Dan Peek considered "Eleanor Rigby" an "overwhelming picture...of the masses of lost humanity, drowning in grey oblivion", and would recall being "lacerated" on first hearing the lyrics of its chorus: "All the lonely people: where do they all come from?...where do they all belong?".

"[4] "Lonely People" was not automatically earmarked for the Holiday album: Dan Peek unsuccessfully submitted a demo of the song for John Sebastian to consider recording.

[2] After Dan Peek left America in 1977, he recalled performing "Lonely People" to close his concerts, introducing the song with words to the effect "that Jesus is the answer to loneliness".

On the advice of a fan, Peek rewrote the lyrics of the song to convey a pro-Christian message and he recorded a revised version of "Lonely People" for his 1986 album Electro-Voice.

This version changed the original lyrics "And ride that highway in the sky" and "You never know until you try" to "And give your heart to Jesus Christ.