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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   Sep 6th 2007 !⃝

   The song is about being lonely but more what happens when you have no one. It's about Eleanor's suicide. The last line gives it away.
2. anonymous

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   Sep 2nd 2007 !⃝

   It's so funny, I had already written my interpretation to this song, and then my teacher in my freshmen comp. class at SCC asks for us to write an essay on the song...
   
   I still say socialism.

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3. anonymous

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   Jul 9th 2007 !⃝

   When Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church, it might be because she is poor and has no money for food.

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4. anonymous

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   Mar 26th 2007 !⃝

   Here is what I have always thought the song was about, and was surprised nobody else picked up on it. It is about the murder of a prostitute by a man she had an affair with.
   
   Eleanor was a prostitute who went to Father Mackenzie to be saved. Why prostitute? 'Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door' - meaning makeup... and since she can't wear it inside the church, one would assume it would be considered too 'trampish'.
   
   'lives in a dream'. She doesn't like her life of a prostitute, and knows she will never get married like she sees others at the church (though she dreams about it)... 'who is it for?' - everyone but her.
   
   'Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear, No one comes near.' Father Mackenzie has disgraced himself by having this affair, and the people no longer will come to hear his sermons.
   
   'Look at him working. Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there - What does he care?' He doesn't care if people know, and he continues the affair. 'Darning his socks', aka: having sex at night, when the church-goers aren't there.
   
   'Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name - Nobody came'. They say die, I say murdered. Nobody came to her funeral, because of not only who she was... but what she was doing with the Father.
   
   'Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave - No one was saved'. Wiping the dirt, he killed and buried her... and tried to wipe away his shame (dirt). And in the end, not only could he not save her... He could not save himself. No one was saved.
   
   Two very lonely people, who turned to each other to be saved... which basically destroyed both of them.
   
   Just one guy's thoughts... The Beatles enjoyed writing about murder sometimes too (Maxwell Silverhammer). I am not one of those 'Beatle lyric = drugs' people either... gotta give them MUCH more credit than that).
5. anonymous

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   Jan 26th 2007 !⃝

   Lonliness is the result of having a place in society that is ignored or goes unseen by society. The Beatles considered themselves socialists, in their Utopian society neither Father McKenzie or Eleanor Rigby would go unnoticed because their particular stations in society could never be unseen. It is the exploitation of Eleanor and McKenzie's involuntary detachment from the modern capitalistic society that the Beatles are commenting on. They felt that everyone got so into their own social standings that they unconsciously forgot or never noticed those whose lives appeared to be of less worth. Lonliness is what the Beatles used to evoke a cathartic reaction from their listeners. Everyone understands lonliness. Maybe through exploiting others lonely lives people will see that everyone should have worth in society.
6. Thorn495

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   Jan 9th 2007 !⃝

   All very spot on interpretations here. I think the real question to ask ourselves is how and why we LET people get this way?
7. anonymous

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   Nov 20th 2006 !⃝

   Father MacKenzie isn't 'darning' his socks, he's 'donning' them. As in putting them on. So he's going somewhere alone at night. 's all I've got, sorry.

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8. anonymous

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   Oct 31st 2006 !⃝

   I see this song as a reference to the inability of the church to ease the suffering of its people. Father Mackenzie is so far removed that "no one comes near." even as Eleanor is suffering in her loneliness, the church (personified in father Mackenzie) does nothing to help, and she dies as she lived-alone, unreached by anyone- even god. "no one was saved" is the bitterest line in the whole song, because not only was Eleanor "unsaved" one can assume that the isolated priest is just as alone, without a sense of belonging. This song hurts in that god is so near, but man still finds a way to tangle himself up, and miss his creator in the confusion. And we live lonely, hopeless lives, wondering "where do [we] all belong?"
9. anonymous

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   Jul 8th 2006 !⃝

   Ok, I think that it could be all of the above mentioned... but I feel that Lennon and McCartney portrayed it to show Elanor Rigby doing what is considered "mans work" in the 1960's because she is basically a custodian for the church, "picks up the rice in a church where a wedding was found" and Father Mackenzie "darning his socks" that is often described as womens work in the 60's.... This song is amazingly written and I feeel it is a subtle jab at the church, for keeping 2 people away from each other just because one of them is a priest and can't marry.
10. Spork

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    May 21st 2006 !⃝

    According to an interview with John Lennon, when Paul wrote this song he got to the second verse, before he handed it off to John Lennon and said "Hey, finish this up for me." John wrote the last verse and that's why it's more depressing than the other ones.
11. VampireGal

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    Apr 18th 2006 !⃝

    I think it is about two people who like each other but are too shy to talk to each other from the lines "picks up the rice in a church where a wedding has been" and "father mackenzie writeing the words to a sermon that none will hear"

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12. plasticcup_politics

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    Apr 3rd 2006 !⃝

    The basis of the song is pretty obvious I think. Yes, it's about loneliness and feel/being alone. Eleanor and the father of the church both lead solitary lives. The scene at the wedding shows Eleanor's desire to be loved and have a family. She basically watches the wedding take place from a distance and wishes that could be her. Also she lived such a lonely live that even when she died no one come to her funeral. The song is basically the Beatle's pondering on the fact that...how can someone be that alone? I find it really sad too!
13. anonymous

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    Mar 30th 2006 !⃝

    When the Beatles were working on Revolver, they got the idea for the song. No one had to be lonely to write it...One day they went to different cemeteries, smoking and they got all the names off of tombstones. I'm pretty sure they just made up the situations. John aLennon and Paul MCcartney were lyrical geniuses after all.

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14. ksig286

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    Jan 28th 2006 !⃝

    We tried to better understand the lyrics of "Eleanor Rigby" in an English class I'm taking. Here's what I came up with. "Eleanor Rigby" is about loneliness. The Beatles let us in on a few things in the lyrics. First, I believe since the question is asked many times in the chorus the Beatles believed that people belong somewhere in society and when they are alone it's utterly depressing. Then the Beatles use the church and Eleanor picking up the rice where a wedding had been, that just increases the utter loneliness that is present. There's tons of other places in the song where loneliness is just really depressing.. All in all, I think it can be summed up in one sentence... We as people should strive to become part of society because when we are alone it is just an utterly depressing lifestyle to have to live. Of course this could all be totally wrong, but I think I'm on to something.
15. anonymous

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    Jan 27th 2006 !⃝

    it makes me so sad and I don't know what it means will someone tell me? Please

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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