"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
from their 1966 album ''
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
''. It was also issued on a
double A-side single, paired with "
Yellow Submarine". Credited to the
Lennon–McCartney
Lennon–McCartney is the songwriting partnership between the English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is widely considered one of the greatest, best known and most successful musical collabo ...
songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
and
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
later disputed primary authorship. Testimony from several independent sources, including
George Martin and
Pete Shotton, supports McCartney's claim to authorship.
"Eleanor Rigby" continued the transformation of the Beatles from a mainly
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
and pop-orientated act to a more experimental, studio-based band. With a double string quartet arrangement by
George Martin and lyrics providing a narrative on loneliness, it broke sharply with popular music conventions, musically and lyrically. The song topped singles charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, and New Zealand.
Background and inspiration
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
came up with the melody for "Eleanor Rigby" as he experimented on his piano.
Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...
recalled hearing McCartney play an early version of the song on guitar, where the character was named Ola Na Tungee. At this point, the song reflected an Indian musical influence and its lyrics alluded to drug use, with references to "blowing his mind in the dark" and "a pipe full of clay".
The name of the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...
that McCartney initially chose was not Eleanor Rigby, but Miss Daisy Hawkins. In 1966, McCartney told ''
Sunday Times'' journalist
Hunter Davies how he got the idea for his song:
McCartney said that the idea to call his character "Eleanor" was possibly because of
Eleanor Bron, the actress who starred with
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
in their 1965 film ''
Help!
''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...
''.
"Rigby" came from the name of a store in Bristol, Rigby & Evens Ltd. McCartney noticed the store while visiting his girlfriend of the time, the actress
Jane Asher
Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)''The International Who's Who of Women'', 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her associatio ...
, during her run in the
Bristol Old Vic
Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...
's production of ''
The Happiest Days of Your Life'' in January 1966. He recalled in 1984, "I just liked the name. I was looking for a name that sounded natural. 'Eleanor Rigby' sounded natural."
In an October 2021 article in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', McCartney wrote that his inspiration for "Eleanor Rigby" was an old lady who lived alone and whom he got to know very well. He would go shopping for her and sit in her kitchen listening to stories and her
crystal radio set. McCartney said, "just hearing her stories enriched my soul and influenced the songs I would later write."
Writing collaboration
McCartney wrote the melody and first verse alone, after which he presented the song to the Beatles when they were gathered in the music room of
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
's home at
Kenwood. Lennon,
George Harrison,
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
and Lennon's childhood friend
Pete Shotton all listened to McCartney play his song through and contributed ideas. Harrison came up with the "Ah, look at all the lonely people" hook. Starr contributed the line "writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear" and suggested making "Father McCartney" darn his socks, which McCartney liked. It was then that Shotton suggested that McCartney change the name of the priest, in case listeners mistook the fictional character for McCartney's own father.
McCartney could not decide how to end the song, and Shotton suggested that the two lonely people come together too late as Father McKenzie conducts Eleanor Rigby's funeral. At the time, Lennon rejected the idea out of hand, but McCartney said nothing and used the idea, later acknowledging Shotton's help. In Lennon's recollection, the final touches were applied to the lyrics in the recording studio, at which point McCartney sought input from
Neil Aspinall and
Mal Evans, the Beatles' longstanding road managers.
"Eleanor Rigby" serves as a rare example of Lennon subsequently claiming a more substantial role in the creation of a McCartney composition than is supported by others' recollections. In the early 1970s, Lennon told music journalist Alan Smith that he wrote "about 70 percent" of the lyrics, and in a letter to ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
'' complaining about Beatles producer
George Martin's comments in a recent interview, he said that "Around 50 percent of the lyrics were written by me at the studios and at Paul's place."
In 1980, he recalled writing almost everything but the first verse. Shotton remembered Lennon's contribution as being "virtually nil", while McCartney said that "John helped me on a few words but I'd put it down 80–20 to me, something like that." According to McCartney, "
In My Life
"In My Life" is a song by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles, released on their 1965 studio album, ''Rubber Soul''. Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which there is dispute ...
" and "Eleanor Rigby" are the only Lennon–McCartney songs where he and Lennon disagreed over their authorship.
In musicologist
Walter Everett's view, the lyric writing "likely was a group effort". Historiographer Erin Torkelson Weber says that, from all the available accounts, McCartney was the principal author of the song and only Lennon's post-1970 recollections contradict this. In the same 1980 interview, Lennon expressed his resentment at the way McCartney had sought their bandmates' and friends' creative input, rather than collaborate with Lennon directly. Lennon added, "That's the kind of insensitivity he would have, which upset me in later years." In addition to citing this emotional hurt, Weber suggests that the song's critical acclaim may have motivated Lennon's assertions, as he sought to portray himself as a greater musical genius than McCartney in the years following
the Beatles' break-up.
Composition
Music
The song is a prominent example of
mode mixture, specifically between the
Aeolian mode, also known as
natural minor
In Classical_music, Western classical music theory, the minor scale refers to three Scale (music), scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending).
...
, and the
Dorian mode
The Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek music, Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the mediev ...
. Set in
E minor, the song is based on the chord progression Em–C, typical of the Aeolian mode and using notes 3, 6, and 7 in this scale. The verse melody is written in
Dorian mode
The Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek music, Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the mediev ...
, a minor scale with the natural sixth degree. "Eleanor Rigby" opens with a C-major vocal harmony ("Aah, look at all ..."), before shifting to E-minor (on "lonely people"). The Aeolian C-natural note returns later in the verse on the word "dre-eam" (C–B) as the C chord resolves to the tonic Em, giving an urgency to the melody's mood.
The Dorian mode appears with the C note (6 in the Em scale) at the beginning of the phrase "in the church". The chorus beginning "All the lonely people" involves the viola in a
chromatic descent to the 5th; from 7 (D natural on "All the lonely peo-") to 6 (C on "-ple") to 6 (C on "they") to 5 (B on "from"). According to musicologist Dominic Pedler, this adds an "air of inevitability to the flow of the music (and perhaps to the plight of the characters in the song)".
Lyrics
The lyrics represent a departure from McCartney's previous songs, in their avoidance of first- and second-person pronouns and by diverging from the themes of a standard love song. The narrator takes the form of a detached onlooker, akin to a novelist or screenwriter. Beatles biographer
Steve Turner says that this new approach reflects the likely influence of
Ray Davies
Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the Rock music, rock band the Kinks, which he led, with his younger brother Dave Davies, Dave pro ...
of
the Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...
, specifically the latter's singles "
A Well Respected Man" and "
Dedicated Follower of Fashion".
Author
Howard Sounes compares the song's narrative to "the isolated broken figures" typical of a
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...
play, as Rigby dies alone, no mourners attend her funeral, and the priest "seems to have lost his congregation and faith". In Everett's view, McCartney's description of Rigby and McKenzie elevates individuals' loneliness and wasted lives to a universal level in the manner of Lennon's autobiographical "
Nowhere Man". Everett adds that McCartney's imagery is "vivid and yet common enough to elicit enormous compassion for these lost souls".
Recording
"Eleanor Rigby" does not have a standard pop backing. None of the Beatles played instruments on it, although Lennon and Harrison did contribute harmony vocals. Like the earlier song "
Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby" employs a classical string
ensemble – in this case, an
octet of studio musicians, comprising four
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
s, two
viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
s and two
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
s, all performing a score composed by George Martin. When writing the string arrangement, Martin drew inspiration from
Bernard Herrmann's work, particularly the latter's score for the 1960 film ''
Psycho''.
Whereas "Yesterday" is played
legato, "Eleanor Rigby" is played mainly in
staccato
Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of Articulation (music), musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and ...
chords with melodic embellishments. McCartney, reluctant to repeat what he had done on "Yesterday", explicitly expressed that he did not want the strings to sound too cloying. For the most part, the instruments "double up" – that is, they serve as a single
string quartet
The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...
but with two instruments playing each of the four parts. Microphones were placed close to the instruments to produce a more biting and raw sound. Engineer
Geoff Emerick was admonished by the string players saying "You're not supposed to do that." Fearing such close proximity to their instruments would expose the slightest deficiencies in their technique, the players kept moving their chairs away from the microphones until Martin got on the talk-back system and scolded: "Stop moving the chairs!" Martin recorded two versions, one with
vibrato and one without, the latter of which was used. Lennon recalled in 1980 that "Eleanor Rigby" was "Paul's baby, and I helped with the education of the child ... The violin backing was Paul's idea. Jane Asher had turned him on to Vivaldi, and it was very good."
The octet was recorded on 28 April 1966, in Studio 2 at
EMI Studios. The track was completed in Studio 3 on 29 April and on 6 June. Take 15 was selected as the master. The final overdub, on 6 June, was McCartney's addition of the "Ah, look at all the lonely people" refrain over the song's final chorus. This was requested by Martin, who said he came up with the idea of the line working contrapuntally to the chorus melody.
The original stereo mix had the lead vocal alone in the right channel during the verses, with the strings mixed to one channel, while the mono single and mono LP featured a more balanced mix. For the track's inclusion on ''
Yellow Submarine Songtrack'' in 1999, a new stereo mix was created that centres McCartney's voice and spreads the string octet across the stereo image.
Release
On 5 August 1966, "Eleanor Rigby" was simultaneously released on a
double A-side single, paired with "
Yellow Submarine", and on the album ''
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
''. In the LP sequencing, it appeared as the second track, between Harrison's "
Taxman" and Lennon's "
I'm Only Sleeping". The Beatles thereby broke with their policy of ensuring that album tracks were not issued on their UK singles. According to a report in ''Melody Maker'', the reason for this was to thwart sales of cover recordings of "Eleanor Rigby". Harrison confirmed that they expected "dozens" of artists to have a hit with the song; however, he also said the track would "probably only appeal to Ray Davies types". Writing in the 1970s, music critics
Roy Carr and
Tony Tyler described the motivation behind the single as a "growing dodge in the ever-innovative music industry", building on UK record companies' policy of reissuing an album's most popular tracks, particularly those that had been culled for release as a single in the US, on a spin-off
extended play
An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
.
The pairing of a ballad devoid of any instrumentation played by a Beatle and a
novelty song
A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
marked a significant departure from the content of the band's previous singles.
Writing in his 1977 book ''The Beatles Forever'',
Nicholas Schaffner
Nicholas Schaffner (January 28, 1953 – August 28, 1991) was an American non-fiction author, journalist, and singer-songwriter.
Biography
Schaffner was born in Manhattan to John V. Schaffner (1913–1983), a literary agent whose clients includ ...
recalled that not only did the two sides have little in common with one another, but "'Yellow Submarine' was the most flippant and outrageous piece the Beatles would ever produce,
nd'Eleanor Rigby' remains the most relentlessly tragic song the group attempted." Unusually for their post-1965 singles also, the Beatles did not make a promotional film for either of the songs. Music historian David Simonelli groups "Eleanor Rigby" with "Taxman" and the band's May 1966 single tracks "
Paperback Writer" and "
Rain
Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
" as examples of the Beatles' "pointed
social commentary" that consolidated their "dominance of London's social scene".
In the United States, the record's release coincided with the group's
final tour and a public furore over the publication of Lennon's remarks that the Beatles had become "
more popular than Jesus Christ"; he also predicted the downfall of Christianity and described Christ's disciples as "thick and ordinary". In the US South, particularly, some radio stations refused to play the band's music and organised public bonfires to burn Beatles records and memorabilia.
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
were therefore wary of the religious references in "Eleanor Rigby" and promoted "Yellow Submarine" as the lead side. During the band's first tour press conference, on 11 August, one reporter suggested that Father McKenzie's sermons going unheard referred to the decline of religion in society. McCartney replied that the song was about lonely individuals, one of whom happened to be a priest.
The double A-side topped the ''
Record Retailer
''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The ti ...
'' chart (subsequently adopted as the
UK Singles Chart) for four weeks, becoming their eleventh number-one single on the chart, and ''Melody Maker''s chart for three weeks. It was also number 1 in Australia. The single topped charts in many other countries around the world, although "Yellow Submarine" was usually the listed side. In the US, disc jockeys began flipping the single midway through the tour as the radio boycotts were lifted. With each song eligible to chart separately there, "Eleanor Rigby" entered the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in late August and peaked at number 11 for two weeks, and "Yellow Submarine" reached number 2.
Critical reception
In ''Melody Maker''s appraisal of ''Revolver'', the writer described "Eleanor Rigby" as a "charming song" and one of the album's best tracks. Derek Johnson, reviewing the single for the ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'', said it lacked the immediate appeal of "Yellow Submarine" but "possess
dlasting value" and was "beautifully handled by Paul, with baroque-type strings". Although he praised the string arrangement,
Peter Jones of ''
Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...
'' found the song "Pleasant enough but rather disjointed", saying, "it's commercial, but I like more meat from the Beatles." Ray Davies offered an unfavourable view when invited to give a song-by-song rundown of ''Revolver'' in ''
Disc and Music Echo''. He dismissed "Eleanor Rigby" as a song designed "to please music teachers in primary schools", adding: "I can imagine John saying, 'I'm going to write this for my old schoolmistress.' Still it's very commercial."
Reporting from London for ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'',
Richard Goldstein stated that ''Revolver'' was ubiquitous around the city, as if Londoners were uniting behind the Beatles in response to the antagonism shown towards the band in the US. He wrote: "As a commentary on the state of modern religion, this song will hardly be appreciated by those who see John Lennon as an anti-Christ. But 'Eleanor Rigby' is really about the unloved and un-cared-for." Commenting on the lyrics,
Edward Greenfield of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' wrote, "There you have a quality rare in pop music, compassion, born of an artist's ability to project himself into other situations." He found this "Specific understanding of emotion" evident also in McCartney's new love songs and described him as "the Beatle with the strongest musical staying power". While bemoaning that Americans' attention was overly focused on the band's image and non-musical activities, ''
KRLA Beat''s album reviewer predicted that "Eleanor Rigby" would "become a contemporary classic", adding that, aside from the quality of the string arrangement, "the haunting melody is one of the most beautiful to be found in our current pop music" and the lyrics "
reboth accurate and unforgettable". ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' found the single's pairing "unique" and described "Eleanor Rigby" as "a powerfully arranged, haunting story of sorrow and frustration".
The ''NME'' chose "Eleanor Rigby" as its "Single of the Year" for 1966. ''Melody Maker'' included the song among the year's five "singles to remember", and
Maureen Cleave of ''
The Evening Standard'' recognised the single and ''Revolver'' as the year's best records in her round-up of 1966. At the
9th Annual Grammy Awards in March 1967, "Eleanor Rigby" was nominated in three categories, winning the award for
Best Contemporary (R&R) Vocal Performance, Male or Female for McCartney.
Appearance in ''Yellow Submarine'' film and subsequent releases
"Eleanor Rigby" appears in the Beatles' 1968 animated film ''
Yellow Submarine'' as the band's submarine drifts over the desolate streets of Liverpool. Its poignancy ties in quite well with Starr (the first member of the group to encounter the submarine), who is represented as quietly bored and depressed. Starr's character states in his inner thoughts: "Compared with my life, Eleanor Rigby's was a gay, mad whirl."
Media theorist Stephanie Fremaux groups the song with "
Only a Northern Song
"Only a Northern Song" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 soundtrack album ''Yellow Submarine (album), Yellow Submarine''. Written by George Harrison, it was the first of four songs the band provided for the 1968 ani ...
" and "
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as a scene that most clearly conveys the Beatles' "aims as musicians". In her description, the segment depicts "moments of color and hope in a land of conformity and loneliness". With special effects directed by Charlie Jenkins, the animation incorporates photographs of silhouetted people; bankers with bowler hats and umbrellas are seen on rooftops, overlooking the streets.
The track also appears on several of the band's greatest-hits compilations, including ''
A Collection of Beatles Oldies'', ''
The Beatles 1962–1966'' and ''
1''. In 1986, "Yellow Submarine" / "Eleanor Rigby" was reissued in the UK as part of EMI's twentieth anniversary of each of the Beatles' singles and peaked at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart. The 2015 edition of ''1'' and the expanded ''1+'' box set includes a video clip for the song, taken from the ''Yellow Submarine'' film.
In 1996, a stereo remix of Martin's isolated string arrangement was released on the Beatles' ''
Anthology 2'' outtakes compilation. For the song's inclusion on the ''
Love'' album in 2006, a new mix was created that adds a strings-only portion at the start of the track and closes with a transition featuring part of Lennon's acoustic guitar from the 1968 song "
Julia".
The real-life Eleanor Rigby

McCartney's recollection of how he chose the name of his protagonist came under scrutiny in the 1980s, after a headstone engraved with the name "Eleanor Rigby" was discovered in the churchyard of
St Peter's Parish Church in
Woolton
Woolton (; ) is a suburb of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England. It is an area located southeast of the city and bordered by Allerton, Gateacre, Halewood, and Hunt's Cross. At the 2011 Census, the population was 12,921.
Overview
Originally a ...
, in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
.
Part of a well-known local family, Rigby had died in 1939 at the age of 44. Close by was a headstone bearing the name McKenzie. St Peter's was where Lennon attended
Sunday school
]
A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes.
Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...
as a boy, and he and McCartney first met at the church
fête there in July 1957. McCartney has said that while he often walked through the churchyard, he had no recollection of ever seeing Rigby's grave. He attributed the coincidence to a product of his subconscious. McCartney has also dismissed claims by people who, because of their name and a tenuous association with the Beatles, believed they were the real Father McKenzie.
In 1990, McCartney responded to a request from Sunbeams Music Trust by donating a historical document that listed the wages paid by Liverpool City Hospital; among the employees listed was Eleanor Rigby, who worked as a scullery maid at the hospital.
Dating from 1911 and signed by the 16-year-old Rigby,
the document attracted interest from collectors because of what it seemingly revealed about the inspiration behind the Beatles song.
It sold at auction in November 2008 for £115,000. McCartney stated at the time: "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."
Rigby's grave in Woolton became a landmark for Beatles fans visiting Liverpool.
A digitised image of the headstone was added to the 1995
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for the Beatles' reunion song "
Free as a Bird". Continued interest in a possible connection between the real-life Eleanor Rigby and the 1966 song led to the deeds for the grave being put up for auction in 2017,
along with a Bible that once belonged to Rigby and a handwritten score for the track (subsequently withdrawn) and other items of Beatles memorabilia.
Legacy
Sociocultural impact and literary appreciation

Although "Eleanor Rigby" was far from the first popular song to deal with death and loneliness, according to
Ian MacDonald it "came as quite a shock to pop listeners in 1966". It took a bleak message of
depression and desolation, written by a famous pop group, with a sombre, almost funeral-like backing, to the number one spot of the pop charts.
Richie Unterberger of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
cites the song's focus on "the neglected concerns and fates of the elderly" as "just one example of why the Beatles' appeal reached so far beyond the traditional rock audience".
''Revolver'' signalled a shift in the Beatles' discography in its inclusion of compositions that departed from the romantic genre. Commenting on the preponderance of young people who, under the influence of drugs such as
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
and
LSD, increasingly afforded films and rock music exhaustive analysis,
Mark Kurlansky writes: "Beatles songs were examined like Tennyson's poems. Who was Eleanor Rigby?"
The song's lyrics became the subject of study by
sociologists
This list of sociologists includes people who have made notable contributions to sociological theory or to research in one or more areas of sociology.
A
* Peter Abell, British sociologist
* Andrew Abbott, American sociologist
* Margaret ...
, who from 1966 began to view the band as spokesmen for their generation. In 2018, Colin Campbell, professor of sociology at the
University of York
The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
, published a book-length analysis of the lyrics, titled ''The Continuing Story of Eleanor Rigby''. Writing in the 1970s, however, Roy Carr and Tony Tyler dismissed the song's sociological relevance as academics "rear
nga mis-shapen skull", adding: "Though much praised at the time (by sociologists), 'Eleanor Rigby' was sentimental, melodramatic and a blind alley."
According to author and satirist
Craig Brown, the lyrics to "Eleanor Rigby" have been "the most extravagantly praised" of all the Beatles' songs, "and by all the right people". These include poets such as
Allen Ginsberg and
Thom Gunn
Thomson William "Thom" Gunn (29 August 1929 – 25 April 2004) was an English poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with Movement (literature), The Movement, and his later poetry in America, where he adop ...
, the last of whom likened the song to
W.H. Auden's poem "Miss Gee", and literary critic
Karl Miller, who included the lyrics in his 1968 anthology ''Writing in England Today''.
In his 1970 book ''Revolt in Style'', Liverpudlian musician and critic
George Melly admired the "imaginative truth of 'Eleanor Rigby'", likening it to author
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
's treatment of his own hometown in ''
Dubliners
''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century.
The stories were writ ...
''. Novelist and poet
A.S. Byatt recognised the song as having the "minimalist perfection" of a Samuel Beckett story. In a talk on
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
in 1993, Byatt said that "Wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door" – a line that MacDonald deems "the single most memorable image in The Beatles' output" – conveys a level of despair unacceptable to English middle-class sensibilities and, rather than being a reference to make-up, suggests that Rigby "is faceless, is nothing" once alone in her home.
In 1982, the
''Eleanor Rigby'' statue was unveiled on Stanley Street in Liverpool as a donation from
Tommy Steele in tribute to the Beatles. The plaque carries a dedication to "All the Lonely People".
In 2004, ''Revolver'' appeared second in ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
''s list of "The 100 Greatest British Albums", compiled by a panel of 100 contributors. In his commentary for the newspaper,
John Harris highlighted "Eleanor Rigby" as arguably the album's "single greatest achievement", saying that it "perfectly evokes an England of bomb sites and spinsters, where in the darkest moments it does indeed seem that 'no one was saved'". Harris concluded: "Most pop songwriters have always wrapped up Englishness in camp and irony – here, in a rare moment for British rock, post-war Britain is portrayed in terms of its truly grave aspects."
Musical influence and further recognition
David Simonelli cites the chamber-orchestrated "Eleanor Rigby" as an example of the Beatles' influence being such that, whatever the style of song, their progressiveness defined the parameters of rock music. Music academics Michael Campbell and James Brody highlight the track's melodic shape and imaginative backing to illustrate how, paired with similarly synergistic elements in "
A Day in the Life", the Beatles' use of music and lyrics made them one of the two acts in 1960s rock, along with
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, who were "most responsible for elevating its level of discourse and expanding its horizons".
Soon after its release, Melly stated that "Pop has come of age" with "Eleanor Rigby", while songwriter
Jerry Leiber said, "I don't think there's ever been a better song written." In a 1967 interview,
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s an ...
of
the Who
The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
commented on the Beatles: "They are basically my main source of inspiration – and everyone else's for that matter. I think 'Eleanor Rigby' was a very important musical move forward. It certainly inspired me to write and listen to things in that vein." In his television show ''
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution'', which aired in April 1967, American composer and conductor
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
championed the Beatles' talents among contemporary pop acts and highlighted the song's string arrangement as an example of the eclectic qualities that made 1960s pop music worthy of recognition as art.
Barry Gibb
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...
of the
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees
were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...
said that their 1969 song "
Melody Fair" was influenced by "Eleanor Rigby".
America's single "
Lonely People" was written by
Dan Peek in 1973 as an optimistic response to the Beatles track.
In 2000, ''
Mojo'' ranked "Eleanor Rigby" at number 19 on the magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Songs of All Time". In
BBC Radio 2's millennium poll, listeners voted it as one of the top 100 songs of the twentieth century. It was ranked at number 137 on ''Rolling Stone''s list "
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and number 243 on the 2021 revised list. In 2006, ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'' ranked it at number 47 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". "Eleanor Rigby" was inducted into the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...
'
Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. It has been a ''
Desert Island Discs'' selection by individuals such as
Cathy Berberian,
Charles Aznavour,
Patricia Hayes, Carlos Frank and
Geoffrey Howe. Similarly,
Marshall Crenshaw named it to a list of ten songs that represent perfect songwriting.
Other versions
By the mid-2000s, over 200 cover versions of "Eleanor Rigby" had been made. George Martin included the song on his November 1966 album ''
George Martin Instrumentally Salutes "The Beatle Girls"'', one of a series of interpretive works by the band's producer designed to appeal to the
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
market.
The song was also popular with
soul
The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
artists seeking to widen their stylistic range.
Ray Charles recorded a version that was released as a single in 1968 and peaked at number 35 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 36 in the UK. Lennon highlighted it as a "fantastic" cover.
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
's version of "Eleanor Rigby" charted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in December 1969. Music journalist Chris Ingham recognises the Charles and Franklin recordings as notable
progressive soul interpretations of the song.
McCartney recorded a new version of "Eleanor Rigby", with Martin again scoring the orchestration, for his 1984 film ''
Give My Regards to Broad Street''. Departing from the premise of the film, the song's sequence features McCartney dressed in
Victorian costume. On the accompanying
soundtrack album, the track segues into a symphonic extension titled "Eleanor's Dream". He has also performed the song frequently in concert, starting with his
1989–90 world tour.
In 2021, composer
Cody Fry arranged recordings submitted by 400 musicians into an orchestral cover of "Eleanor Rigby". It was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals at the
64th Annual Grammy Awards.
Personnel
According to Ian MacDonald:
The Beatles
*
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
– lead and harmony vocals
*
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
– harmony vocals
*
George Harrison – harmony vocals
Additional musicians
* Tony Gilbert –
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
*
Sidney Sax – violin
* John Sharpe – violin
* Juergen Hess – violin
* Stephen Shingles –
viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
* John Underwood – viola
*
Derek Simpson –
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
* Norman Jones – cello
*
George Martin –
string arrangement,
conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Notes
References
Sources
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External links
Full lyrics for the song at the Beatles' official website*
{{Authority control
1966 songs
1966 singles
The Beatles songs
Parlophone singles
Capitol Records singles
Songs written by Lennon–McCartney
Song recordings produced by George Martin
Songs published by Northern Songs
UK singles chart number-one singles
RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Number-one singles in Germany
Number-one singles in New Zealand
Number-one singles in Norway
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Aretha Franklin songs
Joan Baez songs
Ray Charles songs
Tony Bennett songs
1960s ballads
Pop ballads
Rock ballads
Songs about fictional female characters
Songs about poverty
Songs about loneliness
Songs about cemeteries
Songs about death
Art rock songs
Baroque pop songs
The Beatles' Yellow Submarine