ELEANOR RIGBY

I am sadly prohibited from enclosing the lyrics due to the copyright infringement rules. Sadly because it is one of the best piece of lyrics ever written in a pop song. But please find the lyrics yourself and read it.

What possess a human being to write lyrics like these ?

Brilliance.

That's what they were, Lennon/McCartney. Brilliant geniuses.

The song is driven by the lyrics with a smattering of strings. Cello and all that. It is a very simple song structure. But this song was still way ahead of it's time. It was also the best song on Revolver, an album that re-wrote the ABC of song making. Partly because of Eleanor Rigby. They set a new standard The Beatles perhaps bettered with a couple of songs from the Sgt Peppers album. A Day In Life springs to mind. But never mind.

The lyrics, sung in a sombre mode, is the driving force in this song. And did they touch a raw nerve with this lyrics. We are all scared of being alone and then dying alone. A funeral attended only by the priest and his/her dog. A person's life is measured in how many people attended his/her funeral. That's how it is. In the case of Eleanor Rigby, "nobody came". That's the ultimate defeat and the ultimate humiliation. That is you and mine's angst. That is why Eleanor Rigby touch such a raw, raw nerve. This song alone is a five star plus song.

The B side though is Yellow Submarine and the less said, the better. It is not an awful song. It is merely a joke taken too far. But the song is OK. That leaves us with four stars and a pretty shaken up reviewer. I challenge anyone to listen to Eleanor Rigby without facing their own mortality........... and fears.

4 stars