All The Lonely People – Eleanor Rigby

 
 

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

 

Eleanor Rigby
Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window
Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door

Who is it for?

 

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

 

Father McKenzie
Writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working
Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

 

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?

All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

 

Eleanor Rigby
Died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie
Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

 

All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all belong?

 

 

Some Beatles from 1966 today.  I recently posted about a book called All The Lonely People which reminded me of this great but sad song.

 

The consensus now appears to be that Eleanor Rigby was just made up and wasn't based on a real person – but there are theories that her grave is in a churchyard that Lennon and McCartney had visited as young people.  Who knows?

 

But as an anthem for those people with no one and nothing, it is very moving.

Rubber Soul By The Beatles

Rubber Soul is quite possibly the best album of all time – but I'm biased.  This was probably the first album I ever paid any attention to.

But to defend my opinion – the songs are almost all fantastic.  They were (as issued in the UK):

Side 1

Drive My Car

Norwegian Wood

You Won't See Me

Nowhere Man

Think for Yourself

The Word

Michelle

Side 2

What Goes On

Girl

I'm Looking Through You

In My Life

Wait

If I Needed Someone

Run for Your Life

Now the production values were limited by the technology of the time – 1965 – imagine what the Beatles would have achieved if they had had the technology of today!

The title of the album seems to fit – but only because we associate it with the songs not the individual words.

Rolling Stone rated this album the 5^th best of all time.  But what would they know…

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps.

I don't know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you.

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps.

As all people of a certain age will know, this was a Beatles hit (1968).  It was written by George Harrison.  But it is not him playing the guitar – it was Eric Clapton.  No wonder it was good.

While my guitar gently weeps is so evocative – what a poetic talent.

To see a YouTube clip of George Harrison performing this, click here

Ticket to Ride – The Beatles

I think I'm gonna be sad
I think it's today, yeah
The girl that's driving me mad
Is going away

She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care

She said that living with me
Is bringing her down, yeah
For she would never be free
When I was around

She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care

I don't know why she's riding so high
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me
Before she gets to saying goodbye
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me

Ticket to Ride is one of those many songs I knew when it first came out (1965) and enjoyed but never gave much thought to the words.  Just another great Beatles number.

So I was a bit surprised to find out that the lyrics were regarded as being suggestive!  That all went straight over my head.  (Apparently 'ride' can refer to having sex and the 'ticket' was a card given to working girls in Hamburg if they were in good health)

Here's a YouTube clip of the song.  The Carpenters also covered it.

Hey Jude – The Beatles

Hey Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

Hey Jude, don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better

And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah

Can you believe that Hey Jude was released in 1968!  That's almost 50 years ago! McCartney wrote the lyrics to comfort Julian Lennon – it might have started out that way but became a sort of anthem for many people.

This was the first song released by them under the Apple label.  There was a 40 piece orchestra playing on the recording.

This YouTube clip is over 8 minutes long and the song doesn't start for a few seconds – so be warned if you click through.