The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby - Lyrics Meaning

The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" was released on their 1966 album Revolver. With its remarkable lyrics about sadness and isolation, the song marked a turning point in the band's transformation from a pop act to a more serious, influential group. The story of the origin of the names used in the song is complex. Near the Strawberry Field children's home, in St. Peter's Churchyard in Woolton, there is a grave that bares the name Eleanor Rigby. Paul McCartney claims to have been unaware of the headstone, instead saying that he originally planned to name the character Miss Daisy Hawkins. The name change is said to be a combination of Eleanor Bron, an actress who appeared with the Beatles in their film Help!, and Rigby & Evans Ltd., a wine shop in Bristol that McCartney encountered while seeing his then-girlfriend, Jane Asher, in The Happiest Days of Your Life. The Father was originally named Father McCartney, but Paul McCartney worried that people would think the character was supposed to be his father. He searched through a phonebook until he came upon the name McKenzie, and the name was changed to eliminate confusion. Tragically, the two lonely characters meet each other long after it is too late - Father McKenzie conducts the funeral for Eleanor Rigby.