ENGLISH 10: SONG LYRICS EXPLAINED

SOURCE

Example of lyrics and explanation of lyrics for...

~ELEANOR RIGBY AND BLACKBIRD~


Lyrics:

Eleanor Rigby
Lennon/McCartney:


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

Interpretation


The theme of this song is certainly not subtle: it's about lonely people. But stating it thus doesn't do justice to what the Beatles were really saying. A closer inspection reveals that this song examines why the lonely people are lonely.
The song has two characters, Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie. These two are connected by the church, in this case the actual church that Father McKenzie preaches at and Eleanor Rigby cleans. She is -- and this is not apparent immediately -- a custodian in this church. How do we know that she's the custodian? Well, she picks up rice after weddings...that's a clue. And she died in the church...that's another clue.

At this point, it's good to ask students, if Eleanor Rigby is a custodian, why did the Beatles choose the post-wedding cleanup as the one image showing this? Students usually will quickly come to realize that this image reflects the "dream" she lives in: she wants to marry.

Here's where I tell my classes, artists never choose details indiscriminately. Every description is a clue, a symbol, a piece of the jigsaw puzzle. That is, often, the difference between good art and mediocre art. Mediocre artists often cannot tell you why they chose this detail or that shade of coloring; it just felt right. Great artists know why they do what they do.

Back to the song. Eleanor's dream is further developed in the strange line "wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door." This is a great line to have students puzzle over. Eventually, with a little nudging, they'll see that this face is probably the face that she puts on to look beautiful, the jar being the makeup jar from which the face comes. She waits each night by her door, waiting for a caller, all prettied up with no one to notice. When students see this, they really have pity for this woman.

Meanwhile, there is another pitiful character: Father McKenzie. Though he has a higher station in life than Eleanor Rigby (priest versus custodian), he is no more successful. No one listens to his sermons; no one is saved by his words. And here's something interesting: he is doing what then would be thought of as women's work (darning his socks) while she does what men usually did in the 1960s. It might seem that both these two should get together but this is impossible. The church, in fact, makes it impossible for priests cannot marry.

Having considered this much of the song, it's appropriate to ask students: who is responsible for all the loneliness. It is, as the chorus shows, a question the Beatles ask ("Where do they all come from?"). The quick and easy answer is that it's no one's fault, it's just a sad reality. But there are some troubling questions. Why doesn't Father McKenzie at least befriend Eleanor? Shouldn't the shepherd of a church see that he has a dreaming, lonely woman sitting back there, wedding after wedding? Doesn't he know this woman? And at her funeral, it seems the only thing he's concerned about is his unsuccessful sermon. "Wiping the dirt from his hands" even seems to suggest he's washing his hands of responsibility to this lonely woman.

With these things in mind a spirited discussion usually develops over who is responsible for living a lonely life. Perhaps it's the lonely people themselves. Perhaps it's institutions such as the church. Perhaps it's the inconsiderateness of others.

What is meant by the line "Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name"? This has a twofold answer: that she is childless and friendless.
It's hard for me to tell if Lennon and McCartney are issuing an indictment of religion in this song, but it seems to lurk beneath the surface. One thing is certain: this seemingly simple and beautiful song is a work of poetic art. I assure you, your students will agree with that assessment.

Poetic devices

Repetition is a powerful device in this poem. The word "lonely" appears 10 times in this short song. The use of the rhetorical question is also used strongly. It suggests that the Beatles don't have all the answers, just the observations of loneliness.

This song shows assonance to a nice effect. The sustained "Ah" sound softens the tone, creates a tragic effect.

Imagery is this song's strong suit as well. Picking up rice, darning socks, wiping one's hands: these are clear and powerful images.

"Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" is a striking metaphor for a cosmetically-dressed up face. "Lives in a dream" is another metaphor.
Consonance of the "L" sound is echoed in the line "Ah, Look at aLL the LoneLy peopLe." Perhaps this is unintentional, but it's there nonetheless.

Musical impact

This song is one where a good discussion about the importance of musical devices is in order. Anyone can hear the importance of the strings, both the violins and the cellos. Played with electric guitars, this song would have been a cartoon.
The use of harmony on the chorus is particularly striking. It's like a sad cry, a lamentation almost. Then counterbalancing that is the solo voice in the verses. This is clear singing, easy to hear the words and see the images.
It's interesting to point out to students that this song has an end, a note of finality. Many rock songs just do fade outs. By having a definite end, we are brought to a conclusion just as Eleanor Rigby's life is terminated. The last words spoken are a question.


BLACKBIRD

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.


Interpretation
This song is a simple allegory about the struggle of black people, symbolized by the blackbird, to gain complete freedom, not just the legal freedom that was rendered in 1865. The dead of night covers the time period between emancipation to the then present, the 1960s. The slaves were freed but they had nothing but broken wings to fly with. Many of them stayed on at the plantations because there simply was no realistic way for them to fly off. The moment that they've been waiting for all their lives is the gathering storm of the 1960s, the Civil Rights movement.
In the second verse, the Beatles speak of taking these sunken eyes and learning to see. How is this different than broken wings? Well, sight is mental; flight more physical. Starting with the Brown vs. the Board of Education case in 1954, blacks moved into the schools, into the world of integrated education. This is probably what Lennon and McCartney were talking about.

With broken wings, the black community waits for a moment to arise to march, to protest, and to gain a further freedom than emancipation had given them. With sunken eyes they will gain ultimate freedom, the freedom of the mind.
In the chorus, the Beatles are encouraging blacks to rise up and take advantage of this moment. They still admit there is much darkness -- it is a dark, black night still -- but there is a light there and blacks must move towards it.
One question remains: why do the Beatles say the blackbird was singing in dead of night? It is there way of acknowledging that blacks have never lost hope throughout the ages and that they often have expressed that hope through actual song. It's a very powerful symbol.

Well, that's how I see it, anyway. As with all allegories, the interpretation fails if all elements don't contribute to the theme. So far, my students pretty much go along with this interpretation. But I'm always willing to hear more, to change my point of view.

Poetic devices

The song has good examples of symbolism. The blackbird is a symbol for black people. The broken wings are a symbol for physical incapacitation. The sunken eyes are a symbol for lack of education. The light of the dark black night is a symbol for the developing civil rights movement.

There is some imagery in this song. The singing is an aural image, but not a powerful one. The broken wings and sunken eyes are strong visual images.
Contrast is used: the black night versus the small, bright light. Also, seeing with sunken eyes, flying with broken wings.

The use of repetition is strong. The final line, sung three times, is a call to arms almost.

Of course, there is rhyme. I like to point out that the 1st and 3rd lines of the verses aren't total rhymes -- they're vowel rhymes, night/life.

Musical impact

We discuss the use of acoustical guitar. Why not electric? The acoustic guitar, plucked rather than strummed, softens the song greatly. It is a Martin Luther King method of a call to arms rather than the strident voice of a Malcolm X. This fits in with the Beatles long-standing view that "all you need is love." I like to point out that their own call to revolution in "Revolution" has a soft version to counterbalance the harder one