Eleanor Rigby

• 1. Origins And Inspiration

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  Paul McCartney sat at a piano in 1966 and began experimenting with melodies that would eventually become Eleanor Rigby. He initially named the character Ola Na Tungee, an Indian-sounding name reflecting his interest in Eastern music at the time. The lyrics originally contained references to drug use, mentioning blowing minds in the dark and smoking from a pipe full of clay. McCartney later changed the protagonist's name to Miss Daisy Hawkins before settling on Eleanor Rigby. He chose Eleanor partly because of actress Eleanor Bron who appeared in their 1965 film Help! The surname Rigby came from a store called Rigby & Evens Ltd in Bristol where he visited his girlfriend Jane Asher during January 1966. McCartney recalled liking how the name sounded natural for a song about loneliness. In October 2021 he wrote about meeting an elderly woman who lived alone and whom he got to know very well while shopping for her. She let him sit in her kitchen listening to stories and hearing her crystal radio set play. He said those stories enriched his soul and influenced songs he would write later.

• 2. Collaborative Disputes

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  John Lennon claimed he wrote about 70 percent of the lyrics in an early 1970s interview with music journalist Alan Smith. He also stated in a letter to Melody Maker that around 50 percent of the lyrics were written by him at studios and at Paul's place. McCartney disputed these claims by saying John helped him on a few words but he would put it down 80, 20 to himself. Pete Shotton remembered Lennon's contribution as virtually nil while McCartney acknowledged Shotton's help with the ending. George Martin and William Burroughs provided eyewitness testimony supporting McCartney's claim to authorship. Donovan and Ringo Starr also listened to McCartney play the song through when they gathered in John Lennon's home at Kenwood. Harrison came up with the Ah look at all the lonely people hook during that session. Starr contributed the line writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear. Shotton suggested changing Father McCartney to avoid confusion with McCartney's own father. Lennon rejected the idea of two lonely people coming together too late out of hand initially. In 1980 he recalled writing almost everything except the first verse. Musicologist Walter Everett viewed the lyric writing likely was a group effort from all available accounts.

• 3. Musical Architecture

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  The song opens with a C lydian vocal harmony before shifting to E minor on the word lonely people. It uses mode mixture between the Aeolian mode known as natural minor and the Dorian mode set in E minor. The verse melody is written in Dorian mode which is a minor scale with the natural sixth degree. The chorus beginning All the lonely people involves the viola in a chromatic descent from seven to six to five. This adds an air of inevitability to the flow of the music according to musicologist Dominic Pedler. George Martin composed a string arrangement for eight studio musicians comprising four violins two violas and two cellos. He drew inspiration from Bernard Herrmann's work particularly the score for the 1960 film Psycho. Unlike Yesterday which is played legato Eleanor Rigby is played mainly in staccato chords with melodic embellishments. McCartney explicitly expressed that he did not want the strings to sound too cloying since he had done something similar before. Microphones were placed close to the instruments to produce a more biting and raw sound. The Aeolian C-natural note returns later in the verse on the word dre-eam giving urgency to the melody's mood.

• 4. Recording Sessions

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  EMI Studios hosted the octet recording session on the 28th of April 1966 in Studio 2 where all eight string players performed together. The track was completed in Studio 3 on the 29th of April and again on the 6th of June when take 15 was selected as the master. Engineer Geoff Emerick faced criticism from string players who said you're not supposed to do that regarding microphone placement. They kept moving their chairs away from 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 using the latter version for the final release. Lennon recalled in 1980 that Eleanor Rigby was Paul's baby and he helped with the education of the child. Jane Asher had turned him on to Vivaldi which influenced his thinking about classical music. The final overdub on the 6th of June added McCartney's Ah look at all the lonely people refrain over the song's final chorus. This was requested by Martin who came up with the idea of the line working contrapuntally to the chorus melody. The original stereo mix placed lead vocal alone in the right channel during verses while strings mixed to one channel.

• 5. Commercial Release

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  Eleanor Rigby appeared simultaneously on a double A-side single paired with Yellow Submarine on the 5th of August 1966 alongside Revolver album release. It became their eleventh number-one single on the UK Record Retailer chart where it stayed for four weeks. The track topped charts in Australia Belgium Canada and New Zealand though Yellow Submarine usually remained the listed side. Capitol Records promoted Yellow Submarine as the lead side due to religious references causing concern during the band's tour. Radio stations in the US South refused to play Beatles music and organized public bonfires burning records and memorabilia. Disc jockeys began flipping the single midway through the tour as radio boycotts were lifted. Eleanor Rigby entered the Billboard Hot 100 in late August peaking at number 11 for two weeks. The pairing broke policy ensuring album tracks were not issued on UK singles according to Melody Maker reports. Harrison confirmed they expected dozens of artists to have hits with the song but said it would probably only appeal to Ray Davies types. Nicholas Schaffner recalled that Yellow Submarine was the most flippant piece while Eleanor Rigby remains the most relentlessly tragic group attempt.

• 6. Cultural Reception

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  Melody Maker described Eleanor Rigby as a charming song and one of Revolver's best tracks when reviewing the album. Derek Johnson found it lacked immediate appeal of Yellow Submarine but possessed lasting value handled beautifully by Paul. Peter Jones called it pleasant enough but rather disjointed saying he liked more meat from the Beatles. Richard Goldstein wrote about modern religion commentary being hardly appreciated by those seeing John Lennon as anti-Christ. Edward Greenfield noted quality rare in pop music born of artist ability to project himself into other situations. KRLA Beats predicted Eleanor Rigby would become contemporary classic adding haunting melody among most beautiful found in current pop music. Cash Box described the single unique and powerfully arranged story of sorrow and frustration. NME chose Eleanor Rigby as its Single of the Year for 1966 while Melody Maker included it among year's five singles to remember. The Evening Standard recognized the single and Revolver as year's best records in Maureen Cleave's round-up. At ninth Annual Grammy Awards in March 1967 Eleanor Rigby won Best Contemporary R&R Vocal Performance Male or Female for McCartney after three nominations.

• 7. Legacy And Covers

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  Over two hundred cover versions existed by mid-2000s including Ray Charles version released as single in 1968 peaking at number 35 on Billboard Hot 100. Aretha Franklin's chart reached number 17 on Billboard Hot 100 in December 1969 according to Chris Ingham's recognition of progressive soul interpretations. George Martin included song on November 1966 album George Martin Instrumentally Salutes The Beatle Girls designed to appeal easy listening market. McCartney recorded new version with Martin scoring orchestration for his 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street featuring Victorian costume sequence. He performed frequently in concert starting with 1989, 90 world tour. Cody Fry arranged recordings submitted by 400 musicians into orchestral cover nominated for Grammy Award Best Arrangement Instrumental and Vocals at 64th Annual Grammy Awards. Eleanor Rigby entered National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. Mojo ranked it number 19 on magazine list of 100 Greatest Songs of All Time while BBC Radio 2 listeners voted it top 100 songs twentieth century. Rolling Stones placed it number 137 on 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 revised to 243 in 2021. Pitchfork ranked it number 47 on list of 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s.