Meet people from all over the World
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Pages: [1] 2 3

Author Topic: Eleanor Rigby  (Read 24098 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

JudeRigby

  • One And One Is Two
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 31
  • Anima Mundi
Eleanor Rigby
« on: April 28, 2004, 10:48:57 PM »

I was just wondering if anyone had an opinion on what the song meant...my friend and I came up with a couple of reasonings:  1) They were just singing about how obscure people are.  2) Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie were having an affair...I may be completely opposite of the real idea but comments welcome.. ;D :D
Logged
                         &
Sheet Music Plus Homepage

tkitna

  • That Means a Lot
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 8617
  • I'm a Moondog,,,,,are you?
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2004, 01:46:30 AM »

Paul had the music of the song written before the lyrics (which was common place). He came up with the verse "Picks up the rice in a church where a wedding has been" and formed the idea that the song would be about lonely people. As for Eleanor,,this was just a name that Paul liked (he said probably because of Eleanor Bron who he knew at the time) and Rigby was a name of a shop that Paul walked past.

Most of us know that Father McCartney was the original thought up name for the priest because it just fit the syllables, but paul didnt want to use McCartney because of his dad. John and Paul went to the phone book and looked at the next name in line after Mccartney,,,,hence McKenzie.

Nothing more to add. Just about lonely people.

Bruno

  • A Thousand Pages
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 2485
  • The choice is yours, don't be late
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2004, 01:21:11 PM »

I read somewhere that there's actually an Eleanor Rigby buried in the Church's graveyeard where John met Paul in 1957 while playing for the Quarrymen.
Logged

---powered by Moondogs®---

  • Guest
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2004, 02:16:41 PM »

[quote by=Bruno link=Blah.pl?b=songs,m=1083192537,s=2 date=1083244871]I read somewhere that there's actually an Eleanor Rigby buried in the Church's graveyeard where John met Paul in 1957 while playing for the Quarrymen.[/quote]


Tis true.

Right next to Maxwell Edison's grave (not true)  ;-)
Logged

JudeRigby

  • One And One Is Two
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 31
  • Anima Mundi
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2004, 04:29:16 PM »

I understand the basis of the poem....but I was wondering about the lines about Father McKenzie...like "Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear, no one comes near.." and "Father McKenzie wiping his hands as he walks from the grave, no one was saved.." any ideas on these lines?
Logged
                         &

JudeRigby

  • One And One Is Two
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 31
  • Anima Mundi
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2004, 04:39:06 PM »

(3)  A funeral speech
     Nobody heard; no one came.
     Eleanor Rigby.

I was just browsing on google...and a page said that the song actually came from a series of haikus like this one..wtf?  i'm confused..:(
Logged
                         &

The End

  • That Means a Lot
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 8216
  • Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream...
    • The End
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #6 on: April 29, 2004, 04:40:18 PM »

[quote by=Bruno link=Blah.pl?b=songs,m=1083192537,s=2 date=1083244871]I read somewhere that there's actually an Eleanor Rigby buried in the Church's graveyeard where John met Paul in 1957 while playing for the Quarrymen.[/quote]

And here it is...

This is the gravestone of Eleanor Rigby which was only discovered in the mid-Eighties in the grounds of St Peter's Church, Woolton, Liverpool. It was at a church-organised Garden Fete that John first met Paul on 6th July 1957.




A flyer for the garden fete where John and Paul first met.
Logged

Bruno

  • A Thousand Pages
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 2485
  • The choice is yours, don't be late
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #7 on: April 29, 2004, 05:22:30 PM »

that's great, thanks Alan.

When Paul got asked if he chose the name 'Eleanor Rigby' based on that gravestone he said that he didn't know anything about it!! That's weird!
Logged

---powered by Moondogs®---

Bruno

  • A Thousand Pages
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 2485
  • The choice is yours, don't be late
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #8 on: April 29, 2004, 05:26:40 PM »

Some other facts about this song:

-Paul McCartney got "Rigby" from the name of a store and "Eleanor" from actress Eleanor Bron. He liked the name "Eleanor Rigby" because it sounded natural.

-"Father Mackenzie" was originally "Father McCartney." Paul decided he didn't want to freak out his dad and picked a name out of the phone book instead.

-A string section of 4 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos were used in recording. Paul may have been inspired by the classic composer Vivaldi.

-The Beatles didn't play any of the instruments on this. All the music came from the string players, who were hired as session musicians.

-The last verse was written in the studio.

-There is a gravestone for an Eleanor Rigby in St. Peter's Churchyard in Wooton, England.
This was originally written as "Miss Daisy Hawkins."

-The lyrics were brainstormed among The Beatles. In later years, Lennon and McCartney gave different accounts of who contributed more of the words to this.

-Microphones were placed very close to the instruments to create and unusual sound.
 
-Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin both had hits with cover versions of this.

-Because of the string section, this was difficult to play live, which The Beatles never did.

-On his 2002 Back In The US tour, Paul McCartney played this without the strings.
Keyboards were used to compensate.

-There is also a McKenzie gravestone in Woolton.
Logged

---powered by Moondogs®---

Naoki

  • Guest
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #9 on: May 30, 2004, 05:00:45 AM »

Thats really relly interesting.... I wish someone would release a book on annotated beatles lyrics
Logged

  • Guest
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #10 on: May 30, 2004, 05:24:16 AM »

[quote by=Naoki link=Blah.pl?b=songs,m=1083192537,s=9 date=1085893245]Thats really relly interesting.... I wish someone would release a book on annotated beatles lyrics[/quote]

There's A HARD DAY'S WRITE, by Steve Turner, which gives "the stories behind every Beatles' song". It's a quite interesting book.
Logged

Naoki

  • Guest
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #11 on: May 30, 2004, 04:24:06 PM »

thanks ill have to goto barnes & noble to see if i can find it! ^^
Logged

number14

  • A Thousand Pages
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 1699
  • I like the beatles a lot
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2004, 11:32:46 PM »

i don't really know any of these inside scoops of the beatles so im so interested in this!
Logged


Paul McCartney :)

pc31

  • Sun King
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 11736
  • WE SOUL OUR SOULS FOR ROCK AND ROLL!!!!
    • the moondogs
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #13 on: June 30, 2004, 12:13:21 AM »

stick around for a bevy of info
Logged

Herecomesyoursun

  • A Thousand Pages
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 3220
  • Shake your tired eyes the world is waiting for you
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #14 on: June 30, 2004, 01:08:42 AM »

[quote by=Maria link=Blah.pl?b=songs,m=1083192537,s=10 date=1085894656]

There's A HARD DAY'S WRITE, by Steve Turner, which gives "the stories behind every Beatles' song". It's a quite interesting book.[/quote]

Yeah i have this and there is a little on Rigby.  Just lonely people I think.  Good book though
Logged

 [face=Arial]            Give me love, give me peace on Earth...[/face]

sexy sadie

  • Getting Better
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 463
  • once there was a way to get back home...
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #15 on: July 09, 2004, 06:23:35 AM »

my uncle had a friend John Rigby, and his mom's name was Eleanor...kinda weird but cool ;)
Logged
Ashley*

one sweet dream, pick up the bags and get in the limousine. soon we'll be away from here. step on the gas and wipe that tear away. one sweet dream came true today...

[img]http://img122.exs.cx/img122/8264/jsj21oc.jpg[/img

broady

  • Guest
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #16 on: July 09, 2004, 11:53:21 AM »

Nice work Bruno. Thanks for sharing. Is that book any good, Herecomesyoursun?
Logged

In Blue Hawaii

  • Getting Better
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Gender: Male
  • Posts: 828
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #17 on: February 09, 2005, 09:16:24 PM »

Quote from: Bruno
-On his 2002 Back In The US tour, Paul McCartney played this without the strings.
Keyboards were used to compensate.

Oh goodness, it probably took me about 2- 3 hours to figure out the keyboard part.
Logged

real01

  • Getting Better
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 367
Real Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #18 on: February 21, 2011, 10:29:41 PM »

Some interesting things about her, don't know if it's been
posted here earlier... Here it is:

In the 1980s, a grave of an Eleanor Rigby was "discovered" in the graveyard of St. Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool, and a few yards away from that, another tombstone with the last name McKenzie scrawled across it.[24][25] During their teenage years, McCartney and Lennon spent time "sunbathing" there, within earshot of where the two had met for the first time during a fete in 1957. Many years later McCartney stated that the strange coincidence between reality and lyric could be a product of his subconscious, rather than being a meaningless fluke.[24] The actual Eleanor Rigby was born in 1895 and lived in Liverpool, possibly in the suburb of Woolton, where she married a man named Thomas Woods. She died on 10 October 1939 at age 44. Whether this Eleanor was the inspiration for the song or not, her tombstone has become a landmark to Beatles fans visiting Liverpool.[26] A digitised version was added to the 1995 music video for The Beatles' reunion song "Free as a Bird".

In June 1990, McCartney donated a document dating from 1911 which had been signed by the 16-year-old Eleanor Rigby to Sunbeams Music Trust,[27] instantly attracting significant international interest from collectors because of the significance and provenance of the document.[28] The nearly 100-year-old document was sold at auction in November 2008 for £115,000 ($250,000).[29] The Daily Telegraph reported that the uncovered document "is a 97-year-old salary register from Liverpool City Hospital." The name E. Rigby is printed on the register, and she is identified as a scullery maid.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Rigby

The gravestone:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rigby.jpg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1088454/REVEALED-The-haunting-life-story-pops-famous-songs--Eleanor-Rigby.html
« Last Edit: February 21, 2011, 10:32:55 PM by real01 »
Logged

7 of 13

  • Getting Better
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 546
Re: Eleanor Rigby
« Reply #19 on: February 22, 2011, 07:59:44 PM »

eleanor rigby,
picks up the rice in the church,
where her wedding has been,
lives in a dream.

the song is obviously a slam against religion.
Logged
day tripper yeah
Pages: [1] 2 3
 

Page created in 0.522 seconds with 87 queries.