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Beatles - Eleanor Rigby Song MeaningsLyrics: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... (See the rest of these lyrics) Submitted by: anonymous Added: 2006-01-27 20:53:56 Rating:  it makes me so sad and I don't know what it means will someone tell me? Please
Submitted by: ksig286 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.
Submitted by: anonymous 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.
Submitted by: plasticcup_politics 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!
Submitted by: VampireGal 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"
Submitted by: lcurtis.2006 This song is obviously about feeling lonely and depressed. When Eleanor goes out she tries to make people think that she is happy and not all alone.
Submitted by: Spork 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.
Submitted by: anonymous 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.
Submitted by: anonymous 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?"
Submitted by: anonymous 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.
Submitted by: Thorn495 All very spot on interpretations here. I think the real question to ask ourselves is how and why we LET people get this way?
Submitted by: anonymous 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.
Submitted by: anonymous 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.
Submitted by: anonymous When Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church, it might be because she is poor and has no money for food.
Submitted by: anonymous 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...
Submitted by: anonymous Eleanor Rigby is about a Priest sleeping with a hooker.
Submitted by: anonymous 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.
Submitted by: anonymous I've always thought the song was about the loneliness people of the cloth often lead. Elanor was a nun who ran a rural church with father McKinsey. They intentionally chose to live that way, so although we may interpret their existence as lonely or detached, their sadness (if any) is their own concern.
Submitted by: anonymous Worshiping wrong person..........
Submitted by: anonymous My interpretation is that this song is about murder/suicide. Eleanor Rigby is in love with Father McKenzie. They cannot consummate their love, him being a priest. They decide to end it all. He writes the suicide letter (the sermon nobody will hear). They both dress up, and after he buries her he takes his own life. No one was saved...
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