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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney revealed his feelings about The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.”
  • He said one of his teachers dismissed an early version of the song.
  • He revealed an anecdote involving the song and a police officer.
Paul McCartney in a suit during The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" era
Paul McCartney | Fiona Adams / Contributor

Paul McCartney played an early version of The Beatles‘ “Eleanor Rigby” for one of his teachers. Subsequently, the teacher dismissed the song. Notably, Paul relayed a funny anecdote involving “Eleanor Rigby” and Donovan.

Paul McCartney took piano lessons after he became a member of The Beatles

During a 1989 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Paul was asked to name his favorites among his own songs. Paul understood why fans would want his to name some favorites. Despite this, he found it difficult to choose his favorite songs because he loved so many of them. He said Bob Dylan was right when he asserted a songwriter’s songs are like his children.

Paul’s list of favorites included The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” “All My Loving,” “Yesterday,” “The Fool on the Hill,” “Let It Be,” and “Eleanor Rigby,” among others. Speaking of “Eleanor Rigby,” he discussed how the ballad came together. “It reminds me of the time I tried to take piano lessons,” he recalled. “I was already in The Beatles, but I thought it would be cool or have some formal music training.

“I had taken lessons twice before, but never went very far with it,” Paul continued. “Around the same time, I wrote the melody for ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and played it for the teacher, but he just blanked it (went right past it). But I liked the tune and later wrote the words.”

Paul McCartney knew what to do with The Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ after writing a single line of the song

Paul discussed how the lyrics of “Eleanor Rigby” came together. “The first thing that came out was this image of a wedding and the rice on the ground, and that led to this woman who picked it up — and the rest of the song just proceeded from there … the loneliness in the people’s lives,” he said.

“That’s the way it happens a lot of times,” Paul continued. “The first line often tells you where to proceed.”

The cute Beatle once sang a nonsensical version of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ when he was high

In the 2015 book Conversations with McCartney, Paul shared an anecdote revolving around “Eleanor Rigby” and the folk singer Donovan. Paul arrived at Donovan’s house high singing a string of nonsense syllables to the tune of “Eleanor Rigby.” He rang Donovan’s doorbell when a police officer noticed him. At the time, Paul reeked of drugs.

Paul had left his Lamborghini parked partly on the sidewalk with its doors open and its radio blaring. The police officer asked Paul if the Lamborghini was his and Paul said “Yeah.” Instead of getting Paul in trouble, the police officer asked if he could park Paul’s car for him. The former Beatle felt this anecdote was emblematic of an earlier era.

Paul loved “Eleanor Rigby” even if not everyone else did.

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