Writing love songs was The Beatles’ bread and butter for several years before Bob Dylan came along to force them to reevaluate their songwriting method, making The Fab Four begin penning more diverse lyrics. However, they never stopped with love songs; it’s part of the reason why the band became such an unstoppable force and why Beatlemania took over the entire world.
The Lovely Rita of the song is a traffic policewoman in a skirt in charge of parking meters in Portland Place in London, described as "lovable" even when she writes out fines. In reality she doesn't seem to be that attractive, since she is compared to an old soldier with the cap, the uniform and that shoulder bag; however, she too has her suitors, if only for the charm of her uniform. And so, this boy who got a fine falls in love with her and swears that one day he will take her home for tea.
Pam is a beautiful girl, even if sometimes she looks like a man when she goes around dressed in cheap, plastic-coated stuff, those raincoats that are so useful in London, perhaps with the addition of wellies and kilts.
But, as always when it comes to Lennon, things are not so simple, because Pam's origin can be found in three different female characters. The first is one of those girls who in Liverpool call "scrubbers", that is, one with easy morals always wearing boots and a miniskirt, who probably remained in Lennon's memories.
The second is Pat Hodgetts, a girl who, due to an eating disorder, used to chew pieces of plastic, raw or even burnt and then cooled. And after all, it's a short step from Pat to Pam. The third character was named Stephanie, and John met her on a tour in 1963. Over dinner they ended up discussing some kinky sexual tastes, such as wearing polyethylene bags with no other undergarments. That same evening, John checked it out for himself in an attic bed.
