Eleanor Rigby Statue

Seated on her bench, you’ll see Eleanor Rigby waiting for you. This stone statue is the work of artist Tommy Steele. Although today you’ll discover him as a sculptor, he was also a youth idol in the 1950s. While performing in Liverpool in 1981, he offered to donate a work of art to the city in honour of the Beatles. The city council saw it as an opportunity to enhance the city’s tourist appeal. They agreed and donated £4,000 for its creation. Like the Eleanor Rigby song, the statue is dedicated to all lonely people. I guess you’ve had the song stuck in your head since you arrived. The famous song about Eleanor Rigby, who picks up rice in church after weddings, and who waits alone at her window and no one ever comes. On this occasion, she is depicted alone on a bench, watching a sparrow, with her shopping bag to her right. The artist claims to have hidden several things inside the bronze figure. A four-leaf clover for luck, a sonnet for love, a page from the Bible for the spiritual path, football shoes for pleasure and sport, and a comic book for comedy and adventure. On the plaque behind Eleanore, the inscription no longer says that the statue is a tribute to the Beatles, but a thank-you to the people of Liverpool, it’s dedicated to All the Lonely People. Hopefully, with this little salve to the heart, they’ll feel less lonely.