10 Famous Songs About Real People (That Nobody Can Identify)
The John & Jane Does of Pop Music.
Throughout pop history, many real people have been immortalized in song. From famous faces to romantic partners, these people have definitely left a mark on these artists in a way no one else has. Other times it's a little bit more difficult to track down the subjects of some classic hits.
On many occasions, an artist will write a song about a specific incident that happened in their life, but not be able to confirm or deny their inspiration. The creative muse can come from anything an artist encounters, from news stories to jilted relationships to the death of a family member. Even if these people's lives were remarkable enough to be put down in words, the artists writing these tunes sometimes have the actual identities of their muse slip through the cracks.
Whether it be from forgetfulness or just blind inspiration, the actual details concerning the whereabouts of these people have been lost to history. Whereas some songs are fairly straightforward, these tunes have detailed real events whose specifics have become blurred over the years. Regardless of their unknown origins, these anonymous people have had an enormous impact on pop music whether they know it or not.
10. Lovely Rita - The Beatles
"Lovely Rita" is one of the few incredible lowlights from the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers album. With just the right amount of details, Paul McCartney tells a jaunty little tale of a man trying to win the love of the titular Rita only to go on a boring date with her and fantasizing about her later.
Though McCartney made up most of the song like a short story, the actual inspiration for the song is a bit closer to reality. After shopping around England one day, McCartney saw he had been ticketed at the meter by a female traffic cop. Amid his frustration, he found the woman's name, Meta, very interesting. Once McCartney started composing later in the day, the Meta of a few hours earlier quickly changed to Rita, after which the song practically wrote itself.
Even with years of hindsight, McCartney still cannot recall the actual full moniker of the person who he was singing about. While a few cops working on the police force at the time came forward claiming to be the inspiration for McCartney, nothing has been proven as of late. Whether or not the real Rita (or Meta?) is a Beatles fan, her story has been etched in pop history.