All the lonely people

Sydney August 2014 – 2015 (4 photos)

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?

“Eleanor Rigby” is a song by The Beatles, released on the 1966 album Revolver. It was written by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song featured a double string quartet arrangement by George Martin and lyrics about loneliness. “Eleanor Rigby” broke sharply with popular music conventions, both musically and lyrically.

McCartney said he came up with the name “Eleanor” from actress Eleanor Bron, who had starred with the Beatles in the film Help!. “Rigby” came from the name of a store in Bristol, “Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers”. He recalled in 1984, “I just liked the name. I was looking for a name that sounded natural. ‘Eleanor Rigby’ sounded natural.” However, it has been pointed out that the graveyard of St Peter’s Church in Liverpool, where John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met at the Woolton Village garden fete on 6 July 1957, contains the gravestone of an individual called Eleanor Rigby. Paul McCartney has conceded he may have been subconsciously influenced by the name on the gravestone. The real Eleanor Rigby lived a lonely life similar to that of the woman in the song.

I was struck by the sense of loneliness on the faces in the 3 candid photos after I took them. Whether these people were really lonely or not is known only to them. The church covered in graffiti is abandoned. Over at the WordPress Weekly Photo challenge, the topic this week is Monochromatic. I thought I’d just keep doing what I do, in black and white, the purest form of monochrome.