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 this song is simple.
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.