Beatles: Eleanor Rigby Meaning

Song Released: 1966

Eleanor Rigby Lyrics

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 weddng
has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by
the door
Who is...

1. anonymous

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   Aug 19th 2012 !⃝

   I agree with most of the comments that have been made so far, and I can't add much more. One thing I can say, though, is that someone who could write such an amazing song has to be a god! And that's what I think of The Beatles.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
2. anonymous

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   Aug 9th 2012 !⃝

   This is what I thought:
   Eleanor is mentally ill."Look at all the lonely people! Where do they all come from?" is not a lament about her but her actual thoughts. Father Mckenzie is not only a preacher but her actual father, and he killed her in the church and literally buried her... "wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave." He could have murdered her because he is lonely. No one can come near him because Eleanor lives with him and he's keeping her to himself because he thinks it would be better for her ("no one was saved" implies he thought he was saving Eleanor by disposing of her.) Or he could have killed her because he's mentally ill, too.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
3. anonymous

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   Jul 17th 2012 !⃝

   I feel this song is about eleanor's pure loneliness. During the first verse
   Eleanor rigby picks up the rice in a church where a wedding had been
   Eleanor is lonely and feels outcast. No one loves her.
   She lives in a dream. She. Dreams of having a life. While she masks her true feelings in public she is very lonely.
   Father mckenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will here.he knows no one will come to eleanors funeral. He writes on anyway.darning his socks in the night to look presentable although no one will be coming.
   Eleanor rigby died in a church she committed suicide because of how lonely she was(which father mckenzie knew)
   And was buried along with her name she was never talked about again. She was forgotten.
   Nobody came(that line explains itself)
   Father mckenzie wiped of the dirt from his hands as he walked from her grave.hes closing her ceremony. No one came and he's glad he's over it.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
4. anonymous

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   Jul 7th 2012 !⃝

   Hello I wanted to add about my comment - "All the lonely people - where do they all come from? :)
   Before I'll start writing about the song and its meaning, I must apologize for my English (you see, I don't speak this language in my country so.... haha :D)
   "Elinor Rigby picks up the rise in a church when a wedding has been. Lives in a dream.."
   So who's this Elinor Rigby?
   Well, obiviously , she's a lonely person.
   Why?
   There might be several and optional reasons for her being lonely-
   First, she had a bad or mean behavior, so nobody wanted to be with her.
   Furthermore, she was rich and prefered to live alone - "lives in a dream".
   However, I believe she was poor and miserable - "Elinor Rigby PICKS UP THE RISE in a church..."
   She didn't have much money to pay for food so she picked up the rise from the wedding for her living. She was lonely, mabey, because she had no family, and because of her being poor- she didn't have friends.
   And what about Father McKanzie?
   Well, seems like he was a lonely person too.
   "Father McKanzie writing the words of seremon that no one will hear, no one comes near" - from these lyrics (and his name) we can understand he worked at a church.
   Yet, I think he chose to live that way-
   "...look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there. WHAT DOES HE CARE" - He does not care of being alone. Mabey he was poor because he was darning his socks in the night and cannot buy new ones? (and mabey it was his hobby? :DD)
   Hey, do you rememeber the "no one was saved"?
   Well we can all guess what happend. The problem with this sentence is that if F.Mckanzie and Elinor were lonely people so does the "no one" talk about Elinor and F.McKanzie or mabey the people who were in that wedding?
   God I LOVE this song!! :-)
   What's the connection between Father McKanzie and Elinor Rigby?
   *They were both lonely
   *They were both at the same, probably, church.
   So this song actually talks about miserable and poor people who live by themselves only, and Father McKanzie & Elinor Rigby were only examples of those lonely people.
   Does this song tell us that these lonely people are choosing to be lonely? Why? How? When?- what?
   
   In conclusion, the Elinor Rigby song is an interesting creation by the Beatles. The band tried to make us think little more than the usual. If we all think about it, mabey it says we should never be alone, because we will be unhappy and helpless (and live in peace hehe)."
   The song says "wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door. Who is it for?"
   I think "the face" she "keeps in a jar by the door" is make up. But no one will see her (lonely person) so who is it for?

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
5. anonymous

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   Jun 14th 2012 !⃝

   Eleanor is one of the many sad individuals that all have to over come something...But not everyone has the strength to overcome their problem. Eleanor is one of these people. Her depression, loneliness, and heartache were too hard to bare. She always wore a fake smile or expression for the people but seeing the fact that no one actually cared she let go. Just as the priest did as he buried her lifeless body with no remorse. I believe she killed herself to be rid herself of the depression. I think the moral of this song is too pay more attention to people, because no matter how they may look it may not be as it seems.
   -Sincerely, Rebel Of The Status Quo
6. anonymous

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   Jun 7th 2012 !⃝

   All the lonely people - where do they all come from? :)
   Before I'll start writing about the song and its meaning, I must apologize for my English (you see, I don't speak this language in my country so.... haha :D)
   "Elinor Rigby picks up the rise in a church when a wedding has been. Lives in a dream.."
   So who's this Elinor Rigby?
   Well, obiviously , she's a lonely person.
   Why?
   There might be several and optional reasons for her being lonely-
   First, she had a bad or mean behavior, so nobody wanted to be with her.
   Furthermore, she was rich and prefered to live alone - "lives in a dream".
   However, I believe she was poor and miserable - "Elinor Rigby PICKS UP THE RISE in a church..."
   She didn't have much money to pay for food so she picked up the rise from the wedding for her living. She was lonely, mabey, because she had no family, and because of her being poor- she didn't have friends.
   And what about Father McKanzie?
   Well, seems like he was a lonely person too.
   "Father McKanzie writing the words of seremon that no one will hear, no one comes near" - from these lyrics (and his name) we can understand he worked at a church.
   Yet, I think he chose to live that way-
   "...look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there. WHAT DOES HE CARE" - He does not care of being alone. Mabey he was poor because he was darning his socks in the night and cannot buy new ones? (and mabey it was his hobby? :DD)
   Hey, do you rememeber the "no one was saved"?
   Well we can all guess what happend. The problem with this sentence is that if F.Mckanzie and Elinor were lonely people so does the "no one" talk about Elinor and F.McKanzie or mabey the people who were in that wedding?
   God I LOVE this song!! :-)
   What's the connection between Father McKanzie and Elinor Rigby?
   *They were both lonely
   *They were both at the same, probably, church.
   So this song actually talks about miserable and poor people who live by themselves only, and Father McKanzie & Elinor Rigby were only examples of those lonely people.
   Does this song tell us that these lonely people are choosing to be lonely? Why? How? When?- what?
   
   In conclusion, the Elinor Rigby song is an interesting creation by the Beatles. The band tried to make us think little more than the usual. If we all think about it, mabey it says we should never be alone, because we will be unhappy and hapless (and live in peace hehe).
7. anonymous

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   Apr 14th 2012 !⃝

   she lives in a dream-she would loved to be named and wants to have the happy life.
   waits at the window(watches the world)-its between her and the perticipation of the world itself.shes waiting for the world to come at her but she doesnt seem to be perticipating in it
   wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
8. anonymous

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   Apr 12th 2012 !⃝

   I believe it's about what are lonely ppl are doing in our world and even though they may not exist in our eyes they still are ppl.
   Also they are here to help each other and they have all have a part in this world. Eleanor cleans the rice. Father writes sermons. Who cares? They do. They are the behind the scenes doing all the dirty work. When Eleanor died father buried her bec he felt her pain. Ironically they were never alone.
9. anonymous

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   Mar 24th 2012 !⃝

   I think its about how Elanor Rigby is a depressed person. She trys to look happy when she's out, but she never really is, and she is sad again when she's at home."Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" It seems that she is looking at her hopes that never will actually happen to her."Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a weddng/has been/Lives in a dream"
   The part ("Father McKenzie writing the/words of a sermon that no one will hear/
   No one comes near.") Was written because during the time that this song was written, there were very few religious people who actually went to church.
   The part when she dies is very sad. No one comes to her funeral(which shows that she is a "lonely person") and the preacher wipes the dirt from his hands and walks away like he doesn't care about her and that he's just glad that its over with.
10. anonymous

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    Mar 18th 2012 !⃝

    Despite having a near, "here's the church, here's the people, open the door and see all the people" similarity, the comparative metaphorical context is much more significant.
    
    Perhaps I hear the satirical and darkly humorous underpinnings since I am a product of the 60's school of thought and not it's promoter. I also have not centralized an entire thesis upon the revolutionary concepts that music delivered during that era with the emergence of The Beatles though I have read-up on the subject some though not as extensively as others, obviously. I was much more concerned with how the black culture of the south influenced the product through the sum of parts which consequently was a marked revolutionary event in and of itself. Southern charm is also an influencial school of thought programed by the establishment into the minds of the feebile, though in "charm school" I once pointed this out and (as usual) was shunned by my peers. Since I know this will not see the light of day I will continue:
    
    Just as Elenor (Roosavelt?)leaves her face/facade at the door, the church is also a facade...what people see; the exterior. Open the doors and see something completely different.
    
    Why in a jar at the door as if something you grab on the way out? Because there is protection within the false projection of what is socially acceptable. This is not unique in the least bit for we all put in our false teeth to be able to chew whatever slop we're given by the world.
    
    The melencholy lament for a saviour becomes a religious allusion that superseeds not only the times but the song itself...it isn't the pathetic longings of a lonely Elenor or of Father McKenzie who disdainfully works to lead the lost flock there, it's about living life in vain.
    
    To some extent we all avoid compacency, it's human to set goals and to dream and strive toward thoses goals and dreams. Misery lies in waiting by a window with a false sense of the future and in obediently working for nothing, for the name that Elenor worked for is the name on the headstone that was all in a days work for the man who worked so hard to pave the way for dear Elenor to be "saved."
    
    Who is it for?! EACHOTHER, and so the point is missed! It isn't for a saviour of any kind...there is a gap that can never be filled! Thanks to the Me Generation the Why Me Generation has to fill it all in.
    
    Ok, and for shits and giggles...why is it that Father McKenzie darns his sock in the night when no one is near? Is it to keep his hands clean? Bahaha!
11. anonymous

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    Mar 18th 2012 !⃝

    I agree with all the interpretations but i feel that Father McKenzie is also a lonely person. no one talks to him while he writes his sermon, no one pays attention to his sermon either. he also spends nights alone
    
    "donning his socks in the night when there's nobody there"
    
    the end of the song brings the two lonely people togther...
12. anonymous

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    Feb 13th 2012 !⃝

    It's about loneliness; fairly obvious really.
    I can't believe that #2 actually thinks that she commits suicide - where exactly is THAT suggested in the song?!?!
13. UndiscoveredGenius

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    Jan 14th 2012 !⃝

    I think the song deals with the grim realities of seemingly "perfect" lives. On the surface, Eleanor Rigby seems to enter into a picturesque life of love and marriage to be broken by the realization that the grass was not as green as it appeared. After the years progress, she realizes she wears (lives) a facade intended to deceive, and wonders 'what is the point?'
    
    Father McKenzie forgoes a life of companionship and intimacy to spread messages of a greater good, to no avail. "Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there/ what does he care?" - He distracts himself with pointless details to occupy his time and defer his attention from the reality of his personal isolation (and the futility of his efforts to reach people like Eleanor, who would most likely be seated in the congregation daydreaming about the life she could be living if she hadn't "picked up the rice" left after the wedding - implicitly a life left for the birds.
    
    This song on a broader level is a satirical lambast of the most altruistic concepts and questions the meaning of life itself. I don't think the intent was to bash marriage and religion specifically. These are metaphors that serve as the vehicles of destruction for so many well-intentioned people who live pitiful, forgettable lives. The resounding theme is despair; the mastery is that it is communicated in a way that is both timeless and hauntingly beautiful.
14. anonymous

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    Jan 10th 2012 !⃝

    To me, this song tells me stories about two people no one cared about.
    Hence the third and fourth lines, Eleanor works at a church and dislikes her job, because she sees many weddings, and she's jealous. She probably puts on makeup to impress men on the street, but it doesn't work, and she stays single. Hence the second verse, Father Mckenzie writes a sermon that no one will come to, maybe because the church isn't very wellknown. He obviously works for a long time on it. Hence the third verse, Eleanor died and no one cared, unhappily. Father Mckenzie himself wrote the sermon that no one came to listen to, but didn't care at all about Eleanor. All in all, it's about the world being ignorant and people being ignorant of others' needs. And perhaps the church was an all-black church, or Eleanor and Father Mckenzie were black themselves. That would explain why no one cared about them.
15. anonymous

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    Dec 18th 2011 !⃝

    The "face in a jar by the door" bit is talking about makeup.

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