Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

Responsive image


Eleanor Rigby

"Eleanor Rigby"
US picture sleeve
Single by the Beatles
from the album Revolver
A-side"Yellow Submarine" (double A-side)
Released5 August 1966 (1966-08-05)
Recorded28–29 April & 6 June 1966
StudioEMI, London
GenreBaroque pop,[1] art rock[2]
Length2:08
LabelParlophone (UK),
Capitol (US)
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)George Martin
The Beatles singles chronology
"Paperback Writer"
(1966)
"Eleanor Rigby" / "Yellow Submarine"
(1966)
"Strawberry Fields Forever" / "Penny Lane"
(1967)
Music video
"Eleanor Rigby" on YouTube

"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with "Yellow Submarine". Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which John Lennon and Paul McCartney later disputed primary authorship.[3] Eyewitness testimony from several independent sources, including George Martin and Pete Shotton, supports McCartney's claim to authorship.[4]

"Eleanor Rigby" continued the transformation of the Beatles from a mainly rock and roll and pop-oriented act to a more experimental, studio-based band. With a string octet arrangement by George Martin and lyrics providing a narrative on loneliness, it broke sharply with popular music conventions, both musically and lyrically.[5] The song topped singles charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, and New Zealand.

  1. ^ Stanley, Bob (20 September 2007). "Pop: Baroque and a soft place". The Guardian. Film & music section, p. 8. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  2. ^ Rodriguez 2012, p. 138.
  3. ^ Weber 2016, p. 95: "One of the rare songs in which primary authorship is disputed is 'Eleanor Rigby' ..."
  4. ^ Weber 2016, p. 96: "... [T]here is eyewitness testimony from at least four separate and independent sources, [including Martin, William Burroughs, Donovan and Shotton,] all of whom support McCartney's claim to authorship."
  5. ^ Campbell & Brody 2008, pp. 172–73.

Previous Page Next Page