Eleanor Rigby .” She is seen picking up “ the rice in a church where a wedding has been .” He then gives the first of six four-syllable dour opinions of the situation found in the song, which are all found in the final measure of the verses. This one is “ lives in a dream .”

Her loneliness is then depicted in the second verse by her waiting “ at the window, wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door ,” possibly inferring to the make-up she regularly applies. The final dour opinion this time, since she lives alone and has few if any acquaintances, is “ who is it for? ”

Then the two characters intermingle but tragically. Eleanor “ died in the church and was buried along with her name ,” probably referring to her name dying along with her, not being in the memory of family or friends. This opinion is substantiated by the following dour statement from Paul, “ nobody came .” The lonely priest was the one who performed the eulogy and is depicted as “ wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave .” The final dour statement, “ no one was saved ,” could also be in connection with the lessened spiritual values of that time period.

American Releases

Live Performances

Since touring in 1966 with a double-string quartet was not quite in the budget, The Beatles were not able to perform “Eleanor Rigby” on stage during their tours of that year. However, with the dawning of the synthesizer age, Paul took the effort to give many live performances of the song during his concert career.

His first performances of the song were during his “World Tour” of 1989/1990, spanning from September 26th, 1989 to July 29th, 1990. Then his brief “Driving USA” Tour of 2002 resumed including “Eleanor Rigby” in the set list, this tour going from April 1st to May 18th of that year. His “Back In The U.S.” tour of later that year also included the song, this tour spanning from September 21st to October 29th.  Both his “Driving Mexico” tour (November 2nd to 5th, 2002) and his “Driving Japan” tour (November 11th to 18th, 2002) included the song as well. His entire international “Back In The World” tour of 2003 (March 25th to June 1st) included the song, as did his “2004 Summer Tour” (May 25th to June 26th). His 2005 “US Tour” continued use of the song (September 16th to November 30th) as did his brief “Summer Live ‘09” tour (July 11th to August 19th). His “Good Evening Europe Tour” of 2009 included the song (December 2nd through 22nd) as did his seemingly endless “Up And Coming Tour,” which spanned from March 28th, 2010 through June 10th, 2011. His "On The Run" tour included the song as well, this tour spanning from July 15th, 2011 to November 29th, 2012. He also included it in his "Out There!" tour, which began on May 4th, 2013 and ended on October 22nd, 2015. His "One On One" tour also featured the song, this tour running from April 13th, 2016 to December 16th, 2017. Then, his "Freshen Up" tour included the song, which began on September 17th, 2018 and concluded on July 13th, 2019. We are also treated to a brief demonstration of Paul playing the song on piano on his 2021 Hulu documentary series "McCartney 3,2,1," which I thought was worthy of a mention.

The professional piano teacher from the Guildhall School of Music whom Paul premiered “Eleanor Rigby” for in early 1966 may not have thought much of it, but Paul thought of it as a true breakthrough in his songwriting career – something that might steer him into the future:

While no medium of musicianship seems to be above the spectrum that McCartney can tackle, his outstanding track record as a pop/rock songwriter / musician / singer thankfully appears to be where he shines the most. And we can be equally grateful that he chose to fix his attention in this genre for the majority of his career. In this arena, “Eleanor Rigby” shines as a striking example of what Paul, and collectively the talents of The Beatles, was capable of achieving. Bravo!

Song Summary

“ Eleanor Rigby ”

Written by:  John Lennon / Paul McCartney  

• Song Written :  January – April 29, 1966
• Song Recorded :  April 28, 29 & June 6, 1966
• First US Release Date :  August 8, 1966
• US Single Release :  Capitol #5715
• Highest Chart Position :  #11
• First US Album Release :  Capitol #ST-2576 “ Revolver ”
• British Album Release : Parlophone #PCS 7009 “ Revolver ”
• Length : 2:11
• Key : E minor
• Producer : George Martin
• Engineers :  Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald 

Instrumentation:  

• Paul McCartney -  Lead and Background Vocals
• John Lennon - Harmony Vocals
• George Harrison – Harmony Vocals
• Tony Gilbert – First Violin
• Sidney Sax - Violin
• John Sharpe - Violin
• Jurgen Hess - Violin
• Stephen Shingles - Viola
• John Underwood - Viola
• Derek Simpson - Cello
• Norman Jones - Cello

Written and compiled by Dave Rybaczewski

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Eleanor Rigby

‘Eleanor Rigby’, which originally appeared on the Revolver album and on a double a-side single with ‘Yellow Submarine’ , is justifiably held as a one of The Beatles’ truly timeless compositions.

I don’t like supposing that somebody like Jesus was alive now and pretending and imagining what he’d do. But if he was Jesus and he held that he was the real Jesus that had the same views as before – well, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ wouldn’t mean that much to him.

Growing up I knew a lot of old ladies – partly through what was called Bob-a-Job Week, when Scouts did chores for a shilling. You’d get a shilling for cleaning out a shed or mowing a lawn. I wanted to write a song that would sum them up. Eleanor Rigby is based on an old lady that I got on with very well. I don’t even know how I first met ‘Eleanor Rigby’, but I would go around to her house, and not just once or twice. I found out that she lived on her own, so I would go around there and just chat, which is sort of crazy if you think about me being some young Liverpool guy. Later, I would offer to go and get her shopping. She’d give me a list and I’d bring the stuff back, and we’d sit in her kitchen. I still vividly remember the kitchen because she had a little crystal radio set. That’s not a brand name; it actually had a crystal inside it. Crystal radios were quite popular in the 1920 and 30s. So I would visit, and just hearing her stories enriched my soul and influenced the songs I would later write.

Paul McCartney came up with the initial idea in the music room in the basement of Jane Asher ’s family home in Wimpole Street, London.

I wrote it at the piano, just vamping an E minor chord; letting that stay as a vamp and putting a melody over it, just danced over the top of it. It has almost Asian Indian rhythms.

As with ‘Yesterday’ before it, McCartney didn’t have lyrics at first, and improvised sounds and words to fill the lines. An early version was heard by musician Donovan at his flat in London’s Maida Vale.

One day I was on my own in the pad running through a few tunes on my Uher tape recorder. The doorbell rang. It was Paul on his own. We jammed a bit. He played me a tune about a strange chap called ‘Ola Na Tungee’. ‘Ola Na Tungee/Blowing his mind in the dark/With a pipe full of clay/No one can say.’

The lyrics eventually took shape back in Wimpole Street. A breakthrough came for McCartney with the idea of a wedding in the church.

While I was fiddling on a chord some words came out: ‘Dazzie-de-da-zu picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been…’ This idea of someone picking up rice after a wedding took it in that poignant direction, into a ‘lonely people’ direction.

For a time McCartney settled on the name Miss Daisy Hawkins, but rejected it for its lack of realism. He took the name Rigby from a shop in Bristol: Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers. He spotted the name while visiting Jane Asher, who was appearing in The Happiest Days Of Your Life at the Bristol Old Vic theatre. The name Eleanor was after Eleanor Bron, who played the female lead in Help! .

I thought, I swear, that I made up the name Eleanor Rigby like that. I remember quite distinctly having the name Eleanor, looking around for a believable surname and then wandering around the docklands in Bristol and seeing the shop there. But it seems that up in Woolton Cemetery, where I used to hang out a lot with John, there’s a gravestone to an Eleanor Rigby. Apparently, a few yards to the right there’s someone called McKenzie.

The Woolton Cemetery adjoins St Peter’s Church in Liverpool. The church was where McCartney was first introduced to Lennon, prior to a performance by The Quarrymen on 6 July 1957 .

The real Eleanor Rigby was born in 1895 and lived in Liverpool, where she married a man named Thomas Woods. She died on 10 October 1939 at the age of 44 and was buried along with the bodies of her grandfather John Rigby, his wife Frances and their daughter Doris. The tombstone has since become a landmark for Beatles fans visiting Liverpool.

In 2008 a 1911 document bearing the signature of E Rigby , then a 16-year-old scullery maid at Liverpool’s City Hospital, was auctioned to raise money for the Sunbeams Music Trust. The document had been donated to the charity by Paul McCartney in 1990.

With just the first verse of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ complete, McCartney took the song to John Lennon’s house in Weybridge. There, he and the other Beatles, along with Lennon’s school friend Pete Shotton, suggested ideas to help the song take shape.

Ringo Starr suggested that the renamed Father McKenzie be “darning his socks in the night”. The “Ah, look at all the lonely people” refrain was reportedly coined by George Harrison , and the final verse – where the lonely Rigby and McKenzie are united through death – was suggested by Shotton and later written by McCartney.

I had Father McCartney as the priest just because I knew that was right for the syllables, but I knew I didn’t want it even though John liked it so we opened the telephone book, went to McCartney and look what followed it, and shortly after, it was McKenzie. I thought, Oh, that’s good. It wasn’t written about anyone. A man appeared, who died a few years ago, who said, ‘I’m Father McKenzie.’ Anyone who was called Father McKenzie and had any slim contact with The Beatles quite naturally would think, Well, I spoke to Paul and he might easily have written that about me; or he may have spoken to John and thought John thought it up. John wanted to stay McCartney, but I said, ‘No, it’s my dad! Father McCartney.’ He said, ‘It’s good, it works fine.’ I agreed it worked, but I didn’t want to sing that, it was too loaded, it asked too many questions. I wanted it to be anonymous. John helped me on a few words but I’d put it down 80-20 to me, something like that.

Latest Comments

Paul was kind of upset about john taking credit for a large part of the lyrics of eleanor rigby. Like you said, paul said that wasnt true in many occasions. This is what McCartney said to Hunter Davies in 1981 just a few months after the playboy interview was published and John had died. “ I saw somewhere that he says (John) he helped on Eleanor Rigby. Yeah. About half a line. He also forgot completely that I wrote the tune for In My Life. That was my tune. But perhaps he just made a mistake on that.”.

The timing for Paul’s response couldn’t have been better.

So? He DID write the tune for “In my life”.

My reply was about Paul’s insensitivity with a remark like “Yeah. About half a line” (concerning Eleanor Rigby) made to Hunter Davies, just a few months after Lennon’s death. Why didn’t McCartney say this prior to Lennon’s death? John’s opinions about Eleanor Rigby and In My Life were well known prior to December 8, 1980.

Paul said that comment to Hunter Davies in a private conversation (which to me, makes it more convincing than Lennon’s comments on his interviews with the press (in my opinion, John used to rewrite the history all the time. He seems to let his feelings and insecurities affected his objectivity). Hunter Davies published the entire conversation with Paul, on his 1985 version of the book The Beatles. You should read all the conversation to understand Paul’s point of view. He was talking to a friend, a journalist but off the record, later Davies asked Paul permission to publish the conversation.

Joe you said “John’s opinions about Eleanor Rigby and In My Life were well known prior to December 8, 1980.”

Paul said in 1972 (Hit Parader) and in 1973 (The Rolling Stone), that In my Life was his tune completely and the words were Lennon´s. McCartney always spoke about Eleanor Rigby as if the lyrics were written mostly by him (that’s an indirect way to answer John without getting to a fight with him, something McCartney was surely avoiding after their public battle in 1971). The fact, is that in the seventies, Paul was very busy promoting and selling millions of records, defending Wings of the critics and conquering the world again. He only saw the real need of set the record straight about his contributions to The Beatles songs’ when Lennon died. Why? Because immediately after John was shot, everybody began to write books taking Lennon`s version of the Beatles history as the only one, “the truth” (even if his comments sometimes don’t match or left many doubts and questions) and declaring Lennon as the only and true genius of the band. So understandably, Paul finally gave his version and defended his contributions to the band. It doesn’t matter if some rabid Lennon’s fans call him a liar or an opportunist, McCartney’s decision to reveal his version (IMHO, it’s not flawless but more consistent, credible and detailed than Lennon’s) put him again in the same league as Lennon in The Beatles history and public perception. And I think is fair, because Paul was as important as John for the success of the band.

Couldn’t agree more

Thank you for setting the record strait. I think John along with YO turned revising history into an art form, and yes I do love John Lennon music but the man did have his issues with the truth and loved to promote himself as the only genius, even implying that fishermen couldn’t be geniuses. To quote Lennon Remembers by Jann Wenner, “I’d like to be a fisherman but I can’t because I’m a genius!”.

IMHO, Paul was perhaps most important to the Beatles legacy due to the amount of either British and/or US hits penned by McCartney, alone or with little influence by the other members.

Perfect. Thank you. I’m glad things seem to be equalizing a bit again finally. But that rag Rolling Stone? They don’t have Paul listed as one of the greatest artists of all time.But guess who is listed? That POS mag continues it’s hard on for Lennon over Macca to this day. I’m so sick of it. I haven’t picked one up to read it in years .

couldn’t agree more, John was sporadically brilliant but Paul was the true genius in the Beatles

Lennon told Crawdaddy in 1972 and Playboy in 1980 his memory of who wrote what on which Beatles song. McCartney disagreed with Lennon on two songs out of 50 songs. How is that Lennon revising history? McCartney has insinuated he wrote the lyrics to Eleanor Rigby. Half a line from Lennon… a line from Ringo … 2 lines from Pete Shotton… the opening from Harrison… McCartney didn’t mention those contributions to Hunter Davis did he?

john lennon was revising history in 1980 interview. And Paul said that ER lyrics are mostly his. It’s still true.

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/11/637468053/a-songwriting-mystery-solved-math-proves-john-lennon-wrote-in-my-life

About 70 percent of the lyrics were written with John present in the room, meaning he DID *kind of* write 70 percent of it. I wonder if most people, Paul included, take John’s statement too literally, or, rather, mathematically.

Well, I guess if I say my lamp was in the room 100 percent of the time I wrote my English essay, my lamp wrote 100 percent of my essay? No offence meant, of course!

If it was illuminating, yes!

LOL! Nice comeback.

without the lamp, most probable you wrote nothing hehe…. so with the help of the lamp you did 100%…. lol

Everett’s take:

A string octet were recorded – mikes right at the strings – two per track, requiring a reduction to one track.

Two vocal tracks were recorded: Paul’s lead vocal and John and George’s backing parts. ADT sent the lead vocal signal to the left for refrains, but to the left in the last refrain.

A fourth track was used to add a countermelody vocal from Paul to the last refrain, sung through a Leslie speaker and with ADT.

According to Anthology, Paul was the only Beatle on this song.

Reporter: Do you think you’ll ever record solo? … George: We already have … Eleanor Rigby was just Paul. John: We just sat around drinking tea.

The harmony vocals of Paul,John,and George were recorded the day after Paul’s original vocals.

There are no other Beatles on this record. Paul is singing double-tracked or second vocal.

That’s not true. Hear the *.ogg files, where the song is splitted in 4 channels. The first contains backing vocals from paul (high) john (mid) and george (low) singins “all the lonely people” line.

Where did you find the .ogg files (whatever format that is)?

Take a look at this forum thread .

Hi, Does anyone know if a score for the string parts exists that I could purchase or find through a library? I would like to analyze it.

A recording of the strings you could find on anthology 2, but I don’t know about the score.

Oh boy, here comes another dispute! Even though I eventually caved and came to believe paulsbass’s centention that Paul alone sang that wordless ADITL bit, it’s not gonna happen this time. I’m positive I hear George and John’s harmonies in the left stereo channel, “Anthology” remarks notwithstanding. And anyways, being requried to do nothing other than to sing “Ah, look at all the lonely people” four times total would certainly leave John with plenty of time to do nothing but sit around and drink tea. The 5th and 6th iterations of the “Ahhh…” lyric: Now THOSE were indeed sung by Paul all alone.

No dispute this time, you’re totally right! I completely forgot about that intro part (same in the middle). I don’t know if the middle one is George or Paul, but the deep one is definitely John. Sorry! I should listen to the song before talking about it…

The basic melody is great. The strings are great and Paul’s voice is great. One of the best Beatle songs. Paul is brilliant!

John was very jealous of Paul, wasn’t he? Always had to throw in a little shot, a little putdown. Might’ve been nice if he wasn’t so jealous…and such a hypocrite; singing about “all you need is love” and “imagine no possessions” while walking out on his wife and baby and riding around in his golden Rolls Royce.

I don’t think that John Lennon invented jealousy or divorce. If you read about his family upbringing you may discover that he was left behind by his parents. As for riding around in a “golden rolls royce” what did you expect after selling hundreds of millions of records?

No, John didn’t invent jealousy or divorce. Nor did he invent infidelit or child abandonment. But he did engage in these activities, while at the same time singing and preaching the opposite. I don’t expect to change your mind about Lennon. And yes, I’m a great fan of his and the Beatles music. But truth is truth (as Lennon would probably agree). If you choose not to accept that truth, more power to you.

I’d expect him not to sing about the virtues of having no possessions.

Yep, Paul wasn’t jealous of John at all, he hasn’t tried to take any credit for any songs In His Life…

I see no evidence of Paul’s jealousy of John. I have NEVER read ANYTHING about Paul putting down a Lennon song. At most, there was some disagreement as to his contribution to some Lennon songs. Whereas Lennon critisized McCartney’s songs constantly. But just believe what makes you feel good.

Sorry Joe, I just have a quick response if that’s okay. John is not putting down Eleanor Rigby, he’s saying that he helped or wrote most of the lyrics. He put down many McCartney songs, but he put down even more of his own, so I don’t think John really viewed songs as his songs versus Paul’s songs, they were just Beatle songs because they all collaborated on most of the material. John is trying to take credit for this song, but Paul did the exact same thing on some of John’s songs, he was just more “politically correct” about it whereas John was blunt and said what he felt. I’m sure if John were to be interviewed now, he’d feel differently and not put down a lot of the Beatles work, but unfortunately that’s not possible.

No problem. Thanks for staying on topic.

What does Paul drive? Imagine says to do what you can to fix the world, not to say give everything you own away and live on the street. There was mutual respect for each other, but Jealousy was NonExistant

OK, I think this is the sort of conversation that could run and run. Funny how so many threads seems to end up John v Paul. Can I suggest you take this to the forum instead, and keep this page for discussions about Eleanor Rigby? I won’t publish any more comments on this matter on this page.

That Paul and John were both eager to take credit for this song reveals how timeless it truly is. The violins give it a surreal feeling, which reflects how the Beatles music progressed both lyrically and in depth, scope, and texture starting in ’66.

Eleanor Rigby is one of the saddest song I ever heard. The Lyrics are great, but what impress me most in this tune is George Martin’s contribution.. I think the arrangements are superb!

Exactly my thoughts too. George Martin, if there was a way to bring this back to 16th century Europe, would have been knighted on the spot for his arrangement. It’s just brilliant and colorful too.

Indeed, this track is quite good. Can we safely assume that Lennon’s contribution was rather prodigious, based on the inclusive banality of McCartney’s post-1970 lyrics?

…and can we safely assume McCartney’s strong influence on Lennon songs, given the over-indulgence, and the self-centeredness and self-importance of Lennon’s post 1968 lyrics? Frankly, they were at their best when they were together.

No, because this was not post-1970. This was 1966, when Paul came up with the lyrics for tunes like “For No One,” “Got to Get You into My Life”, and “Here, there and Everywhere” (all of which received some rare praise from Lennon, btw). Critics of Paul’s lyrics tend to focus on specific songs rather than looking at the overall body of work. If the same standard is applied to John’s work, we get the same results. “Glass Onion” does not have the most brilliant lyrics. “I Want You” lyrics are not exactly bursting with creativity. “Come Together,” “I Am the Walrus,” and SFF lyrics are nonsense. And that’s ok. We LOVE those songs. So we don’t criticize them. Why do so many ppl criticize Paul’s lyrics? I don’t get it. But none of that should lead us to assume that John’s contribution to ER was prodigious.

John himself said he writes lyrics about his life; bc that’s what he knows. Further, he said that Paul writes songs about made up people like Maxwells and Ritas and Desmonds and Paperback Writers etc etc. With a few exceptions like Bungalow Bill or When I’m 64, John’s statement tracks, particularly from 66 on. So if we’re going to assume something about the authorship of Eleanor Rigby, by John’s own words, we MUST assume that lyrics about Father Mackenzie and Eleanor Rigby are Paul’s.

No, I don’t think we can. “She’s leaving home” has something in common with Eleanor Rigby, though some verses in the latter one do sound very Lennonsy, “Wiping his hands as he walks from the grave”, “Writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear”

John wrote all the “we gave her most of our lives” parts in SLH.

While you’re at it John also wrote “take these broken wings and learn to fly…take these sunken eyes and learn to see” for Blackbird since they sound too good for Paul. What hogwash! Btw, the above lines are as good a poetry ever written in English language. And there are plenty of great post-Beatles Macca songs lyrics.

Hello. This is true but the pessimist lines generally belonged to John. He was a fan of Edgar Allan Poe’s and his Annabel Lee. Stuffs like that

Pessimist one? Nothing more pessimist than For No One. Who wrote it? I think it’s the most pessimist song of the bealtes. Yes in yer blues john said he wants to die, but being alive but is not in the eyes of the one that once loves you (and you still love her). kinda worse.

Can anyone please explain to me what John’s quote about jesus means

Typical John.Don’t try hard to understand his words.

I think that came from his very uncomfortable press conference after the whole “more popular than Christ” kerfuffle, and he was just using Eleanor Rigby as an example of a Beatles song.

J Neo, I agree. Eleanor Rigby had been released just days before Lennon mad that comment, so it was fresh on his mind.

I think what Charles is simply saying is that John Lennon *probably* helped shape the song — lyrically. I agree. Paul himself has stated that when writing a song he’d use nonsense words as filler to be replaced later. Given the excellence of Penny Lane’s lyrics, it’s very possible Lennon helped with these replacements. And no one can argue that the quality PM’s lyrics declined after 1970. Given that, he is undoubtedly still the greatest tunesmith of all time.

Not sure that Penny Lane is an example of quality lyrics from PM. As evidence: “It’s a clean machine” That was always a howler for us when we were in school…

What are “quality lyrics?” “I am the egg man, I am the walrus, coo coo ca choo”?

I thought the fire engine and how clean it was were references to his shank. Kind of how “Drive my Car” was not literally about being a chauffeur.

If you are quoting lyrics whether they are quality or not, better make sure you got them right.

On a lighter note… My grandmother (who was 48 when this record came out, hated The Beatles. She was a Big Band-era girl. This was the only Beatles record she ever bought. She was hip in some ways, though. She actually bought “Somebody To Love” by Jefferson Airplane. Many years later, she bought John’s “Nobody Told Me”, & she was in her 60’s by then!!

A truly beautiful composition. One my favorites from Paul.

Yes, An absolute “masterpiece” of music.

It’s good Paul insisted & ended up using the ‘McKenzie’ instead of ‘McCartney.’ For it would be way too self-serving for him to sing his own surname in the lyrics.

This song is truly a classic masterpiece. Aside from the lyrics, the strings arrangement adds to the mysterious characteristic this song posesses. Thumbs up also to George Martin!

As I read the article, I felt that John’s near insistence of using McCartney as a better name seemed like a subtle attempt to try to sabotage the song. Add that to his entire comment to Sheff (even in 1980 when they had supposedly mended some of the fences) about the song and you can see the rift was forming even by 1966.

Interesting: Paul did say that he contributed significantly to “In My Life” in Hit Parader (1972), and he supposedly agreed with the remainder of John’s comments about who wrote what concerning Lennon-McCartney songs. With that being said, in the Miles book (1997), Paul takes a more possessive stance. He claims much more credit for his contributions to “John” songs (from “There’s A Place,” “It Won’t Be Long” and “This Boy” to “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” among others), while maintaining the larger credit allotment that John had given him for the “Paul” songs in 1972.

By far the most significant of those four is LSD, and it happens we have good evidence in that case. John himself credited Paul with ‘newspaper taxis appear on the shore’ which is consistent with Paul’s account that he contributed this part and the ‘cellophane flowers’ (John was reacting specifically to a comment on ‘newspaper taxis’ and wasn’t being asked about the rest.) You can hear Paul coaching John how to sing ‘cellophane flowers’ on the Abbey Rd tapes. And if you look at John’s rough lyric sketch (i.e. in Hunter Davies book) you’ll see that these two lyric sections are added in Paul’s hand. This is good evidence. And don’t forget that that iconic keyboard figure, which instantly says ‘LSD’, is also by Paul. I don’t know much about the others you mention.

Just to clarify: When Wenner referred to ‘newspaper taxis’ in 1980 John said. ‘Actually that’s Paul’s line’ (dismissing it as ‘self-conscious poetry’). And in 1972 he’d said: ‘I think Paul helped with the last verse’. The last verse is ‘Picture yourself on a train in a station etc.’ so this would imply another contribution apart from ‘cellophane flowers’ and ‘newspaper taxis’.

Search out a copy of the ‘yellow submarine songtrack’ CD. Its got a couple of remastered, reMIXED tracks- not the original album mixes. Eleanor Rigby has the string instruments spread across the stereo image, so you can hear each instrument in its own separate space. you can appreciate George Martin even more.

I’m glad to see someone mentioned this. The difference is day and night, well worth getting the newer mix.

I know John loved Paul dearly even until his death. I believed that he was insecure and sometimes got anxious about just how good Paul was getting writing songs. When they got so competitive and stop writing together, eyeball to eyeball but instead just ran their compositions for the other to look over and offer suggestions and he was seeing just how brilliant Paul truely was and realizing that Paul was indeed a genius, perhaps silently fearing that Paul wouldn’t need him anymore. His bashing Paul’s songs and trying to take more credit for their earlier work didn’t start until he left the Beatles for “Mother” Yoko and listening to whatever she said to feed his insecurities and inflame his ego against his former bandmate best friend. That’s when he started with the “I’m a genius!” bombast that the old Liverpool John would have delighted in cutting down to size.

Great points! When you watch the early videos you can really see the love they had for each other. Yoko changed everything, sadly!

Incisive comment & I tend to favour John!

A piece of McCartney genius off the brilliant Revolver album. A long side Simon and Garfunkels I am A Rock, popular musics two great testaments to loneliness.

Eleanor Rigby is about a person un-noticed and forgotten. I Am A Rock is about a person who shuns the world, attempting to avoid pain and rejection – to stand as an “island”. They are really not the same theme at all.

The music of the Beatles will have the longevity to be enjoyed by many more generations to come long after the writers of these text debates are dead including me and eventually you dear reader. Enjoy life and the music while you can……….

And in the end….why really care which Beatle wrote what, and fight over it? It’s the music and finished product which really counts, and nobody, NOBODY was better than The Beatles!!! Wish there could have been more music but maybe what they gave us was all that there was meant to be. And it was great!

From Please Please Me to Rubber Soul John wrote and/or sang lead on 45 out of 83 songs. He was the first of the four to really delve into introspective writing as early as A Hard Day’s Night album or even the beautiful ballad This Boy. Yet when McCartney decides to capitalize on the downer lyrics that John popularized, now McCartney is the genius and John gets no recognition. And even though George Martin scored the orchestra for Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby, Paul is a musical genius for what someone else did for him. Paul’s ego ruins this song for me, John would have encouraged his mates to join in on a masterpiece of his, rather than perform solo, good examples being In My Life, If I Fell, Help!, so many others. While Paul insisted on solo vocals as early as Can’t Buy Me Love and was the first beatle to perform alone in Yesterday.

Who says that everyone thinks McCartney is a genius and Lennon gets no recognition? Have you been reading these articles? Every other one turns into a John vs. Paul debate! How a Beatles fan can spend so much time on this site bashing one member is beyond me. (And yes, I’ve read many other comments you’ve written.) As far as I’m concerned, Paul and John both are geniuses, and both have immense egos. To say Paul was trying to undermine the others is doing a disservice to the others even more than Paul; do you think personalities like George and John are so weak and timid that they would let that happen? Hardly.

How do you know for sure that Paul didn’t encourage the others to play on the song? Maybe they all agreed that this was the best way to present it. Of course, this is just speculation, which is exactly the same thing you’re doing.

I think Eleanor Rigby is a beautiful, timeless piece of music. I don’t care who wrote it. It’s a Beatles song.

amen and agreed with it being a timeless piece of music reguardless of who wrote it. Its a Beatles song and a great song at that. Just enjoy the music to your ears. We only live once.

About ‘Yesterday’, it was the others who suggested It would be better if Paul sings alone on it, and then George Martin came with the strings idea 🙂

It’s been pretty well documented that George Martin scored the orchestral pieces based on ideas from the song’s writer. It would be silly to think GM didn’t have some input and ideas of his own, but the basic concepts are theirs, whether hummed or otherwise conveyed to him.

It must be sad going through life with such animus over your own biased perceptions and conclusions about things of which you know so little. You weren’t there, you didn’t and don’t know any of them, and yet you claim to know actions and motives. Smh………

A work of genius – quite simply. Pop music had never been like this before.

All the lonely people….writen by George Harrison, Ringo was involved in change McKenzie ,,etc,etc,,,,

‘Ah, look at all the lonely people’ was George’s contribution, I think, to music Paul had already written. I might be wrong.

Eleanor Rigby’s lyrics are so pessimistic, just like Lennon usually wrote. I am not sure if Macca wrote it.

Amazing to think that such a concise lyric detailing one of the most poignant and universal truths of the human condition was penned by cute Paul McCartney rather than philosophizer John Lennon, isn’t it? And it is the way he does it which is most fascinating to me: Paul presented the bleak question of “Who are we and why are we here?” and so much more in the form of a narrative capped by a haunting refrain. It really is just a simple story ingeniously combined with a brilliant instrumental that captures the imagination so completely. No obscure or surreal Lennonisms required. John was an amazing lyricist, but Paul was more than capable… as this masterpiece again shows. Credit to Martin and the Beatle entourage for their contribution, but overall this has Paul written all over it. Rigby is the absolute perfect marriage of music, mood and lyrical content, similar to ‘Yesterday’ which preceded it.

I really love this composition. Yes, it is a composition, and a serious composition, and the strings do owe a great deal to Vivaldi. I disagree that “Rigby’s’ lack of success in America was related to John’s appropriate comment that they were hotter than Jesus… (They were, indeed, as the power to release a serious composition like this actually proved!) This was a classical, serious composition, and America”s national budget for classical music is 0. Beethoven rolling over, and Tchaikovsky being told the news (great song by Chuck Berry, covered well by the Beatles) … is about as close that classical music gets to number 1 in the native land of Coca Cola…

See my comment on the original article in the “Evening Standard” to find out what John really meant.

Little by little, song by song the Beatles were moving away from their “I Want To Hold Your Hand” style of songs. Eleanor Rigby was another song to break the mold of what was a typical Beatles’ song, and another, like “Yesterday” which displayed to the buying public that musically the group was growing and maturing. No other music group handled the transition from simple Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Girl Pop song and early Rock and Roll angst songs to a more serious Rock Opera style of song than the Beatles. The Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones could not keep up with the Beatles. Eleanor Rigby suffered in sales in the USA because of the Bible Belt backlash against John Lennon, but the song has stood the test of time. It was released in the year the Beatles gave up touring. The guys were tired and frustrated. Take one look at the Beatles tour schedule for 1964 and 1965 and it was remarkable the boys had time to tour, write, and perform. Beatlemania was taking its toll on the four Beatles. No wonder some of their songs were sombre, melancholic and introspective. But above all, their songs were beautifully crafted both lyrically and melodically. I originally thought Eleanor Rigby was a wholly Paul McCartney song, and it restores my faith in the collaboration of the four Beatles to read that they all contributed to the lyrics of the song. By 1966 not a single song was presented to George Martin in its completed form. It is reassuring to know that songs matured in the recording studio, with added vocals and musical scores. When I listen to Eleanor Rigby I am reminded once again why the Beatles are the Best music group of the twentieth century and their body of work remains unsurpassed half a century later.

I heard on the radio here in New Orleans that Father Mckenzie was what the Beatles called their stage manager for road trip concerts (rodie) — Is that true?

Why is it so important that Eleanor Rigby has to be seen to be as a collaboration from all four Beatles? Probably because it’s an acclaimed masterpiece from Paul and the others (and their respective fans) want to be in on it. You are making it look as if ER was the only Beatles song with a four-way input. Wrong. George Martin was angered at the extent of unsubstantiated credit claiming for ER. He said words and lines were offered up by various Beatles and others in the studio for nearly ALL their songs, including John and George’s. Yet such a fuss made if this one! The Beatles collaborated as a band to support each song regardless of whether it was solely, partly, or jointly written. In this case it was Paul’s song and no different from SFF being John’s song or Something being George’s song.

A top 10 Beatle song for me. Although the song never gets old, the squabbling that goes on between writing credits afterwards really takes a little bit away from it. It sounds like there were more than 4 people involved with evolving this idea, before it even reached George Martin.

Seems like Lennon may have exaggerated his contributions here…or just remembered it incorrectly. Mistakes happen. McCartney later said that he wrote about 80% of it and Lennon 20%. Reasonable; But who knows? What’s interesting in these accounts is that Ringo drops in “darning his socks”…Harrison contributes “Ahh the lonely people…where do they all come from?”…But neither get any official credit. Paul acknowledged Shotton…but Paul and John were fairly tight-lipped about any extra Harrison or Ringo lyrics, etc. Maybe this is an area for an article?

I believe you’ll find Harrison did not write that. His contribution, worked out with George Martin, was the idea of taking the phrase ‘all the lonely people’ from Paul’s chorus (‘All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?’) and using this phrase as an opener in the line ‘Ah, look at all the lonely people’.

And it’s impossible to credit everybody on the label for every word or idea or half-line that gets into a song. George bounced ideas off John and Paul and got their input when trying to finish the lyric for Something in the studio, but we don’t get the lyric sheet peppered with asterisks and notes saying ‘this word copyright Paul McCartney’ or ‘this phrase John Lennon’ or ‘tom fill copyright Ringo Starr’), and Paul gets zero credit for contributing to John’s ‘solo’ Gimme Some Truth (begun at Abbey Rd in Jan 1969), but he does get a half-credit for Give Peace A Chance which he had nothing to do with, so it evens out!

Hi Martin, good points. I was specifically referring to areas where George or Ringo made musical or lyrical contributions. I wasn’t trying to straighten out legalities or proper royalty payments. As it’s interesting to note that Paul actually played the solo in Taxman or Good Morning, Good Morning or John did in Honey Pie, some might find it interesting to note the musical/lyrical contributions that Harrison/Starr made that went uncredited.

For example, Harrison’s contribution to Imagine. He was on about 50% of that album and seemed to help arrange quite a few tracks in addition to is two memorable solos…

Lennon and McCartney may have disagreed sometimes, but they were fairly consistent to give credit to each other. However, each was fairly mum on the contributions of Harrison and Starr.

The Beatles were wealthy and successful enough for it not to be so much of an issue, but publishing disputes are how bands often break up.

One member gets fat royalties for writing all the hits while the others get nothing, this can lead to rather sad court cases with band members fighting over their share of the songwriting income…

“I wrote the key phrase in the chorus” “I suggested the melody in the verse” “My guitar riff drove the song”

Good points. Again I am not a royalty lawyer and don’t play one on tv. Just saying that it’s interesting to note the band members’ uncredited contributions to songs. Just as it’s interesting to know those songs were Paul plays drums. Etc. etc. stuff like that.

I’ve read that Ringo also contributed “Wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door.”

Doug, Where is the Source for Ringo coming up with “Wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door”….

Paul McCartney gave a interview to the New Yorker on October 25, 2021 – “My Mum’s favorite cold cream was Nivea, and I love it this day. That’s the cold cream I was thinking of in the description of the face Eleanor keeps “in a jar by the door’. I was always a little scared by how often women used cold cream.”

Besides, The first verse of “Eleanor Ribgy” was already completed by the time Paul McCartney took the song over to John Lennon House in Weybridge. There, he and the others Beatles, along with Pete Shotton, help to make suggestions for the song.

First Verse was already written by Paul McCartney by the time Ringo saw it – “Eleanor Rigby Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been Lives in a dream Waits at the window Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door Who is it for?”

So, I serious doubt that Ringo came up with “Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door”. When Paul already had that verse written.

No, Ringo’s line was “darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there”.

McKinzie Brantley III, George wrote “Ah, look at all the lonely people”. The Hook that starts off the Song.

Ah, look at all the lonely people Ah, look at all the lonely people

And it repeats itself, later on.

George did not write “Ahh the lonely people…where do they all come from”.

The way John and Paul wrote was somewhat unique among songwriting teams. Instead of one writing lyrics and one writing melodies, they both could do both things. What makes it tricky for all of us trying to figure out percentages of writing credit is that they both invited editing from each other, and occasionally from outsiders. Taking into account all of the claims about Eleanor Rigby it seems fair to say that it was mostly Paul’s composition, with John and even George contributing a small percentage to it. It doesn’t “cheat” Paul to say that, does it? After all, he’s the primary singer in it and the one people think of as the writer.

In an earlier post (some years back) someone posed the idea of John taking swipes at Paul due to being a jealous guy… he so admitted that he was and to extent made apology for… from the same album he asked Paul, “How Do You Sleep”. A blow at Paul & then an afterthought regret of kind? Weren’t they both on the same album?

PS: …and please don’t say that was to Cyn or Yoko… John was deeper & placed a larger span of meaning then one instance of him. Thank you.

When I saw that “Eleanor Rigby” was the song of the day, I felt compelled to write “my first ever comment”. The first Beatles’ record, that I bought, was the 45 rpm of “Eleanor Rigby” and “Yellow Submarine”. What amazed me about these two songs, by the same group, was just how vastly different they were. Even though I was only 14 at the time, I loved the depth of meaning, the universal feeling of loneliness, and the tightly composed narrative of “Eleanor Rigby”. Being 14, I couldn’t articulate those thoughts, but I felt them nevertheless. “Yellow Submarine” on the other hand seemed to be the polar opposite to “Eleanor Rigby”. It was whimsical and make believe, and it was fun to sing along to. I decided that any group that could write two such diverse songs deserved to be listened to more seriously. I guess you could say that at that moment, I became a Beatles’ fan. My life (my soul and spirit) has been enriched by their music. The world has become a better place because of them. I have nothing but admiration, appreciation, love, and respect for them. I feel blessed to have grown up with their music! Thanks (in no particular order) Paul, John, Ringo, and George. Thank you also to George Martin! A special thank you to Joe for his creation of this wonderful site, and to all of you who share your knowledge, insights, observations, and love of The Beatles. Peace and love.

This is obviously a great song but I’ve always thought it was too short, I wish Paul could have maybe added another stanza.

I think it’s perfect. Far too many songs in the post-mid60s rock era are great ….until they drone on-and-on and become highly repetitious. It’s helpful to know when enough-is-enough.

The the film score inspiration was Alfred Hitchcock Psycho (ca 1960). Farenheit 451 was released UK september 1966. Revolver released UK June 1966 (E Rigby rec.April 1966). Also: interview recorded before his death in March (16) for new TV docu-series Soundbreaking, Sir George recalled his inspiration for the song. “He (Paul) came to me with Eleanor Rigby, which cried out for strings; not the smooth, legato stuff of Yesterday, but something very biting… (and) very edgy,” he said. “It suggested to me the stuff that Bernard Herrmann had been writing for Psycho…”(under Fairuse). Best wishes

I was 10 when this came out. I loved it then and still do.

In the early Beatles, the chord changes were the thing for me. Then on Rubber Soul, Norwegian Wood showed that you could have a really cool verse without chord changes (sort of). And then on Revolver they minimized the chord changes on about half of the album, most especially on Tomorrow Never Knows (wonderful!) and Love You Too (not so great IMHO).

Eleanor Rigby is another minimal-chord-changes song (em and C with some descending notes) and it worked out superbly. To me the incessant em sort of intensified everything. The strings are great too but even with just vocals and an acoustic, as Paul sometimes does, it’s powerful.

Yay Paul for the basic idea and the vocal! Yay George for the “Ah look at all the lonely people” part! Yay John and who ever else for their contributions to the lyrics! At the end of it all, what a glorious, profound song. It still just kills me.

One of my top 5 Beatle songs, no question.

With due respect, Eleanor Rigby was much more than a basic idea from Paul. The whole concept was his. From what I’ve read, he’d already written the first verse with ‘all the lonely people’ as well as the melody to the chorus. Apart from a few minor contributions from George and Ringo, and possibly John, this was very much Paul’s song.

This is so amazing, that if it was in a book of assorted collection of poems it would be a favorite poem of mine. I’m going to give a quick nod to George (“Ah look at all the lonely people”), George Martin’s arrangement, and John (“no one was saved”) the latter is educated speculation on my part. But this is Paul’s song. I was so proud of my 11 year old daughter who always tells me to get it off the Beatles channel in the car. But in the case of Eleanor Rigby (not knowing it was Beatles) told me she loves this.

I don’t know how Pete Shotton can say that Eleanor Rigby is one of the songs that John didn’t contribute to at all. As long as he was present at John’s house it was, but Pete didn’t know what happened before or after. It is obvious that at that meeting the lyrics were not finalised. In a letter from John to George Martin, John states that he wrote 50% of the lyrics at Paul’s house and in the studio. In other words, there are two different times when they worked on the lyrics to Eleanor Ribgy: Pete’s account, at John’s house, and John’s account, at Paul’s house and in the studio. And the two accounts can be perfectly compatible.

First of all it wasn’t Paul’s home; it was the Ashers’ home in Wimpole Street where Paul laid down the song. It’s doubtful that John even visited or spent any great time at Wimpole Street by 1966. Secondly, these lyrics just don’t sound like John. He had little interest in Paul’s story type songs. His claims that he wrote 50 or 70 percent are very questionable in my opinion, especially years after the fact. Could it be that the song had received widespread critical acclaim have something to do with it? And remember too that John was tripping like crazy in 1966.

According to Hunter Davies, in the Beatles’ authorised biography (approved by all four Beatles), the last verse of Eleanor Rigby was written at the last moment in the studio before they began recording the song, which is consistent with John’s account. They began recording Eleanor Rigby on 28 April 1966. Paul had moved to Cavendish Avenue in March 1966…. (the source for those two dates is this site). So John was able to be at Paul’s house on Cavendish Avenue to write Eleanor Rigby, then go to the studio, finish the last verse and start recording the song.

Isa. If the last verse was written in the studio (and I’m not disputing it) then where are all the witnesses, including George Martin and the other Beatles, who said John wrote 50 or 70 percent of it? Also in the Hunter Davies book, Martin said Paul had written some fine lyrics. Maybe that got up John’s nose. The idea of Eleanor meeting up with Father McKenzie in the last verse did not seem to be John’s. As far as the second verse goes, Paul had already established the Father McKenzie/McCartney character to which we know Ringo contributed ‘darning his socks – at John’s house in Weybridge. As far as I’m concerned, if John was able to remember his contribution of Vera, Chuck and Dave/digging the garden to When I’m 64 then he could have been able to state exactly what his lines were in Eleanor Rigby. Same goes for George. As an aside, Paul was 23 when he moved into Cavendish. It’s not uncommon for people of that age to move to and fro from the parental, or quasi-parental home in Paul’s case, to their new homes. There is no reason to believe John’s account was any more consistent than Paul’s.

90% George Martin, 9% Paul, 1% who knows? The song is rather bland without the strings added by George Martin. The strings make it special.

Did you not read any of the above comments? George did not write “Ahh all the lonely people”. Another source said Paul, John, and George were all working on it. Paul, at that time, had a habit of using ‘Ah’ in sentences in everyday spoken and written conversation. As for “no one was saved” unfortunately I’d say it was an uneducated guess – for obvious reasons. Funny isn’t it, that only Ringo can remember what his line was, other people can remember what Ringo’s line was, but everything else draws a complete blank.

The thing you have to remember about song writing authorship is Lennon & McCartney’s different opinions of authorship. John looks to the concept as the determining factor and if Paul helped with 20% of the lyrics.. it was still John’s song. And vice versa is true if John provided 20% lyrics to a Paul concept … it was really Paul’s song. On the other hand, I think Paul looks at these as 80/20. So, if John is claiming much of the Eleanor Rigby legacy, I bet he believes he co conceptualized it even if his energy faded during actual lyric process. Perhaps it’s his concept with the harsh ironic fate another loner in Father Mckenzie and “No on was saved” … a similar lyric of his shows up in “All You Need is Love” … just saying

Well, I believe John more than Paul. I remember the song In my Life analysis and Paul came short in the overall making of the song. In the end, Eleanor Rigby is a song envisioned by McCartney, where everyone forgot about George Martin’s contribution for his writing and orchestrating the strings. John assisted Paul with the lyrics heavily but the vision of the song belongs to Paul, I consider the song a Paul song. Now, when trying to talk crap about Lennon, don’t forget that Paul also cheated on his girlfriend and George was a womanizer too, don’t single Lennon out in your hatred… And try to measure their music by the vision of the one who came up with it. Finding out that John already had the tune for yellow submarine and gave all the credit to Paul and Paul took it was revealing. Paul is very important for the Beatles but he wasn’t the Beatles just because you like Let it be. Finally, Lennon had a bit more contributions than McCartney as far as songwriting, the uniqueness of his songs and point of view gave them at least a part of their greatness.

Paul has said he had nothing to do with the lyrics for In My Life. What is disputed is the melody. John did not contribute heavily to the lyrics of Eleanor Rigby according to George Martin and Pete Shotten. In fact, hardly anything. Is it wishful thinking on your part? There seems to be a fair bit of envy surrounding Paul’s masterpiece. Let’s not forget it was Paul’s idea for the staccato strings for Eleanor Rigby before you get too carried away with crediting George Martin. He also worked with George M on the arrangement. They all treated their women shabbily!!, but what’s that got to do with Eleanor Rigby?

Paul told Hunter Davies that when his mother died he prayed for days for her to come back. See. the prayers didn’t work, he said. No one gets saved. Paul witnessed his father’s grief while dealing with his own. I don’t think John came up with that line. Paul was the loner – riding around on busrs in Liverpool on his own.

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Decoding “Eleanor Rigby”

The beatles’ most enigmatic, operatic song. .

Photo illustration by Slate . Image courtesy of Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

Excerpted from The Beatles Lyrics: The Stories Behind the Music, Including the Handwritten Drafts of More Than 100 Classic Beatles Songs by Hunter Davies. Out now from Little, Brown and Company.

It was thanks to “Eleanor Rigby” that I got to meet Paul McCartney properly. When it first came out, as a single but also on the Revolver album, I was so impressed by 
its words as well as its music that I was determined to talk to Paul about it. I assumed, like all Beatles fans, that he must have written it, because he was the person singing it.

Being a journalist, writing a column in the Sunday Times ,
 I had a slightly better chance than most fans of actually getting to see him, though if he had written it two years earlier I might never have managed it as the Sunday Times did not write about pop artists, however successful, at that time.

By 1966 the chattering classes were in awe of the Beatles and how they were creating such marvelous music without being able to read or write a note and writing such great verses despite not having had the benefit of a half-decent university education.

So I went to see Paul at his house in Cavendish Avenue, St. John’s Wood, London—which he still has to this day. I remember the house as being nicely lived in, even though he had not been there long, with lots of interesting objects and paintings. (Over the fireplace in his main living room was a Magritte.) The garden, from what I could see, was totally overgrown, left to its own devices while he decided what to do with it. It added to the bohemian feel of the place; it was very much the home of a wealthy but artistic young bachelor. There was no sign of Jane Asher, though she was still very much part of his life. In the article, I said he lived alone.

The interview followed the format popular at that time, letting the subject talk with minimum intervention, but I did manage to drag in my opinion about “Eleanor Rigby.” Note that I referred to them as Mr. McCartney and Mr. Lennon. Was I being facetious, given their youth and status as pop stars? No, I was being polite and formal, as we tended to be, back in 1966.

The Sunday Times , London, 18 September 1966

Paul McCartney was in his new mansion in St John’s Wood. He lives alone. A Mr and Mrs Kelly look after him. Nothing so formal as a housekeeper and butler. Their job, he says, is just to fit in.

Mr McCartney, along with Mr Lennon, is the author of a song called “Eleanor Rigby.” No pop song of the moment has better words or music.

‘I was sitting at the piano when I thought of it. Just like Jimmy Durante. The first few bars just came to me. And I got this name in my head – Daisy Hawkins, picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been. I don’t know why. …

‘I couldn’t think of much more, so I put it away for a day. Then the name Father McCartney came to me – and all the lonely people. But I thought people would think it was supposed to be my Dad, sitting knitting his socks. Dad’s a happy lad. So I went through the telephone book and I got the name McKenzie.

‘I was in Bristol when I decided Daisy Hawkins wasn’t a good name. I walked round looking at the shops and I saw the name Rigby. You got that? Quick pan to Bristol. I can just see this all as a Hollywood musical …

‘Then I took it down to John’s house in Weybridge. We sat around, laughing, got stoned and finished it off. I thought of the backing, but it was George Martin who finished it off. I just go bash, bash on the piano. He knows what I mean.

‘All our songs come out of our imagination. There was never an Eleanor Rigby. One of us might think of a song completely, and the other just adds a bit. Or we might write alternate lines. We never argue. If one of us says he doesn’t like a bit, the other agrees. It just doesn’t matter that much. I care about being a song writer. But I don’t care passionately about each song.’

We now know, all these years later, a little more about the background to the song. Or think we do. Paul has confirmed that the name Eleanor came from the actress Eleanor Bron, who had appeared in the film Help! Pete Shotton, John’s best friend, was at John’s house when Paul arrived with the tune completed but only half the verses done. He tried it out on John, George, Ringo, and Pete, who all chipped
 in with suggestions. When Father McCartney was dropped—for the reason Paul gave me—Pete Shotton got out a telephone directory and found the name McKenzie. It was Ringo who suggested he was darning his socks. George came up with the line all the lonely people . Paul was then stuck for an ending, and Pete says that it was he who first suggested the two characters should be brought together: Eleanor, the lonely spinster, and Father McKenzie, the sad priest.

Extraordinary that a lyric with input from so many contributors turned out near perfect—not a line wasted, not a word wrong, not a corny image.

It has the simplest accompaniment—a string octet, arranged by George Martin, without any drums or guitars—which adds to the ethereal, disembodied atmosphere of the piece.

The longest, most sustained analysis of the lyric I have read is an unpublished 29,000-word essay by professor Colin Campbell of York University. Campbell points out that it is the only Beatles song with a story that takes place over a period of time and is also unique in that it is about two characters, presented separately, who are then drawn together. It’s also their first song about a named individual (but only just: “Dr. Robert” was recorded 10 days later), and the first Beatles song not to contain the words I , me , mine , you , or your . It is a third-person song—not directed at someone, like “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.”

But there are so many things we still don’t know. Eleanor, picking up 
the rice after a wedding: Is she a cleaner, a guest at the wedding, or just an 
idle visitor? Then we see Father McKenzie, another lonely person, writing a sermon, which no one will hear. Why not? Is he retired, has the congregation abandoned him?

They come together when she dies. “She died in the church”: Is that confirmation that she was a cleaner, dying on duty, or does it just mean she was still a member of the church? Father McKenzie leaves the grave, presumably the only person who attended the service, wiping the dirt from his hands.

She was “buried along with her name.” * I take that to mean she was unmarried, had no family, had done nothing with her life, a nobody—but some commentators have suggested that she killed herself.

Novelist A.S. Byatt, in a BBC talk aired in 1993, remarked on the phrase wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door . If it had been kept by a mirror, we would immediately have thought of makeup (women often refer to putting on their face before going out), but there is no mirror mentioned, so the image becomes broader, more metaphorical.

Staring out of the window, wearing a face, she is a nobody, nobody sees her, nobody knows her. She is one of the true lonely people. When she does venture out into the world, she hides behind the face she wears, preserving her anonymity.

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The manuscript, now in Northwestern University, is in Paul’s hand and looks like a fair copy rather than an original working version, though it was missing the last verse. There are a couple of corrections, but they appear to be simple spelling mistakes. The signature at the end is possibly in Yoko’s hand, to identify it for John Cage.

*Correction, Feb. 19, 2016:  This post originally misquoted a lyric from the song as “buried alone with her name.” The lyric is: “Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name.” ( Return. )

Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — The Topic of Solitude in The Song “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles

The Topic of Solitude in The Song "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles

• Categories: Song Analysis The Beatles

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Published: May 7, 2019

Words: 1082 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, the theme of loneliness in "eleanor rigby", works cited.

Father McKenzie/ Writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear/ No one comes near" (13-15).

• The Beatles. (1966). Eleanor Rigby [Song]. On Revolver. Capitol Records.
• Benitez, V. (2014). The Beatles: A Cultural Revolution. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Moore, A. (2016). The Essential Beatles: Essays on the Fab Four. McFarland.
• Reising, R., & LeBlanc, J. (2009). "You Won't See Me": Power, Gender, and the Subject in "Eleanor Rigby". In The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles (pp. 74-97). Cambridge University Press.
• Inglis, I. (2010). The Beatles, Popular Music and Society: A Thousand Voices. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Doyle, T. (2004). The Beatles: Yellow Submarine. Cambridge University Press.
• Turner, S. (2016). The Gospel according to the Beatles. Westminster John Knox Press.

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Meaning of Eleanor Rigby (Strings Only) by The Beatles

In the vast catalog of The Beatles' iconic songs, "Eleanor Rigby (Strings Only)" holds a special place. Released in 1966 as part of the album "Revolver," this haunting track takes listeners on a profound and introspective journey. Despite being an instrumental rendition, the poignant melodies of the strings evoke a myriad of emotions and invite us to delve deeper into the underlying themes.At its core, the overarching theme of "Eleanor Rigby" revolves around the notion of loneliness and the human longing for connection. This theme is beautifully accentuated by the absence of vocals, leaving space for the listener's imagination to fill in the gaps. It is almost as if the strings alone are sufficient to convey the raw emotions embedded within the song.As we examine the standout lyrics, we discover imaginative and unexpected themes that further contribute to the powerful narrative of "Eleanor Rigby." Let us embark on this exploration together.The opening lyrics of the song, "Ah, look at all the lonely people," set the stage for the overarching theme. These words paint a vivid picture of a disconnected world, suggesting that loneliness is a universal experience. However, beneath the surface, another theme emerges - the invisible bonds that bind us together. Each lonely person forms a thread in this intricate web of human existence, ultimately leading to an interconnectedness that we often overlook.Moving forward, the lyric "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" presents a surreal image. Here, the theme of masks and facades takes shape. It reminds us that many individuals present a curated version of themselves to the world, concealing their true thoughts and feelings. This theme speaks to the need for authenticity and the consequences of suppressing one's true identity in search of acceptance.Delving deeper into the lyrics, we encounter "Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear." This line touches upon the theme of invisible impact and unrecognized contributions. It highlights the untold stories of ordinary people who put their heart and soul into their work, only to go unnoticed. This theme underscores the importance of acknowledging and appreciating the often overlooked efforts of individuals who shape our society silently.Another striking lyric is "No one was saved," which subtly hints at the theme of redemption and missed opportunities. By suggesting that no one is saved, the song implies that we are all bound to make mistakes and experience regrets. It reminds us of the transient nature of life and the importance of seizing the present moment to create meaning.Additionally, the line "Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave" introduces the theme of mortality and the impermanence of existence. It prompts us to reflect on the brevity of life and the graveyard of unfulfilled dreams. This theme serves as a poignant reminder to embrace life fully and make the most of our time here on Earth.Lastly, the closing lyrics, "Ah, look at all the lonely people...Ah, look at all the lonely people," bring us back to the overarching theme once again. This repetition brings a sense of circularity, emphasizing the universality of the loneliness experienced by individuals, despite their differences. It reveals the hardships that countless people face in their pursuit of genuine connection and reminds us of the importance of empathy and compassion.In conclusion, "Eleanor Rigby (Strings Only)" is a remarkable song that transcends the need for lyrics, allowing the power of music to convey profound emotions and explore a multitude of themes. Through its stunning melodies and carefully crafted arrangements, the song takes listeners on a captivating journey of loneliness, interconnectedness, authenticity, unrecognized contributions, missed opportunities, mortality, and the innate human desire for connection. This instrumental masterpiece invites us to reflect on our own lives, encouraging us to break through the barriers of isolation and find solace in the collective human experience.

Meaning of Eleanor Rigby (Take 2) by The Beatles

Meaning of eleanor rigby (speech before take 2) by the beatles.

Paul McCartney opens up about the real woman who inspired 'Eleanor Rigby' and says she 'enriched my soul'

• Paul McCartney recently penned an essay for The New Yorker about writing "Eleanor Rigby."
• The Beatles' beloved song was inspired by "an old lady" that McCartney helped out while growing up.
• "Hearing her stories enriched my soul and influenced the songs I would later write," he said.

Paul McCartney offered a deeper look at his creative process in a new essay for The New Yorker , titled "Writing 'Eleanor Rigby.'"

The beloved song by The Beatles was released on August 5, 1966 as the second track on the band's seventh album "Revolver." It was conjointly issued as a double A-side single alongside "Yellow Submarine."

The song's titular character has long been a source of intrigue for Beatles fans. It's widely assumed that McCartney was inspired by a grave marked with "Eleanor Rigby" at St. Peter's Church in Woolton, where he met John Lennon as a teenager in 1957.

McCartney has said this wasn't the case , and reiterated in the essay that he doesn't remember seeing the grave, though admits he "might have registered it subliminally."

Instead, the 79-year-old rocker attributed the song's inspiration to "an old lady that I got on with very well."

"Growing up, I knew a lot of old ladies — partly through what was called Bob-a-Job Week, when Scouts did chores for a shilling," McCartney wrote. "You'd get a shilling for cleaning out a shed or mowing a lawn. I wanted to write a song that would sum them up."

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"I don't even know how I first met 'Eleanor Rigby,' but I would go around to her house, and not just once or twice. I found out that she lived on her own, so I would go around there and just chat, which is sort of crazy if you think about me being some young Liverpool guy," he continued.

McCartney said he remembers running errands for the woman, like picking up groceries, and listening to her tell stories in her kitchen.

"I still vividly remember the kitchen, because she had a little crystal-radio set," he wrote. "So I would visit, and just hearing her stories enriched my soul and influenced the songs I would later write."

McCartney also explained how he came up with the name "Eleanor Rigby," which wasn't the real name of the woman he described.

Though he originally used the name Daisy Hawkins, he felt "it wasn't right" for the song. Instead, he landed on the name "Eleanor" after working with actress Eleanor Bron on The Beatles' 1965 film "Help!"

As for "Rigby," McCartney said he remembers seeing the surname on a shop sign while wandering through Bristol, England.

"I thought, That's it! It really was as happenstance as that," he recounted. "When I got back to London, I wrote the song in Mrs. Asher's music room in the basement of 57 Wimpole Street, where I was living at the time."

McCartney had previously said he was looking for a name that sounded "natural," according to BBC .

In 2008, a Liverpool hospital payroll sheet from 1911 with the signature of a scullery maid named "E. Rigby" was sold at auction for nearly $177,000 . The auction house claimed the signature belonged to the same woman buried in the graveyard at St. Peter's Church.

"If someone wants to spend money buying a document to prove that a fictitious character exists, that's fine with me," McCartney said in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times .

Watch: Why music videos look like food commercials

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Song Meanings and Facts

• The Beatles

The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” Lyrics Meaning

by SMF · Published February 18, 2020 · Updated February 19, 2020

“Eleanor Rigby” is a certified Beatles’ classic, indeed somewhat of a cultural phenomenon in and of itself. And as such, certain information should be established from the onset.

Eleanor Rigby isn’t real!

First is that for all intents and purpose it is safe to say that the titular character, Eleanor Rigby, was not a real person. This seems to be an idea that many fans of the song have a hard time accepting. But throughout the years, for the most part Paul McCartney, the primary writer of the tune, has contended that Miss Rigby is indeed a fictitious character. Yes, at one point he did acknowledge that his conjuring up this name may have been the subconscious result of being influenced by a particular tombstone in a graveyard he used to hang out in during his youth. But he has also contended that she is a totally-fictitious character, one whose people’s insistence to prove is real has to some degree  confounded him . 

Indeed at the end of the day, the factual consensus is that he got the first name of the character from an actress ( Eleanor Bron ) who was associated with the Beatles at the time. And the last name was derived from a liquor store ( Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers ) he was familiar with in the UK.

Father McKenzie is not real!

And the same also goes for the second character we are introduced to in this song, Father McKenzie. In fact he was originally named Father McCartney after Macca himself. But to Paul personally, this appellation invoked images of his father. And upon realizing that his dad is nothing like the character portrayed in the song, he decided to rename him.

“Eleanor Rigby” is partially based on Reality

But with those facts being established, this is not to imply that “Eleanor Rigby” does not have any basis in reality. Rather let’s say that the titular character is a composite of a number of different elderly ladies Paul McCartney used to hang out with when he was a child. Indeed he even used to run errands for them. So you can say that his sympathy for the type of person Eleanor is depicted as is real.

Now as for the narrative itself, it centers primarily on the Beatles acknowledging “all the lonely people”. More specifically it depicts Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie as lonely souls themselves. And the first of the two we are introduced to is Eleanor. Interestingly enough her age is never specified. However, one peculiar characteristic she has is her tendency to ‘pick up the rice in a church where a wedding has been’. And despite this being somewhat of an unorthodox statement, it does effectively relay the fact that she is indeed lonely, perhaps even suffering from some sort of mental issues or poverty as a result.

Father McKenzie is also an interesting case. We see that he is in fact a priest of some sort or a head of a church. However, his congregation is nonexistent.  Thus his loneliness is manifest by him being akin to a leader with no followers. Yet despite this, he stays committed to his profession.

Climax of the Story

So the way the story climaxes is with Eleanor Rigby eventually passing away.  And sadly enough, “nobody came” to her funeral. But furthermore it is Father McKenzie who actually buries her. And so the story ends, with the Beatles apparently lamenting for “all the lonely people” throughout.

Now it’s debatable that they are trying to relay certain messages, lessons if you will, via this tale. For instance, it has been speculated by some fans that the case is presented as ideally Eleanor and Father McKenzie would have met when she was still alive, became friends and thus served as the remedy to each other’s loneliness. There is also a peculiar, ambiguous line at the end of the third verse, after Rigby is buried, which reads “no one is saved”. 

Now at the time this song was dropped, the Beatles,  particularly John Lennon , was going through  an anti-Christian phase , so to speak. So it is honestly quite-feasible that since the church is one of the settings of this song, as well as a priest being one of its central characters, that the band is actually taking a jab at the organized religion. And if so what they would basically be pointing to is the idea of Christianity failing some of its adherents in the most-fundamental way.

Verily, if a listener wants to look for additional meaning in this song by examining the rich history of the Beatles, combined with the symbolic nature of some of its lyrics, there is definitely enough there to lend to varying interpretations. But by and large, the narrative featured within “Eleanor Rigby” is straightforward and easy-to-follow. That is to say that most people who appreciate the tune lyrically do so because of the parts of the song that are simple to understand. And in that regard, it is fundamentally a sad song. It is a sorrowful song centered on an old lady who lives with no one to care for her and dies with no one to bury her. 

In other words it’s the type of track to invoke sympathy for those who may actually be living under such circumstances, i.e. a humanitarian tune. And at the end of the day, “Eleanor Rigby” is one of the reasons why many people feel that the Beatles were musical geniuses. They were pop artists who were able to write and recite a hit song about such thought-provoking and heart-wrenching subject matter as care for the elderly and sympathy for the lonely.

Facts about “Eleanor Rigby”

The credited writers of this song are Paul McCartney and an entity known as Lennon-McCartney. The latter would be a combination of Paul McCartney and his Beatles’ bandmate, John Lennon (1940-1980). Furthermore it is noted for being the first song which Mr. McCartney had written which  was not centered  on the theme of love.

The musical score of this song was composed by another Beatle, George Harrison (1943-2001). None of the Beatles themselves actually played instruments on this track. And in that regard, “Eleanor Rigby” is said to be one-of-a-kind. In this case what they did do was employ session musicians consisting of two violists, two cellists and four violinists. And due to the complexity of the instrumental, the Beatles never played this tune live.

The producer of “Eleanor Rigby” was the Beatles co-worker on most of their hits, Sir George Martin (1926-2016).

This track originally came out on 5 August 1966 as part of the Beatles’ album entitled “Revolver”.  

“Eleanor Rigby” was quite-successful. It topped the UK Singles Chart and performed likewise in Canada and New Zealand. In fact it is noted for being the top-selling song in the UK for 1966.

Moreover it peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Apparently it was not promoted as heavily in the United States as it was in the UK due to the religious references in the song.

“Eleanor Rigby” also earned Paul McCartney in particular a Grammy Award. This was  in 1966 , and it was awarded in the category of “ Best Contemporary (R&R) Solo Vocal Performance – Male or Female” .

Moreover as of 2011, Rolling Stone has ranked this track  at number 138  on its list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

Popular Covers of “Eleanor Rigby”

A number of prominent artists have covered “Eleanor Rigby”, especially during its heyday. Amongst them are:

•  Ray Charles (1968)
• Aretha Franklin (1969)
• John Denver (1970)
• Tony Bennett (1971)
• José Feliciano (1992)
• Pearl Jam (2005)

Paul McCartney also did his own remix of this song and featured it on his 1984 solo album, “Give My Regards to Broad Street”.

The Eleanor Rigby Fascination

Despite Paul McCartney acknowledging, as aforementioned, that Eleanor Rigby is not a real person, fans of the tune have still been obsessed  with tracking down  a real person by this name who fits the character described in the song.  Indeed sometimes their efforts are borderline comedic. For instance, the aforementioned headstone in Liverpool, England (i.e. the Beatles’ hometown) which cites an “Eleanor Rigby” has accordingly become  somewhat of a tourist attraction . Said headstone is even  depicted on the music video  to the 1995 Beatles’ track “Free as a Bird”. Moreover a document from 1911, which Paul McCartney at one time personally handled, which references a Eleanor Rigby (more specifically  “E. Rigby” ) was auctioned off for a whopping £115,000 pounds (approximately $250,000) in 2008.

Interesting to note is that there is also a real  Eleanor Rigby statue  located in the English city of Liverpool. It was erected in the aforementioned city in 1982. And interestingly, it is directly based on the character from the song.

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Meaning of “Hey Jude” by the Beatles

3 responses.

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To me the lyric of a song is secondary, but the song in question is a welcome departure from the usual, overworked theme of love, but also it has a good melody and expresses sympathy for the lonely.

At the same time, it should be noted that there are many, especially music critics and singers, who see love lyrics as meaningless or worse, so are hard-hearted, insensitive, dour and sour, and uppety, and are afraid of anything romantic or sentimental or fun, and are unable to appreciate or enjoy the good things in life, and make it their life’s mission to hate songs and types of music as much as possible. They are truly pathetic. True music lovers may not like a song or a type of music, but they don’t hate it, unless it diverges so far from musicality it’s difficult to see it as music.

Also, McCartney is usu. credited with both the lyric and the music, but in this article Harrison is credited for the music. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Beatles, there is a lot of uncertainty as to exactly who wrote what.

Eleanor was never married, either jilted, unwanted, spinster for a reason. Fact she still wears make-up, is trying to find someone, despite her age. Father M performs weddings in his Church, Eleanor attends them….suggesting she has an interest in Father M or remains hopeful of finding someone. Obviously she dies lonely.

As members of the human race, we should attend to those that suffer from loneliness. It does not affect only the elderly, but all ages. Loneliness at its peak can lead to suicide. Let us not be so selfish that we not go to the aid of these that suffer from this dilemma.

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Tags: Eleanor Rigby George Martin John Lennon Paul McCartney Revolver

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Eleanor Rigby's grave deeds to be auctioned with Beatles song score

Certificate of purchase and receipt for grave space to be sold with miniature bible belonging to woman whose name was immortalised by McCartney

What to buy for the Beatles fan who has everything? The documents for the Liverpool burial site of Eleanor Rigby, perhaps.

The papers for the grave of the woman who may have been the inspiration for the Beatles song go on sale at an auction next month.

Eleanor Rigby was buried in St Peter’s churchyard in Woolton, Liverpool, where Paul McCartney first met John Lennon at a church fete.

A certificate of purchase and a receipt for the grave space will be sold in a lot with a miniature bible, dated 1899 and with the name Eleanor Rigby written inside. They are expected to sell for between £2,000 and £4,000.

They will go under the hammer alongside the original handwritten score for the song, which is expected to fetch £20,000.

Paul Fairweather, from Omega Auctions, which is selling both lots, said: “Each item is fantastic, unique and of significant historical importance in itself so to have both to come up for auction at the same time is an incredible coincidence and it will be exciting to see how they perform. I expect there to be fierce bidding from across the globe.”

Eleanor Rigby’s name was immortalised in the song which was released as the B-side of Yellow Submarine in 1966.

McCartney, who wrote the lyrics about a woman who is “wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door”, reportedly said it was simply a name that came to him. But it later emerged that it was inscribed on a headstone in the graveyard which he and Lennon used to regularly use as a shortcut.

Deeds for the grave space, purchased in October 1915 by Eleanor’s grandmother Frances, were discovered by a relative when the estate of two of Eleanor’s half-sisters was left to the family.

She is buried in the same grave as various family members, including her grandparents, whom she lived with until she died on 10 October 1939, aged 44.

The score, handwritten in pencil, is signed by producer George Martin and McCartney and notes that the song was to be recorded in Abbey Road Studio number two and was to include four violins, two violas and two cellos.

The two lots will be among items on sale at the Beatles Memorabilia Auction to be held in Warrington on 11 September.

• The Beatles
• Paul McCartney
• John Lennon

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Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of April’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here .)

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In this unusual romantic drama, Lucy Boynton plays Harriet, a woman who loves music so intensely that when she hears certain songs her consciousness is transported back in time, to relive moments she spent with her boyfriend Max (David Corenswet), who died. This makes it hard for Harriet to live her life, since at any moment a song in a coffee shop or wafting out of a passing car could knock her into the past. And it’s especially hard for her to pursue a new relationship with David (Justin H. Min), a grieving guy from her support group. Written and directed by Ned Benson (making his first movie since 2013’s well-reviewed but distribution-challenged “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby”), “The Greatest Hits” takes a fresh approach to a common story, about people having trouble letting go of their pasts.

‘Under the Bridge’ Starts streaming: April 17

Based on Rebecca Godfrey’s nonfiction book “Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk” — about teenagers accused of murdering a classmate in a small British Columbia town in 1997 — this mini-series stars Riley Keough as Godfrey, researching her book by getting close to the suspects. Lily Gladstone plays the local police officer Cam Bentland, who has her own reasons for wanting to get to the bottom of what actually happened and why. Created by Quinn Shephard — an indie filmmaker known for the dark, youth-oriented dramas “Blame” and “Not Okay” — “Under the Bridge” follows the lead of Godfrey’s reporting by offering an empathetic look at a culture of partying and bullying in an isolated community.

‘The Veil’ Starts streaming: April 30

The “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight returns to television for this six-episode mini-series, starring Elisabeth Moss as Imogen Salter, an MI6 agent called in to help with a tricky situation at a Syrian refugee camp. Yumna Marwan plays Adilah, a fugitive believed to be a notorious, mysterious terrorist commander. Josh Charles plays Max, a C.I.A. agent often at odds with Imogen over how to get the truth out of Adilah. As the two women travel across Europe, they talk about their lives — though both of them have ulterior motives behind every moment of candor. “The Veil” leans heavy on Knight’s two strengths as a writer: punchy dialogue and twisty action plots.

April 1 “Don’t Worry Darling” “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” “Vanderpump Villa” Season 1

April 3 “U.F.O. Factory” Season 1

April 5 “Dinosaur” Season 1

April 6 “The Fable” Season 1

April 7 “GO! GO! Loser Ranger!” Season 1 “Mission: Yozakura Family” Season 1

April 10 “Blood Free” Season 1 “Curtain Call” Season 1 “Grand Cayman: Secrets in Paradise” Season 1 “The Incredible Dr. Pol” Season 24

April 11 “Immediate Family”

April 15 “The Stranger”

April 17 “Drain the Oceans” Season 6 “Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet” Season 12 “See You in Another Life” Season 1

April 20 “High Hopes” Season 1

April 22 “Hip-Hop and the White House”

April 24 “Wonderful World” Season 1

April 26 “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story”

April 27 “Broken Horses”

‘The Sympathizer’ Starts streaming: April 14

Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — adapted for television by the Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook and the Canadian filmmaker Don McKellar — this mini-series covers several years in the life of a Vietnamese immigrant with a complicated past. Hoa Xuande plays the protagonist and narrator known as “the Captain,” who lived a cosmopolitan lifestyle before the Vietnam War. Because of his familiarity with the West, he was drafted by the North Vietnamese to go undercover with the South Vietnamese. When Saigon falls, the Captain catches a transport to the United States, where he continues his spying, observing firsthand how his new neighbors are rewriting America’s history with the war. Robert Downey Jr. pops up throughout the series in multiple roles, reinforcing the theme of people caught between different identities.

April 4 “Hop” Season 1 “The Synanon Fix”

April 5 “The Zone of Interest”

April 6 “Alex Edelman: Just for Us”

April 9 “Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion”

April 16 “An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th”

April 18 “Conan O’Brien Must Go” Season 1

April 21 “The Jinx: Part 2”

April 26 “We’re Here” Season 4

New to Paramount+

‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 5 Starts streaming: April 4

In 2017, the first season of “Star Trek: Discovery” brought renewed interest to the TV franchise and helped establish the bona fides of the CBS All Access subscription streaming service (later rebranded as Paramount+). In the years since, other new “Star Trek” series — especially “Strange New Worlds” and “Lower Decks” — have built on what “Discovery” started, telling new and meaningful “Star Trek” stories while staying true to a long legacy. “Discovery” is coming to an end with its fifth season; but it’s going out strong, with a rollicking multipart adventure that sees the crews of multiple starships teaming up on a cross-galaxy chase, in search of a centuries-old treasure that may hold the secret to life itself.

April 1 “Talk to Me”

April 10 “The Challenge: All Stars” Season 4

April 12 “Dora” Season 1

April 14 “The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden — The Greatest Arena Run of All Time”

April 16 “CTRL+ALT+DESIRE”

April 26 “Knuckles”

An earlier version of this article misstated the date “Loot” Season 2 will debut. It debuts April 3, not April 5. An earlier version of this article also misstated the season of “Them: The Scare” that starts streaming on April 25. It is Season 2, not Season 1.

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