Eleanor Rigby

Eleanor Rigby is a song by the Beatles, released on the 1966 album Revolver and as a 45 rpm single. It was written by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon–McCartney.

The song continued the transformation of the Beatles from a mainly rock and roll / pop-oriented act to a more experimental, studio-based band. With a double string quartet arrangement by George Martin and striking lyrics about loneliness, "Eleanor Rigby" broke sharply with popular music conventions, both musically and lyrically.Richie Unterberger of Allmusic cites the band's "singing about the neglected concerns and fates of the elderly" on the song as "just one example of why the Beatles' appeal reached so far beyond the traditional rock audience".

Composition

Paul McCartney came up with the melody of "Eleanor Rigby" as he experimented with his piano. However, the original name of the protagonist that he chose was not Eleanor Rigby but Miss Daisy Hawkins. The singer-composer Donovan reported that he heard McCartney play it to him before it was finished, with completely different lyrics. In 1966, McCartney recalled how he got the idea for his song:

Eleanor Rigby (novel)

Eleanor Rigby is a 2004 novel by Douglas Coupland, about a lonely woman at ages 36 and 42. The novel is written as a first-person narrative by the main character, Liz Dunn.

The novel centres on changes to Liz's life when someone from her past unexpectedly re-enters her life. It is written in a light, often comic, tone, but resonates on many deeper issues, including loneliness, family, religious visions and multiple sclerosis.

Plot

Two distinct plot movements are separated by a break in the narrative flow. The first part of the novel involves two retellings: the story of Liz Dunn’s trip to Europe and her pregnancy, and the story of the re-emergence into her life of her child, Jeremy, who is dying of multiple sclerosis.

As a teenager, Liz goes on a trip to Europe, her one big expressive moment. On this trip, while drunk, she loses her virginity in Italy to a man she cannot remember. From this experience, she becomes pregnant with Jeremy, who is put up for adoption, and goes in and out of foster families for much of his young life.

Eleanor Rigby (statue)

Eleanor Rigby is a statue in Stanley Street, Liverpool, England, designed and made by the entertainer Tommy Steele. It is based on the subject of The Beatles' song Eleanor Rigby, which is credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership.

History

When Tommy Steele was performing in a show in Liverpool in 1981, he made an offer to Liverpool City Council to create a sculpture as a tribute to the Beatles. His fee for the commission would be three pence. The offer was accepted by the Council, as it would be expected to increase the tourist trade of the city, and they made a donation of £4,000 towards its cost. The statue took nine months to make, and it was unveiled by Tommy Steele on 3 December 1982.

Description

The statue consists of a bronze figure on a stone bench. The bronze figure is 128 cm high, 120 cm wide, and 96 cm deep. It depicts a seated woman with a handbag on her lap, a shopping bag on her right, and a copy of the newspaper the Liverpool Echo on her left. Poking from the shopping bag is a milk bottle, and on the newspaper is a sparrow and a piece of bread. The woman is looking down at the sparrow.