The song was apparently composed at Lennon's house at Weybridge with all Beatles present (and stoned). The original character in the song was Miss Daisy Hawkins, but McCartney didn't like the sound and changed her last name to Rigby after seeing a shop called Rigby in Great Britain. The name Eleanor was used because McCartney thought of actress Eleanor Braun, who had worked with the group in the film Help! Another name change was from the lonely Father McCartney (Ringo's suggestion) to Father Mackenzie since Paul felt self-conscious about using his own name in the song since it might reflect on his "father." MacKenzie was settled on after someone randomly looked through the phonebook. At one point, McCartney considered a relationship between Mackenzie and Rigby but decided that this wouldn't fit the song's theme.
George Martin scored the strings, violins and cellos. McCartney sings lead, with Lennon and McCartney doing harmony.
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Home
About
Beatles Albums: Background and History
Beatles Biography
Beatles Connections: Official Websites for the Beatles Inner Circle
Beatles Discography
BeatlesFacts Posts
Beatles Films
Beatles General Discussion Topics
Beatles History
Beatles News
Beatles Roadies: Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans
Beatles Solo Discography
Beatles Songs Discussed on BeatlesFacts.org
Beatles Songs - Solo
Beatles Timelines
Beatles Trivia Quiz
Books About the Beatles
Books by John Lennon and George Harrison
Quarrymen
Sitemap
Sites Related to Beatles History
Songs Covered by the Beatles
The Beatles Official Website
The Lennon Pages
Contact
i absolutly love the song,but its SO hard to do an analysis on it, !
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can recall, McCartney was trying to approach the theme of loneliness, and hence Eleanor and Father Mckenzie are both isolated individuals. The irony is that Eleanor is one of the "flock," while McKenzie is a pastor and should be the very one capable of helping his lonely parishoner. Some have commented that the song is also an allusion to the general alienation people had from society and one another despite the peace and love of the sixites, resulting in lines such as "All the lonely people, where do they all cme from?" I think the song is still just as relevant today.
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