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Will Groves

John Lennon on completing Eleanor Rigby's lyrics for Paul McCartney: "It's his first verse, and the rest of the verses are basically mine"

Paul McCartney and John Lennon in 1966

It's 1966, and Paul McCartney has penned one of the Beatle's most poignant tracks as the band transition from ruling the world's stages to pushing the boundaries of rock arrangement and recording technology.

Or rather, according to John Lennon in 1980, "It's his first verse, and the rest of the verses are basically mine. But the way he did it was... he knew he'd got the song, so rather than ask me, 'John, do these lyrics' because, by that period, he didn't want to say that to me, okay..."

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