Eleanor Rigby And The Blackbird Analysis

Eleanor Rigby and the Blackbird The songs “Blackbird” and “Eleanor Rigby” written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, performed by The Beatles, are inspirational, poetic and profound. The songs convey the opposite meanings of connectedness and isolation. Throughout the songs, we can all come to identify with the blackbird, and in some aspects, the pastor and the Eleanor as well. What first seems like two simple, short songs about a blackbird and a woman becomes a commentary on human interaction. If taken literally, the song “Blackbird” is about a bird that has recently healed from an injury. The narrator speaks to the bird and encourages it to try and fly again. The narrator of the song says repeatedly several to the

The song sends a message to the depressed, abused, mistreated, and all others who are being put down or are in negative situations. Specifically, at the time Paul and John wrote this song to represent the African American struggle of oppression in the 60’s. The song sends a message to those fighting negative situations to go out and live life, to “arise” and “fly”. The narrator says, one must “take these sunken eyes and learn to see” (Blackbird, line 6); meaning, people need to embrace their situation and overcome anything that prevents them from living their lives to the fullest and happiest. In our society today people can take relief in knowing that sometimes hardship can cause one to have a new appreciation for life, or in the bird's case, "freedom".

In “Elanor Rigby” loneliness is a major recurring theme throughout the song. In the second stanza, Eleanor is introduced as a woman who cannot face the world as herself. She wears a “face that she keeps in a jar by the door” (Eleanor Rigby, lines 6-7). Literally, this can be interpreted as makeup or a form of mask. If we look beyond the surface value of the words Eleanor seems to be hiding herself from the outside