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Post by ANTHILL on Jul 11, 2005 20:43:28 GMT -5
In the Steve miller band hit the "Joker" What does "pompatus" mean? There's a movie out now called The Pompatus of Love, and of course it contains the Steve Miller song as a theme. I can't find "pompatus" in the dictionary. Any clues? --
some people call me the space cowboy some call me the gangster of love some people call me maurice cause I speak with the pompetus of love
people keep talking about me baby say I'm doing you wrong, doing you wrong but don't you worry baby, don't you worry mama cause I'm right here right here right here at home
cause I'm a picker I'm a grinner i'm a lover and I'm a sinner Playing my music in the sun I'm a joker I'm a smoker i'm a midnight toker I sure don't want to hurt no one
you're the cutest thing that I ever did see I really love your peaches want to shake your tree lovey dubby dubby lovey dubby all the time Ooo we baby I'll sure show you a good time
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Post by jwf on Jul 11, 2005 23:10:19 GMT -5
Hi anthill, Steve Miller listened to R&B and took some artistic license. From a 1954 tune called "The Letter" by the Medallions, the singer and writer Vernon Green said this about the nonsense word 'Pompatus': Green had never heard "The Joker." Cryer says that when he played it for Green "he laughed his ass off." Green's story:
"You have to remember, I was a very lonely guy at the time. I was only 14 years old, I had just run away from home, and I walked with crutches," Green told Cryer. He scraped by singing songs on the streets of Watts.
One song was "The Letter," Green's attempt to conjure up his dream woman. The mystery words were "puppetutes" and "pizmotality." (Green wasn't much for writing things down, so the spellings are approximate.)
"Pizmotality described words of such secrecy that they could only be spoken to the one you loved," Green told Cryer. And puppetutes? "A term I coined to mean a secret paper-doll fantasy figure [thus puppet], who would be my everything and bear my children."
Also, taken from the '53 Clovers' hit called "Lovey Dovey"-- 'I really love your peaches wanna shake your tree'.
Good pickup line- don't you think? ;D Blue Skies.....................John
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Post by Lisa on Jul 13, 2005 22:25:47 GMT -5
How about misheard lyrics?
I heard the song "Blinded by the Light" today by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. How many of you spent years singing this line like I did?
"Wrapped up like a douche, another runner in the night"
I always thought....what stupid lyrics....that can't be what he's saying! I learned a while back that Bruce Springsteen's version was "Cut loose like a deuce" and they switched it to "Wrapped up like a deuce."
Another line that I could never quite get was in Elton John's "Rocketman". I heard it like this, "Burning off the shoes of everyone." The correct lyric is, "Burning up his fuse up here alone."
Anyone else have funny lines in songs they messed up?
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Post by itchingntexas on Jul 17, 2005 1:42:50 GMT -5
Lisa, this is very funny. I'll ask my hubby. We have had this conversation before, but I can't for the life of me remember all the ones we came up with...
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Post by itchingntexas on Jul 17, 2005 1:44:32 GMT -5
Also, that same line in Rocketman...I thought it was "burnin' up the sheets, a pheromone..."
HA! I'm pretty sure this means I am either deaf or an idiot...or perhaps a little dirty-minded???
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Post by yesteryear on Jul 17, 2005 9:56:21 GMT -5
When I was in sixth grade, I was in the choir.
One of our recital songs was "Your So Vain", by Carly Simon.
There's part of the song:
And when you're not, you're with some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend, wife of a close friend, and....
We always sang it "wife of a clothespin"
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