Redman, who is Black and Jewish, was born in Berkeley, California. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman. He is a graduate of Berkeley High School. Then in 1991 he graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Redman won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition the same year and began focusing on his musical career. Redman continued to develop his style through the 1990s, beginning with a sideman appearance on his father's 1992 record Choices. On his sophomore effort as a leader, Wish, he was joined by a notable lineup consisting of guitarist Pat Metheny, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins. He continued to work with various quartets until forming a new trio, Elastic, with keyboardist Sam Yahel and drummer Brian Blade.
In addition to his efforts with Elastic, he is the artistic director of San Francisco's SFJAZZ Collective, which is considered by many to be an emerging geographic and philosophic rival to the stylistically neo-classicist Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Wynton Marsalis.
Redman has also made a guest appearance on an episode of the TV show Arthur as the uncle of Francine, one of the main characters. The episode also depicts him in a boxing match against classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Eleanor Rigby
Joshua Redman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ah look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice
In the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face
That she keeps in a jar by the door
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Father McKenzie, writing the words
Of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working, darning his socks
In the night when there's nobody there
What does he care
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Ah look at all the lonely people
Ah look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby, died in the church
And was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt
From his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Joshua Redman's version of "Eleanor Rigby" is a haunting and poignant interpretation of the original Beatles song. The lyrics paint a picture of two lonely figures, Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie, whose lives are spent in isolation and solitude. The opening lines of the song set the tone for the overall sense of loneliness and isolation that permeates the rest of the song, as the lyrics repeat the phrase "look at all the lonely people" over and over again. The first verse describes Eleanor Rigby, who lives in a dream and waits at the window wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door. The second verse focuses on Father McKenzie, who writes a sermon that no one will hear and darns his socks in the night when there is nobody there. The song ends with the tragic story of Eleanor Rigby's death and her burial in the church, with nobody attending her funeral.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah look at all the lonely people
The singer is drawing attention to the large number of isolated individuals
Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Eleanor Rigby, a lonely woman, collects discarded rice from the church where someone else's wedding occurred
Lives in a dream
Eleanor Rigby exists in a sort of fantasy world in her mind
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door. Who is it for
Eleanor Rigby puts on a literal mask before waiting for someone at her door, but it's unclear who or why
All the lonely people. Where do they all come from?
The artist wonders where all the solitary individuals originate
Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
Father McKenzie is composing a message that no one will listen to or understand
No one comes near. Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there. What does he care
Father McKenzie is alone, repairing his own clothes, and the singer questions whether he cares that nobody is around
Eleanor Rigby, died in the church and was buried along with her name. Nobody came
Eleanor Rigby died alone in the church where she would collect rice and nobody attended her funeral
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave. No one was saved
Father McKenzie cleans his hands after burying Eleanor Rigby, but nobody was saved from a similar fate
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind