"Eleanor Rigby" lyrics

"Eleanor Rigby"

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?

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

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
(Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
(Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all belong?


Writer(s): Paul McCartney, John Lennon
The title of this song was composed of actress Eleanor Born's name and the name of a store "Rigby and Evens Ltd Wine and Spirit Shippers". The combination sounded pleasant for Paul McCartney, who mostly wrote this song. Eleanor Born played a role in the Beatles' film "Help!".
When Paul McCartney came up with the first line "picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been" it inspired the whole story of this song: the one about lonely people.
All the instruments on this song are played by session string musicians.
With the first verse written by Paul McCartney, the song was completed with the help of John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Lennon's childhood friend Pete Shotton, each of which gave some lyric lines.
The idea of old and lonely people came from Paul McCartney's childhood experience. He said in an interview, "There was a woman who lived near me in 20 Forthlin Road, where I used to go and get her shopping for her, just because I was on my way to the shops. I'd just drop in, I knew her. So we became pretty good friends and she was a sort of lonely old lady."
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