Here, There and Everywhere

“Here, There and Everywhere” is the song selected for Eve Fletcher and George Rafferty’s wedding processional. Its image of a woman changing a lover’s life with a wave of her hand seems grandiose to Eve, but George’s insistence on the song and her willing agreement place it inside a larger change: the life she once experienced as lost and flailing has become a life shared with someone kind and loving.

The Wedding Processional

Hannah Gleezen gives the singers their cue with a pitch pipe and a raised finger; when she brings it down, the Gray-Aires begin the song. Its place in the ceremony is deliberate: it is the processional chosen for Eve and George’s wedding, not merely background music. George has put his foot down about including it, and Eve has agreed to humor him.

Eve’s Reading of the Song

Eve finds the song’s description of a woman who makes each day of the year and changes a life with a wave of her hand “a little excessive.” To her, the woman in the song seems almost like a goddess. Her reaction keeps the processional from becoming an unqualified declaration of romantic idealism: Eve can recognize the song’s extravagant image while seeing it as more than she would ordinarily choose for herself.

Her agreement is affectionate and practical. George asks her to humor him, and she does because she feels flattered and because, as she sees it, he does not ask for much. The song therefore marks a small negotiation within the wedding: his particular wish enters the ceremony, and her response expresses both fondness and a willingness to make room for it.

The Song Against Eve’s Changed Life

As the processional plays, Eve reflects on the speed with which her life has changed. A year earlier she had felt lost and flailing; now, she thinks, she has been found. She resists calling this transformation a miracle, describing its cause more ordinarily: she met a kind, decent man who loves her. The song’s sweeping lyric image thus sits beside Eve’s less mythic account of happiness, creating a contrast between romantic grandeur and the everyday relationship she credits with changing her life.

At the end of the red carpet, George stands in a dark blue suit, smiling through tears and silently telling Eve she is beautiful. Brendan Fletcher, George’s best man, squeezes George’s shoulder supportively. In that scene, the processional’s idealized language accompanies a specific tableau of love and family support. Its significance lies in the tension Eve notices: the song makes love sound almost supernatural, while the life she is entering feels remarkable precisely because it has come about through an ordinary meeting and a caring partner.