and as a quick follow on to the lyrics (not that anyone asked...)
"Some people call me Maurice... 'cause I speak to the Pompatus of love"
Pompatus (or
Pompitus) (
/ˈpɒmpətəs/) is a
nonce word coined by
Steve Miller famously in his 1973 hit single "
The Joker". The word is probably a corruption or imagined version of the word "puppetuse", an original coinage of the 14-year-old
Vernon Green, and subsequently released in 1954 as the doo-wop song "The Letter" performed by him and
The Medallions -- a song which also included another original coinage, "pismotality." In other songs, "Enter Maurice" and "The Conversation," Miller adds the word "epismetology" to "pompatus," one in spoken word, the style of "The Letter," in a likely homage to The Medallions' song. The oddness of the word "pompatus" occasioned some attention and further use, including being used in the title of a movie.