Form: A ||: B C :|| A B C'

Harmonic: The piece in general terms only uses two chords; C major (VI) and e
minor (i), and only twice does it change from these chords. The first time is in
phrase a of section A in measure (mm.) 1 when for only one complete beat on a
very weak part of the measure there is a F#ø/C (iiø4/3) chord and the second time
in section C' the second to last bar there is a D major (VII) chord on the final
beat. As stated before these chords are only hinted at and seemed to be only
used for decoration in the case of the iiø4/3. The song is built up of three main
sections, A, B, and C (only a slight varation to C, that comes at the end of the
piece). Section A is built up of two phrases a+a, thus making them parallel
phrases, from mm. 1-8. The piece starts of on the Submediant progressing as
follows: VI - iiø4/3 - VI - i6/4 - i, which it repeats in the second phrase of section A,
but because of the limitation of only using two chords the listener, now for the
first times experiences the lack of cadence that is throughout that is prevelent in
the piece. The second section, B, is again made up of two phrases, but this time
each phrase is five measures long instead of four. Because of some varation in
the instrument's section I have labeled the phrases as follows: b+b', (mm. 9-18)
and agin using the same chords to string the song along. The chord progression
starts this time though on the tonic, going i - i - i - VI - VI - i and again we notice
the lack of a cadence. There is a slight difference harmonically speaking for the
phrase b', which is, in the third measure there is now a i7. In the final section, C,
the composer has gone back to four bar phrases, which are labeled c+c' and
span mm. 19-26. The chord progression includes another interesting chord in
the second measure of each phrase which is a i6th (e minor 6) and the is placed in
the chord progression as follows: i - i6th - VI6 (1st inversion) - i. Section C has a slight
change when it is repeated for the third time in the ending of the song and has be
thus labeled C' and has phrases that will be now labeled c+c''. The changed
comes in the final two measures where now the chord prgression is as follows i -
i6th - VI6 - i - VII (D major) - i and now we have are first true cadence which would
be best labeled as a Leading-Tone Imperfect Authentic Cadence (IAC).
Intervallic: The Submediant relationship between the e minor (tonic) and C
major (Submediant) is the most important intervallic subject to recognize in this
piece, because this is what gives the vocal melody room to breath and explore its
range. Also, in mm. 4 and 8 the i (e minor) chord is arpeggiated but at the same
time it acts as a tool to highlight the 5 (B) by bouncing back to it after each new
note is introduced. The pattern is as follows: A - G - F# - G - E (4 - 3 - 2 - 3 - 1)
with a B between each note. This does a nice job at hinting the dominant without
having to play the actual V (B major) chord, thus giving more life, harmonically
speaking, to the piece. In both of the c phrases (mm. 19-22 & 23-26) the first
Viola plays a sequences of 7 - b7 - 6 - 5. This allows for a very smooth
chromaticism from Te to the Sol. Most beginning vocal parts start on the 4 (A)
and the only time it does not is in section A, where it starts on the 6 (C) and 1
(E). By starting on the A (4), it gives a more church feel to the piece, making it
older, or more so, grand.
Lyrical: This song is about feeling lonely and depressed, but when Eleanor goes
out she tries to make people think that she is happy and not all alone. From the
line "Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door",
we are given an image of Eleanor sitting at her window, wearing lots of make-up
in a way to hid her sadness. You can tell from this story that no one even
worried about her, because when she died no one even came to the funeral.
Even Father McKenzie, another lonesome soul, does not care for her and can be
seen in the line that reads, "Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he
walks from the grave. No one was saved." Wiping the dirt from your hands is a
common saying that shows you are done with situation and are now moving past
it (lyricinterpretations.com). The inspiration is said to come Paul McCartney
and in an interview with the Observer Music Monthly in November 2008 he told
the interviewer that he wrote this song partly for the women he helped when he
was younger. The said answer is as follows: "When I was a kid I was very lucky
to have a real cool dad, a working-class gent, who always encouraged us to give
up our seat on the bus for old people. This led me into going round to pensioners'
houses. It sounds a bit goody-goody, so I don't normally tell too many people.
There were a couple of old ladies and I used to go round and say, 'Do you need
any shopping done?' These lonely old ladies were something I knew about
growing up, and that was what 'Eleanor Rigby' was about - the fact that she died
and nobody really noticed. I knew this went on."(SongFacts.com)
Melodic: First and foremost the most important thing to note is that the melody is
sung with the mode of e-dorian in mind and can be heard throughout the piece.
It first appears in mm. 10 on the word "in" with the note C# and is repeated
mainly in the B section, but is felt in the entire piece. The A section has a range
of E4-A5, thus making it the section with the highest range and it tends to use it
fairly well, by following a contour of rising and falling in an almost stepwise
motion, only using a skip on the fourth beat to the "and" of said beat. This
melody is instantaniously an addictive and memoiral, making it a great beginning
melody. The B section has the smallest range only spanning less than an
octave, D4-D5, and not really moving with much contour, but this at the same
time makes this melody perfect. Because it goes with the rhythmic, drum feel of
the harmonic background, thus placing more confusion on the words as the
listener gets lost in persistent motion of it all. This also allows for section C to
have more of a flowing nature, thus allowing the piece to breathe. The range of
this section is the second largest, E4-G5, and uses its range in a different
manner than before. Starting on the 4 it only rises a step and goes down using
chord tones (B4 - G4 - E4) and then it skyrockets up to E5 (phrase c) and G5
(phrase c' & c'') only to fall again using almost entirely chordal skips. First in c it
falls from E5 to B4 - A4 - G4 - E4 and in the c' and c'' it falls from G5 using almost
all the same notes just in a slightly different order, E5 - B4 - G4 - A4 - G4. All
while this is going on the original melody from the A section is sung in the
 background, which creates a nice echo effect for each time the lead voice asks a
question. In the A section we have two conclusive melodic cadences , each at
the end of each phrase, both times ending on E (1). In section B the composer
decides to make use of inconclusive cadences for both phrases, by landing on B
(5) at the end of each phrase. The final section, C, has the most vairety of all
sections with the following cadences; phrase c has a conclusive melodic cadence
ending on E (1), phrase c' has a inconclusive melodic cadence ending on G (3),
and finally c'' has another inconclusive melodic cadence again finishing on G (3).
Rhythmic:
Textural: This piece falls under the catagorey of having a homophonic texture
(melody with accompaniment) because even though there are many voices
occuring at the same time. The other voices are there for harmonic and
rhythmic support and only in the end does the composer explore another
melody on top of the lead and this is very typical of homophonic textures.
Timbral: According to some critics the mixing of Eleanor Rigby, is considered
horrible, along with other Beatles songs of this period, because, "the vocals and
instruments are mixed far, far apart from each other, and there are several
sloppy errors where the chorus' double-tracking bleeds into the single tracked
verse" (oldies.about.com 2). But ignoring this opinion the song's recording is
quite interesting with the lack of reverberation given by strings gives a very stark,
urgent sound, drawing the listener in to hear the tale. The original instruments in
this piece and the musicians who played them are as follows: Paul McCartney on
lead vocals, two harmony vocalist, which consist of John Lennon and George
Harrison, one first Violin by Tony Gilbert, three second Violins by Sidney Sax,
John Sharpe, and Jurgen Hess, two Violas by Stephen Shingles and John
Underwood, and finally two Cellos by Derek Simpson and Norman Jones
(oldies.about.com 1). The song though dark has a very warm but also sharp feel
because of the classical instruments and can be heard on a recording without the
vocal parts (youtube.com2)

Bibliography

Lennon, John & Paul McCartney "Elanor Rigby." , Words and Music, Northern Songs,
1966.

Lyric Interpretations, "Beatles: Eleanor Rigby Meaning," lyricinterpretations.com,

http://www.lyricinterpretations.com/Beatles/Eleanor-Rigby

Song Facts, "Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles," songfacts.com,

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=102
Robert Fontenot (About.com Guide), "Eleanor Rigby: The history of this classic
Beatles song," oldies.about.com
http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/eleanorrigby_2.htm

The Beatles, "Eleanor Rigby," youtube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-

LOgMWbDGPA

The Beatles, "Eleanor Rigby - Original with no voice - Violins," youtube.com2,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx8RHoVMusg&feature=related