"Eleanor Rigby"- Your thoughts please...

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Clearly this song is from another level of pop music all together. That cannot be argued. But I am sure some of you will try. What was the inspiration behind this one? And that goes for the words and the George Martin's haungting string arrangement.

-carlos nyc

― Carlos Ramirez (Carlos Ramirez), Friday, 21 November 2003 07:48 (twenty-two years ago)

That cannot be argued.

Oh, it will be. (shakes head sadly)

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 21 November 2003 07:54 (twenty-two years ago)

(I actually like this song, btw.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 21 November 2003 07:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I do know that the string arrangement wasn't in the song from the beginning -- it was originally a conventional guitar-bass-drums number until someone had the idea to try it in a completely different style.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 21 November 2003 07:57 (twenty-two years ago)

What makes this song another level in pop music?!?!?!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 21 November 2003 08:06 (twenty-two years ago)

the "haunting strings," of course!

(when are strings not "haunting?")

― hstencil, Friday, 21 November 2003 08:07 (twenty-two years ago)

JIGS?!?!?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 21 November 2003 08:08 (twenty-two years ago)

disco to thread

― oops (Oops), Friday, 21 November 2003 08:08 (twenty-two years ago)

well yeah! But that ruins my whole argument!

(I was kidding of course, about the cliche of "haunting strings".)

― hstencil, Friday, 21 November 2003 08:09 (twenty-two years ago)

But they often are!

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 21 November 2003 08:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Completely off point, I encourage you to take the stereo mix and kill the channel with Macca's lead vocal. You then will only hear the chorus and the strings. Cool.

― Speedy Gonzalas (Speedy Gonzalas), Friday, 21 November 2003 08:12 (twenty-two years ago)

To say that string arrangements in pop songs are always haunting is very foolish.

― Carlos Ramirez (Carlos Ramirez), Friday, 21 November 2003 08:32 (twenty-two years ago)

One of the Beatles' very best and proves that Macca is indeed a truly great songwriter.

― dog latin (dog latin), Friday, 21 November 2003 09:50 (twenty-two years ago)

*was* great I think you mean... exhibit a) macca's solo career

― steve, Friday, 21 November 2003 10:01 (twenty-two years ago)

have to say... the zoot's version of "eleanor rigby" takes it to another level... perhaps not one the original composers had in mind, but another level nonetheless. ;-)

― steve, Friday, 21 November 2003 10:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I would guess George Martin played an important part.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 21 November 2003 11:10 (twenty-two years ago)

she's leaving home p-sses all over it.

― piscesboy, Friday, 21 November 2003 12:19 (twenty-two years ago)

which was Mike Leander, fact fans...

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 21 November 2003 12:31 (twenty-two years ago)

"it was originally a conventional guitar-bass-drums number"

That is a version I would like to hear, if it exists.

― earlnash, Friday, 21 November 2003 13:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd rather listen to "Walk Away Renee."

― John Fredland (jfredland), Friday, 21 November 2003 13:33 (twenty-two years ago)

This song only has two chords and yet seems more complicated than most other Beatles songs. P-Mac's melody is very good, but I think the reason this song is famous is because of George Martin's arrangement. One of my fave Beatle songs.

― dleone (dleone), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I would say it has a bit more than two chords. The bass only has two chords, but the rest of the backing track has at least 4 different ones.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:31 (twenty-two years ago)

it's a simple arrangement but i think puff daddy produced it? at first i was going to refute the notion that this song took pop to new levels. that claim seems lame or whatever, like dude would think that cuz there are minor chords and hardhitting strings. but that might be right

FUCK THE BEATLES!?!?

― asfdzxc (asfdzxc), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:42 (twenty-two years ago)

It's my favorite song ever to come from the mind of Macca. Usually his story-songs great on my nerves like really bad not-funny cartoons, but this one does really well to convey the sort of longing hopelessness of loneliness, as well as the irony of it.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:47 (twenty-two years ago)

*was* great I think you mean... exhibit a) macca's solo career

Can someone please tell me why Paul McCartney's post-Beatles output gets quite so much shit? I mean, I'm not about to dive to Partridgean "the band the Beatles could've been" depths, but I do like a fair whack of Wings's stuff...am I hearing different racords to the hataz or what?

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:48 (twenty-two years ago)

sad in a cheesy kind of way, but luvly nevertheless. very tasteful arrangement on that one.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Can someone please tell me why Paul McCartney's post-Beatles output gets quite so much shit?

Because he has never been the archetypical rock rebel. McCartney is a very boring and straight person, not an outsider in any way, just a typical English middle-class-citizen with a musical talent. The only "rebellious" thing about him is his marijuana smoking, but most rock stars do stronger drugs than that.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

the doodles weaver cover wipes the floor with the original.

― disco donut (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Too short.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

it's length (and the feeling of compression i get from it) renders it kind of trite for me. another few bpm and it could be the fucking residents.

x-post.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)

there's a track on the United States of America record that is a TOTAL ripoff of eleanor rigby.

― j fail (cenotaph), Friday, 21 November 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

It's a great mid 60s pop song, like 'Ruby Tuesday' or 'Waterloo Sunset'.
But it's no more than that. (I've seen ppl claim it as great poetry or symphonic masterpiece or acute social commentary, and it's just not.)

― Pete S, Friday, 21 November 2003 16:36 (twenty-two years ago)

i love it,especially the instrumental version off the anthology

― robin (robin), Friday, 21 November 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

"wearing her face that she keeps in a jar by the door" is a pretty stunning image.

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 21 November 2003 19:17 (twenty-two years ago)

No, Geir, it is actually only two chords (Em and C). Passing tones in individual string voices don't constitute new chords.

― dleone (dleone), Friday, 21 November 2003 21:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Ray Charles version, which is, of course, delicious.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 21 November 2003 21:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Geir's favourite two-chord song, then?

― man, Friday, 21 November 2003 21:44 (twenty-two years ago)

The bass isn't important, a chord consists of more notes than just one. I'll definitely say it has more than 2 chords.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 21 November 2003 23:19 (twenty-two years ago)

twice

― dleone (dleone), Saturday, 22 November 2003 00:16 (twenty-two years ago)

twelve years pass...

The thing about "Eleanor Rigby" isn't the number of chords (two), it is the number of tempi (two). Starting off in a rather square 4/4, it achieves a very strong 2/4 feel by the time the "jar at the door" line comes around. Then again, that is a trademark of most Puff Daddy productions.

― anatol_merklich, Sunday, 21 February 2016 13:21 (ten years ago)

four years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMXdJhac6LQ

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 23:23 (five years ago)

Kind of reminds me of 60s Bee Gees.

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 23:24 (five years ago)

hahahaha this is awesome

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 21 May 2020 13:13 (five years ago)

I can't stop listening to it tbh.

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 13:14 (five years ago)

eleanor stravinsky

― sleight return (voodoo chili), Thursday, 21 May 2020 14:56 (five years ago)

Makes me think of Cicieraga's Love Shack/Theme from Psycho mashup. Which is a good thing

― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:03 (five years ago)

OK, so this seems to be a thing people are doing on YouTube, but it's usually all on one note.

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:08 (five years ago)

"Eye of the Tiger" (the vocals are all E) is quite funny:

https://www.youtu.be.com/watch?v=qdTPdig3A9U

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:09 (five years ago)

"Take on Me" is horrible though, it sounds like me singing.

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:17 (five years ago)

Bohemian Rhapsody is a completely different, quite interesting, song.

https://www.youtu.be.com/watch?v=fjQD5nIrK7c

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:25 (five years ago)

I'm a big fan of people switching songs from minor keys to major keys, like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVehv_LDWaE

Or this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6KmiIq2-m8

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:25 (five years ago)

Kind of reminds me of 60s Bee Gees.
otm

― Spocks on the Run (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:30 (five years ago)

OMG, "Africa"!

https://www.youtu.be.com/watch?v=DBy0woewyAU

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:33 (five years ago)

Thanks, I am now down the rabbit hole. Africa but every word is in alphabetical order! YMCA but every other beat is missing!

― a slice of greater pastry (ledge), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:48 (five years ago)

That link doesn’t seem to work, at least here in the US.

― Spocks on the Run (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:54 (five years ago)

Not sure where Tom.D is copying them from but just remove the dot between youtu and be.

― a slice of greater pastry (ledge), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:56 (five years ago)

Or right. sometimes it works with that but seem to be in some kind of mixed format there.

― Spocks on the Run (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:58 (five years ago)

That contorted Toto version sounds like The Residents or The Thinking Fellers.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:59 (five years ago)

The thing is, as I've quickly found out, there's dozens of these out there.

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:07 (five years ago)

.. dozens? Hundreds probably.

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:08 (five years ago)

If I'd never heard the original "Smells Like Teen Spirit" then the one up there would sound not exactly good but perfectly acceptable.

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:10 (five years ago)

God help me now I'm trapped in the major to minor and vice versa wormhole

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:17 (five years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfTjz6emd7c

― pomenitul, Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:17 (five years ago)

Somebody should do Scelsi but put lots of notes in.

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:18 (five years ago)

The Nirvana one definitely seems not to be the original recorded material shifted, there's some funny re-recordings to my ears, esp on the solos.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:55 (five years ago)

The REM one is great tho, sounds like a Reckoning track.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:56 (five years ago)

Yes to both of those.

― Spocks on the Run (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:58 (five years ago)

REM track just sounds like an even more boring than usual REM track to me.

― Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 17:00 (five years ago)

i appreciate the sheer computing power turned to these ends

― mookieproof, Thursday, 21 May 2020 17:02 (five years ago)

Ahah. Yeah the R.E.M and Nirvana would be perfectly acceptable songs, if not hits.
The Beatles one is AMAZING. Love it !

― AlXTC from Paris, Friday, 22 May 2020 10:52 (five years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szFwVzg5BzE

i like this one

― ufo, Friday, 22 May 2020 11:12 (five years ago)

"Love Me Do" in alphabetical order:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy2jLaooyiU

In that vein, "of Oz the Wizard":

https://vimeo.com/150423718

The 4 1/2 minutes segment of breaths and gasps that is "hhh" makes for a hyperventilated condensing of the film all by itself.

― Hideous Lump, Saturday, 23 May 2020 06:13 (five years ago)

Did they ever do "Happy" but in major chords?

Bcause it seems to me to be mostly minor. Unless its major 7 or some such..

― Mark G, Saturday, 23 May 2020 12:01 (five years ago)

No, Geir, it is actually only two chords (Em and C). Passing tones in individual string voices don't constitute new chords.
― dleone (dleone), Friday, November 21, 2003 4:16 PM bookmarkflaglink

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Ray Charles version, which is, of course, delicious.
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, November 21, 2003 4:30 PM bookmarkflaglink

Geir's favourite two-chord song, then?
― man, Friday, November 21, 2003 4:44 PM bookmarkflaglink

The bass isn't important, a chord consists of more notes than just one. I'll definitely say it has more than 2 chords.
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, November 21, 2003 6:19 PM bookmarkflaglink

twice
― dleone (dleone), Friday, November 21, 2003 7:16 PM bookmarkflaglink

― I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Saturday, 23 May 2020 13:14 (five years ago)

it's easy to make a good song sound horrible, not so easy to make a horrible song sound good

― Kate (rushomancy), Saturday, 23 May 2020 14:38 (five years ago)

Chop Suey!/Crocodile Rock mashup or gtfo

― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Saturday, 23 May 2020 15:26 (five years ago)

But the years went by, and the rock just died
Suzy didn't trust my self-righteous suicide
Long nights crying by the record machine
Father, why have you forsaken me

― I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Saturday, 23 May 2020 15:32 (five years ago)

very nice, but the thing I mentioned exists on YouTube and is glorious

― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Saturday, 23 May 2020 15:33 (five years ago)

WHAT

― I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Saturday, 23 May 2020 15:33 (five years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR0gOEyK6Tg

― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Saturday, 23 May 2020 15:34 (five years ago)

wow, it fits better than I expected.

― I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Saturday, 23 May 2020 15:36 (five years ago)

Good Day Sunshine, shifted into minor key & lyrics changed to suit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TNPUZP9nrY

― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 23 May 2020 16:19 (five years ago)

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