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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   Nov 22nd 2011 !⃝

   Uhm...I like how no one ever picks up on the words "No one was saved". In Catholic faith, you cannot be saved if you committed suicide. And since this is a song that is about loneliness, and loneliness often leads to suicide, that is the inevitable outcome of this tragedy.
2. anonymous

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   Sep 27th 2011 !⃝

   My interpretation on this song is that The Beatles wanted to emphasize the ignorance of society and how everyone is alone. You can put a happy face to society hence to the term "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" but in reality you will always feel alone.
3. anonymous

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   Sep 22nd 2011 !⃝

   About paul's death.
4. anonymous

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   Aug 31st 2011 !⃝

   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 wedding
   has been
   Lives in a dream
   [Eleanor dreams of the day when she too can be married and fantasizes about the wedding being her own. She's depressed because she's alone and wants to find a lover.]
   
   Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by
   the door
   [Eleanor puts on a face. She tries to hide behind an act and pretend that she's okay and that she's happy, but deep inside she's depressed, and it's killing her.]
   
   Who is it for?
   [Why does she put on a face? She should be who she really is instead of hiding her feelings of despair from the world.]
   
   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
   [The people don't listen to what he is saying, they don't take his words and apply them, the don't truly listen. Maybe he knows that Eleanor is going to die, or maybe she told him that she plans to kill herself, so he prepares a sermon for her funeral.]
   
   No one comes near.
   [No one bothers him while he prepares his sermon.]
   
   Look at him working. Darning his socks in the night when there's
   nobody there
   [Darning means to repair. He repairs his socks. Probably because he knows that he will be preaching Eleanor's funeral.]
   
   What does he care?
   [He wonders why it matters that he looks decent for her funeral. He suspects that no one will come anyway.]
   
   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
   [She died or killed herself...either way, she died keeping her maiden name because she never married. She left no impact on anyone she left behind and as a consequence of that, she was not remembered. Her name died along with her.]
   
   Nobody came
   [It is exactly as it says. No one loved her or cared for her, and no one cared that she died.]
   
   Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from
   the grave
   [Wiping he dirt from ones hands symbolizes the end, or to be done with something. This is the end of Eleanor.]
   
   No one was saved
   [Nothing in her life was of an importance, no one came to her funeral, therefore no one heard the sermon Father Mckenzie prepared. No one was saved.]
   
   
   All the lonely people
   Where do they all come from?
   [How are there so many people like Eleanor in the world? How can so many broken people hide behind a face, depressed and all alone?]
   
   All the lonely people
   Where do they all belong?
   [What can you do for them? How can they be helped? They are past the point of no return, only to die...like Eleanor Rigby.]
5. anonymous

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   Jul 25th 2011 !⃝

   I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, that I've seen, but I feel like the song is about a murder.
   Eleanor Rigby is a lonely woman who nobody cares about. She tries to appear happy but inside she's really just a sad soul (Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door). So she spends her time at the church, pretending that she's a part of society and its goings-on. She uses the cleaning after the wedding as an excuse to not go home to a house where she is completely and utterly alone.
   The Father is also a lonesome man, and writes sermons even though no one will hear them. He keeps to himself in the night and darns his socks to keep appearances up, but why does it matter, because no one goes to his church?
   And so then, the Father just snaps, and kills Eleanor Rigby while she's cleaning up the church. He buries her "along with her name", meaning in a nameless grave with no one there but himself. As he wipes the dirt from his hands, it's both literally and figuratively, because he has just buried her in the dirt, and he is "forgiving" himself for his sin and brushing off the guilt. The line "No one was saved" means that Eleanor nor the Father were saved, Eleanor from death and Father McKenzie from corruption.
6. Jason Stephens

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   Jun 20th 2011 !⃝

   Eleanor Rigby might have been a prostitute, but that part doesn't really matter. the main thing that people didn't understand was that father McKenzie wasn't the villain. here's my interpretation:
   
   Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
   Lives in a dream
   *she's picking up the rice because she's starving- its not some thing she decides to do for fun. she dreams of a better life.
   
   Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
   Who is it for?
   *this might mean that she is being fake, or it is alluding to prostitution.
   
   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.
   *everyone leaves him alone- they dont understand why he wants to give a sermon at a funeral no one cares about, but he writes anyways.
   
   Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
   What does he care?
   *the public wonders why he cares about this funeral- he patches his socks even though its not an important matter- he does it for her.
   
   Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
   Nobody came
   *she died a christian but no one came- no one remembered her name afterwards
   
   Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
   No one was saved
   *at funerals a sermon is preached to try to bring people to the faith (like the one father McKenzie was preparing) but no one was there to hear it so no one was saved. He wiped dirt from his hands because he buried her himself- there was no one else to do it.
7. anonymous

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   Jun 4th 2011 !⃝

   I feel this song is a burn to Christianity/Catholocism.
   
   To further confirm this, in the second verse he describes a priest (Father McKenzie). Writing a sermon to give the lonely people some meaning in their lives, but like they said - it's a sermon that no one will hear. To describe how hard he works to get them to "hear" or understand, they say "look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there. What does he care?"
   
   Then to describe their emptiness, or lack of something - they call them the "lonely people." Which is basically their lack of what Jesus taught - which again makes perfect sense considering that among the vast amount of Christians/Catholics, very few do anything Jesus taught. Most just go through the phases, church, getting their kids baptised, confirmed, etc.
   
   Then to sum it all up, the life time and existence of what to them was a meaningless life of loneliness, they give the third verse.
   
   Saying how the message was never heard, "Eleanor Rigby, died in the church and was buried along with her name." Basically saying she died with her beliefs, being completely useless because she never "heard the sermon, or in other words got the message and practiced it. Therefore ending the "religious experience of Christianity," with a short story explaining you go through the motions of life, very lonely from lack of the things that Jesus taught. Or in other words a pointless religion. Then after the priest fails to get you to "the light." "No one was saved."
   
   Verse 1 - basic life of a Christian/Catholic woman.
   Verse 2 - priest working hard to put together meaningful sermons, to give people meaning for their lives and something to live by. No one ever getting anything from those sermons.
   Verse 3 - she "dies in the church." Or in other words dies believing what she believes. And in the end, no one was saved.
   
   It kind of makes sense. Modern Christianity/Catholicism believes that to be saved, all you need to do is "believe in Jesus." So if you're a Christian/Catholic you're saved. They even go as far as to say that God doesn't "honor" any other religions.
   
   But if you red the New Testament, one of the things Jesus said is you can believe in me, but unless you do what I taught, you won't get into heaven. Not in those exact words, but check out the parable describing the house on the sand vs. the house on the rock.
   
   Just goes to show how much The Beatles minds started exploring after their phychedelic trips.
   
   Nothing but love songs, to some deep songs that take some really thinking to understand. And some that are just so creative that their previous work just couldn't compare (on a creative level).
8. anonymous

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   May 26th 2011 !⃝

   Here's a new interpretation, I think: Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie were secretly in love, but could never consummate this love affair due to his unwillingness to break his vow of priesthood.
   
   May of the points others have mentioned about their loneliness still apply, except I disagree with others who say Father McKenzie doesn't care about Eleanor. Each are lonely in different ways, because of their need for intimacy with the other that will never happen.
   
   The clues:
   
   "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door, who is it for?" -- The face in the jar is obvious, but the "who is it for" part indicates that she doesn't just bring it out for everyone, she has special feelings for one specific person. (But the fact it is an unanswered question indicates it's a secret she is keeping.)
   
   "Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear" -- He's frustrated at his decision to become a priest, knowing that he's not making a difference in people's lives and he is unable to obtain the intimacy and love that he so craves. He "darns his socks" i.e. works hard to be the best priest he can, but it is making him miserable. "What does he care?", i.e. why doesn't he just break his vows and hook up with Eleanor? Clearly he is not just any old uncaring priest, he is one of the "lonely people" too, trapped by his moral predicament.
   
   "Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
   No one was saved " -- This is the kicker. If he didn't care for Eleanor, only she would have been lost. But since she died (or committed suicide?), and he loved her deeply, in effect they both were lost. "No one was saved" by the tragedy of their unrequited love.
   
9. anonymous

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   Apr 30th 2011 !⃝

   Elenor and father Mckenzie both lived at the rectory. He the pastor and she as his housekeeper. While she longed to be loved and held, she kept it a secret as she was a commoner. The father was so heavenly minded that he couldnt even see the love that was right at his fingertips. He too had an emptiness that even the Lord could not fill. So while they were both at the wedding, he officiating and she as perhaps the cleaning lady, he never really realized that what he needed most was right in front of his eyes. Even in death, though Mckenzie was so near, Elenor died alone, and with her the secret she kept from the world. Most Sundays she was the only one to hear the long boring sermons filled with longing and despair. Oh how she danced and imagined being in the arms of this stern man. How he needed to be loved, but she musnt let on. So now a short speech about how good a woman she was. Watch him wring his hands as he looks up. realizing the love lost, now forever. How sad a man. So sad indeed.......
10. anonymous

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    Apr 29th 2011 !⃝

    Eleanor Rigby wasn't saved because she comitted suicide.
11. Nike

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    Apr 20th 2011 !⃝

    Elenor Rigby is just another random name, by whom the poet means "All the lonely people". It hasn't got anything to do with the FEELING of loneliness.
    
    For example, think of any roadside beggar you see, lost in his own thoughts, cursing himself. This song is a story of every one of these poor (and lonely) people
    (at least the poet has given her a home!). This is Elenor Rigby.
    
    On the other hand, Father McKenzie is a lonely person (but) having some money to his name. Even though he has got respect (being a Father), he has got no position in the society.
    
    The meaning's easy now. Each line becomes self-explanatory.
    
    In the Last verse before the chorus, the poet beautifully shows the link between these two groups in the society: even though they have a relation, its not emotional, hence all are lonely.
    
    As far the line "where do they all come from" is concerned, it implies that this song is written by a person who is neither lonely nor poor, and just a spectator watching all these people.
12. anonymous

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    Apr 17th 2011 !⃝

    The song is about a lonely old lady the Paul McCartney would often see and he felt sad for her not having anyone in life to be a friend or be there for her. I think it is their greatest song written and one of the greatest songs of all time.
13. anonymous

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    Apr 3rd 2011 !⃝

    I think this song is talking about the fact that there are people in this world who have no place in the world. It's saying that people die everyday that no one knew existed or that no one cared about. Eleanor Rigby is an elderly person who went to father McKenzies church. Her family never visits her and have basically forgotten her existance but she "lives in a dream" she tells herself everyday that they are coming and everyday she does her makeup gets dressed and waits by her window for them to come, even though subconsciously she knows they never will. Father mcKenzies church has been abandoned for years. No one but Eleanor Rigby even attends his masses. He works hard everyday on his sermons although he knows that no one will hear them. When Eleanor dies father McKenzie says her funeral that no one attends. I feel this song implies that lonely people are on this earth for people to reach out to. That the lonely people are here to save us.
14. anonymous

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    Mar 6th 2011 !⃝

    Depression/loneliness.
15. bobkiller27

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    Mar 5th 2011 !⃝

    I have my own opinion on elanor rigby. I think it is about a lonely outcast. The first reason is after saying she keeps a face in a jar by the door they ask "Who is it for?" I think that this woman is an out cast because she did something against the church. I the end I think she commits suicide in the church. I think this action is closely related to father Mckenzy because many people say that he wipes the dirt from his hands. But recently I interpreted it saying wiping the death from his hands.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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