Eleanor Rigby Lyrics



Lennon/McCartney


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

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?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from ?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong ?

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?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

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

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

 
Lead Singer: Paul

Recording: 4/28/66, 4/29/66, 6/6/66
Mixing: 4/29/66, 6/22/66
Length: 2:03
Take: 15

Anomalies

0:14
The double tracking is not brought down fast enough after the end of the second "Ahhh, look at all the lonely people" in the introduction. It continues until the second syllable of "Eleanor." The bad mixing of the double tracking continues throughout the rest of the song, every time there is a transition from single to double or vice versa.
1:19
Right channel, "Lo" of lonely is sung on the wrong note
1:29
(Left channel) click
Paul McCartney got "Rigby" from the name of a store and "Eleanor" from actress Eleanor Bron. He liked the name "Eleanor Rigby" because it sounded natural.
"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.
A string section of 4 violins, 2 violas and 2 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. All the music came from the string players, who were hired as session musicians.
The last verse was written in the studio.
There is a gravestone for an Eleanor Rigby in St. Peter's Churchyard in Wooton, England.
This was originally written as "Miss Daisy Hawkins."
The lyrics were brainstormed among The Beatles. In later years, Lennon and McCartney gave different accounts of who contributed more of the words to this.
Microphones were placed very close to the instruments to create and unusual sound.
Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin both had hits with cover versions of this.
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.
Vanilla Fudge covered this in a slowed-down, emotional style. They've done this 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. Says Fudge drummer Carmine Appice: "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." (Thanks to Carmine for speaking with us about this song. His website is www.carmineappice.net.)
Former US President Bill Clinton has stated that this is his favorite Beatles song. (thanks, Adrian - Wilmington, DE)
 
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