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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?
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?
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Interpretation #2. There is no God. Lonely = alone with no invisible friends. Notice how the whole song revolves around religion. Eleanor (old church lady) is waiting for someone, “waits at the window” – this God that she has focused her whole life on. But why are we so lonely? If we truly believe in all the stories of our wonderful invisible friend who loves and cares for us so much, and is always with us, then why are we so lonely? (because it is a lie and that is what the rest of the song is about) Pay close attention to the words No One and NoBody and how they are used. The reason “no one will hear” the sermon (and not nobody, denoting physical people with bodies) is because there is no God, no spirit or ghost listening. “Eleanor Rigby died in the church” also speaks to the way the church holds us back from our potential (guilt, original sin, comparing yourself to a perfect being, constantly worshiping authority figure) and kills our individuality (“buried along with her name”). No people seemed to show up to this lonely person's funeral, except for Father McKenzie. It specifically states that no one (not a body but an entity, a ghost or spirit) was saved. If you surrender yourself to your religion's tenets, shouldn't you receive salvation? And yet, for this religious person, “No One was saved”. Well, there's a whole lifetime thrown down the toilet, which is the point of the song.
I feel it's simply about two lonely people seemingly unconnected with their lonely lives. I feel the song is a case of great irony that these two by chance come together at Eleanor's burial.
Hence "where do they all come from?" mccartney wonders where these lonely people are as they are not often seen, creating a greater sense of coincidence and irony that the two only are together when she dies. Thus F.M is still a lonely person.
Two lonely people--Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie--are the subjects.
Eleanor Rigby lives in a pretend world that she made for herself because she is so lonely and unknown--she goes into a church building after a stranger's wedding is over and grabs the rice to throw, pretending she's getting married. When she goes home, she sits by the window and smiles out, either hoping to grab someone's attention or pretending she has ("Who is it for?").
Father McKenzie is a preacher that is probably used primarily for wedding services and his actual preaching isn't really well-attended. He spends all night fixing up his clothes to look good for a sermon no one will go to ("What does he care?").
In the finale, Eleanor has finally died, leaving nothing but her name (which is on the tombstone), and McKenzie was the one who buried her (because a burial is done with hands and a shovel, he got dirt on them and wipes it off). Because nobody came to her funeral, no one was "saved" by the sermon he had planned for her.
That's the story--as to its meaning, it may simply be a lament for all the people in the world that have no one.
I think Father McKenzie is a representative of the Reaper. He "wrote" sermon for Eleanor's funeral and killed her, thus he is seen "wiping his hands from the dirt as he walks from the grave"
Also, they mention that Eleanor was buries with her name. This represents that, even in this lonely world, you aren't truly dead until you're forgtton.
I'm going to come right out and say that this song was directed at the church. This song was directed at Christianity in general. Singing about Father McKenzie was not singing about a random individual who happened to be a church leader. For the purpose of this song, Father McKenzie =IS= the representation of Christianity. "Ah, look at all the lonely people" and "No one was saved".
Yes, there is a hint of a connection between Father McKenzie and Eleanor Rigby. But the song is not saying that they did anything together. The two might never have even spoken outside of the usual church banter. What the song is suggesting is that there should have been more of a connection between Father McKenzie and Eleanor Rigby. But "No one was saved" because Father McKenzie was too busy being self-righteous, too busy "writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear." This song is a bold-faced accusation against the self-righteous and overly religious that refuse to reach out to the all the lonely people and then wonder why so few come to church.
This song is saying that it isn't enough to be friendly. This song is saying that as long as people, especially religious people, remain cold and aloof, the Eleanor Rigby's of this world will continue to die and be "buried along with her name". A person's name is very important in Judeo-Christian values.