Sir Paul McCartney has revealed a bizarre lyric in ‘Eleanor Rigby’ was inspired by his mother’s love of Nivea face cream.
The Beatles legend has launched the podcast ‘McCartney: A Life In Lyrics’, in which he delves into the meaning behind some of his hits, and the first episode was all about the classic tune from the legendary Liverpool group’s 1966 album ‘Revolver’.
The lyric in question was: “Wearing a Face That She Keeps in a Jar by the Door.”
McCartney, 81, started off by revealing the song title was named after a grave he and his late bandmate John Lennon used to frequent.
Speaking to the co-host of the 12-part series, poet Paul Muldoon, he recalled: “There is a grave which John and I wandered around endlessly talking about our future.
“And there is a grave there [with the name Eleanor Rigby]. I don’t remember ever having seen that gravestone but it’s been suggested to me that psychologically I would have seen it.”
He then shared: “My mum’s favourite was Nivea and I love it to this day. It kind of scared me a little that women used quite so much cold cream, and it was my dread, when I got older and got married, that I would marry someone who would [wear a lot of cold cream] and put one of those big shower caps on and the curlers and have masses of things… So that played on my mind quite a bit, so she’s wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door.”
The ‘Let It Be’ hitmaker also shared the deeply tragic film idea he had in his head while penning the lyrics.
He said: “What I was seeing was like a film, just in my imagination. I’ve got two protagonists that are lonely, she and then him. You don’t feel so sorry for him, but he’s lonely. So ‘all the lonely people now’, becomes the chorus… She dies and he’s the one who buries her, and he’s wiping his hands as he walks from the grave, ‘no one was saved’ and that’s the wrap-up to the story.”
McCartney also discussed their 1968 song ‘Back In The USSR and how the Soviet Union inspired it.
The podcast is inspired by the pair’s book ‘The Lyrics: 1956 to Present’.
The episode is available now wherever you get your podcasts.
A second batch of 12 episodes will air in February next year.