Who was 'lovely Rita, Meter Maid'?
Standing by a parking meter
When I caught a glimpse of Rita
Filling in a ticket in her little white book
In a cap she looked much older
And the bag across her shoulder
Made her look a little like a military man
The incident occurred when McCartney returned to his Mini Cooper after parking it near the Abbey Road Studio where The Beatles were recording Sergeant Pepper. McCartney responded to his notice of a parking fine with good humour, evidently deciding 'it'd be better to lover her', as the song puts it. After a brief, friendly exchange they both went on with their days. who he claimed
Ian MacDonald names the lovely 'meter maid' as Meta Davies. McCartney later challenged this, declaring that did not know her name but felt that she 'looked like a Rita'.
A Meta who looked like a Rita standing by a parking metre? Sounds like a wisely discarded early draft of the lyric.
John Lennon was not fond of the final version, either. He later dismissed it as one of his songwriting partners 'novelist songs ... boring stories about boring people - being postmen and secretaries and writing home.' Lennon increasingly wanted to focus on his favourite subject: John Winston Lennon. 'I like to write about me cos I know me.
But as Macdonald suggests, Lovely Rita, 'may be a silly song but {it's} imbued with an exuberant interest in life that lifts the spirits, dispersing self-absorption.'
