Title: Yellow Ledbetter Releases: Jeremy single Released: 1992 (Europe), 1995 (USA) Running Time: 5:04 Type: B-side Written By: Ed Vedder, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament Notes: Lyrics are generally regarded as being gibberish and are changed every time the song is performed. Unsealed, on a porch a letter sat. Then you said "I wanna leave it again." Once I saw her on a beach of weathered sand, And on the sand I wanna leave it again. On a weekend I wanna wish it all away. And they called and I said that I want what I said, And then I call out again... And the reason, oughta' leave her calm, I know. I said "I know what I wear, not a box or a bag." Can you see them? Out on the porch, but they don't wave... I see them 'round the front way... And I know and I know I don't want to stay... Make me cry... I see...I don't know why there's something else... I wanna drum it all away... I said "I don't...I don't know whether was a box or a bag." Can you see them? Out on the porch, but they don't wave... I see them 'round the front way... And I know, and I know, I don't wanna stay at all... I don't wanna stay...I don't wanna stay... ------------------ One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor. [This message has been edited by BobFinn* (edited June 11, 2001).]
Speaking of Eddie Vedder, I never could figure out what he's singing in the chorus of "Rearview Mirror." What I thought: "Soy beans, soy beans, soy beans, soy beans.. a clean run, a clean run... want you, want you, rearview mirror" Kind of dopey, but hey, that's what it sounded like to me. Actually: "Saw things, saw things, saw things, saw things.. clearer, clearer... once you, were in my, rearview mirror" That makes a bit more sense than singing about beans, I guess. ------------------ All hail Fadeaway's Cyberfish -- your 2000-2001 BobFinn* Fantasy Basketball League Champions!
He didn't get the (made-up) word wrong, he just misspelled it. The (made-up) word works perfectly in the song, just as in the original, "The Letter".
Pompatus and Puppetuttes is not the same word. They sort of sound alike, but they aren't the same. And I don't understand how "Some people call me Maurice because I speak of the pompatus of love" makes any sense at all. (And Miller could never have known whether he was using the word correctly or not because he never knew what it meant, having never spoken to the man who coined the term). Speaking of that lyric, I used to have a running argument with a friend of mine as to whether there were actually people in the world called Maurice (other than Maurice Gibb and Mo Vaughn, apparently). One day we were in Houston talking to this young female acquaintance of mine, and we decided to ask her whether she knew of anyone named Maurice. She immediately says, "Yes. A guy named Maurice murdered my best friend." That really chilled the whole argument right then and there. (And she wasn't kidding. There really was a guy named Maurice that killed a friend of hers. No word as to whether they called him that because he spoke of the pompatus of love, though.) ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com [This message has been edited by mrpaige (edited June 11, 2001).]
hello? Maurice Taylor? Maurice Cheeks? Heck there was even a movie called "Maurice" with Hugh Grant as a repressed homosexual (that's a stretch eh?) ------------------
I was arguing the pro-Maurice point. My friend kept arguing that since we didn't know any of these famous Maurices personally, they didn't count (I just think he couldn't stand to lose the argument, so he changed the rules of the game). ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
More Eddie Vedder... in the song Rats... off of Vitalogy? He sings, "lick the dirt off a larger one's feet" I used to think he was saying, "lick the dirt off of Olajuwon's feet" and I was like, "yeah!... what respect for Dream!" then I read the lyrics... oh well, I can still think he says "Olajuwon" if I want!! rH ------------------ visit: The Psychedelic Groove House of Rockets Basketball Love! visit: groovehouse.org
Metallica- Wolf song "Shape shift!!!" i thought he says "Ship shape!!!!" ------------------ The next time I have meat and mashed potatoes, I think I'll put a very large blob of potatoes on my plate with just a little piece of meat. And if someone asks me why i didn't get more meat, ill just say, "Oh, you mean this?" and pull out a big piece of meat from inside the blob of potatoes, where ive hidden it. Good magic trick, huh?
Makes perfect sense: Miller had an earlier song titled "Enter Maurice" including the lyric: "speak to you of the pompitous of love." Easy to call Miller Maurice, since he did write "Enter Maurice" in first person. Miller did "speak of the pompatus of love" in that very song. Makes perfect sense. Someone might call Miller Maurice, because he spoke of the pompatus of love. I think it's a pretty good line. Maurice was from Miller's 1972 tune "Enter Maurice," which appeared on the album Recall the Beginning ... A Journey From Eden. "Enter Maurice" had this lyric: "My dearest darling, come closer to Maurice so I can whisper sweet words of epismetology in your ear and speak to you of the pompitous of love."
So, since it makes perfect sense, what does it mean? Just because he used the same phrase twice dosen't mean that it means anything beyond double use of a nonsense phrase. (Keeping in mind that Miller had no idea of the original meaning of the word). Even Miller has said it's just a nonsense word. A nonsense word cannot be anything more than a nonsense word. So, it doesn't make any sense because there is no sense to make of it. Just because I call you a DippityDoople twice doesn't mean that phrase makes any sense or means anything. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
Since this thread has sort of taken a Steve Miller twist... I figured I'd try to settle another old debate . Are they any good live, still? I have one buddy who insists that the SMB is one of the greatest jam bands of all time. But another guy keeps telling us that it's a waste of money, and if they ever were good, they're burnt out by now. ANyone here seen them live? ------------------ Lacking inspiration at the moment...
I think I do. I think a bad moon rising is a euphemism for someone about to be executed. CCR did another song. "Midnight Special". Basically there was a myth that if you were on death row in Huntsville and the train that ran by the holding cell of a condemned prisoner (BTW there is a train that runs right up next to the prison) would get a reprieve if the train's headlight shown through the window of their cell on the night before their execution. Hence... Well, you wake up in the mornin', you hear the work bell ring, And they march you to the table to see the same old thing. Ain't no food upon the table, and no pork up in the pan. But you better not complain, boy, you get in trouble with the man. Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me, Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me, Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me, Let the Midnight Special shine a everlovin' light on me. Yonder come miss Rosie, how in the world did you know? By the way she wears her apron, and the clothes she wore. Umbrella on her shoulder, piece of paper in her hand; She come to see the gov'nor, she wants to free her man. CHORUS If you're ever in Houston, well, you better do the right; You better not gamble, there, you better not fight, at all Or the sheriff will grab ya and the boys will bring you down. The next thing you know, boy, Oh! You're Huntsville bound. CHORUS ------------------ Everything you do, effects everything that is.
Yeah, but if I said, "I, Maurice, call you a DippityDoople." Then a few weeks later said, "Some people call me Maurice because I say DippityDoople", the second usage makes perfect sense. A neat little self-referential line, referring to a throwaway nonsense line from an earlier song, stolen from a still earlier song.
But Steve Miller cannot speak of the pompatus of love because he doesn't know what it is. So people can't call him Maurice because he speaks of the pompatus of love because Steve Miller can't speak of the pompatus of love. He doesn't know what the pompatus of love is. There is no such thing as a pompatus of love. Steve Miller himself admits that. Things that don't have any meaning cannot make sense because there is no meaning there. There is no pompatus of love to speak of. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
Judas Priest's music baffled me, someone told me they kept saying, 'do it', 'do it', do it' over and over again, which explains why I went out and spent a hundred bucks on Nike Jordans. ------------------ humble, but hungry.
It doesn't matter if he knows what it is. He's still talking about it. I don't know what a DippityDoople is, but I did speak of it. Anybody can speak of something about which he knows nothing: witness Kagy on square miles or independently verifying academic credentials.
You don't speak of it. You just speak it. You can't speak of these things unless you know what they are. Speaking of something implies that you speak of its meaning and what makes the word what it is. One can't do that with a word that has no meaning. And why would random people call Miller Maurice simply because he said a word that doesn't mean anything. Will people now call you and I Steve because we've used the word DippityDoople? (Or do I have to earlier say that there was once a person named Steve who said DippityDoople, therefore everyone who uses the word DippityDoople is referred to as Steve by "some people" simply because they've used that word?) ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
I've never heard anyone make that distinction between "speak" and "speak of". Seems like a little too anal when discussing the lyrics to a rock song. People don't call Miller Maurice because of the nonsense word, they call Miller Maurice because of the song "Enter Maurice", which Miller wrote in first person. Is it nonsense to call John Lennon "the Walrus"? He wrote a song called "I am the Walrus" in the first person, just like Miller wrote "Enter Maurice" in first person. "Space Cowboy" is an earlier Miller song, as is "Gangster of Love". "The Joker" references three earlier Steve Miller songs and quotes a lyric. It makes perfect sense.
Also, when I went to graduate school, I got a Master of Business Administration. That didn't mean I spent two years learning how to master saying those two words (business and administration). It means that I am a master of the concept of business administration. If someone asks me to speak of my experience in Lubbock, they aren't asking me to say "My experience in Lubbock". They want to know about my experience in Lubbock. So since the pompatus of love is a concept, to speak of it requires speaking about the concept (something that would be impossible since the word doesn't mean anything), not merely saying the words "Pompatus of Love". If I just say it, I'm not speaking of it, I'm just saying it. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com AntiBud.com
"Enter Maurice" contains the line "pompatus of love". There is only one song involved here. The "Maurice" song and the "pompatus" song are the same song. So you might call Miller Maurice, because he spoke of "pompatus" in the song "Enter Maurice". If you know Miller's older songs, like "Enter Maurice", "Space Cowboy" and "Gangster of Love", The Joker" makes perfect sense. Don't say Miller's line is nonsense, just because you're missing the context.
