Steve Miller Band "The Joker"

All this week, words I learned because of songs.  Today's word is:  Pompatus

You can spend hours googling the word "Pompatus" but in my day, if you wanted to know the origin of a word, you had to rely on Urban Legend and the "playground talk" of your peers.

Maybe Steve Miller made it up.  Maybe he lifted it from a 50s song.  Maybe it's a variation of pompous.  Maybe it means nothing.

Is "pompatus" truly a word?  I still don't know.  But I learned it in a song . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.


PS.  "Googling Pompatus" might be an awesome title for my first book.


Steve Miller Band
The Joker
Some people call me the space cowboy, yeah
Some call me the gangster of love
Some people call me Maurice
Cause I speak of the pompitous of love
People talkin' 'bout me, baby
Say I'm doin' you wrong, doin' you wrong
Well, don't you worry baby
Don't worry
Cause I'm right here, 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
I play my music in the sun
I'm a joker
I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I get my lovin' on the run
Wooo Wooooo
You're the cutest thing
That I ever did see
I really love your peaches
Want to shake your tree
Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time
Ooo-eee baby, I'll sure show you a good time
Cause I'm a picker
I'm a grinner
I'm a lover
And I'm a sinner
I play 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
Wooo Woooo
People keep talking about me baby
They say I'm doin' you wrong
Well don't you worry, don't worry, no don't worry mama
Cause I'm right here at home
You're the cutest thing I ever did see
Really love your peaches want to shake your tree
Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time
Come on baby and I'll show you a good time

Barenaked Ladies "Brian Wilson"

All this week, words I learned because of songs.  Today's word is:  Pedagogue

I immediately got the reference to The Beach Boys when I first heard this Barenaked Ladies tune.  I knew about the sandbox, and the weight-gain and other parts of the Brian Wilson legend.

But it wasn't until years later that I learned a little about Wilson's relationship with Dr. Landy, and that made me want to understand further what Dr. Landy (in the song) tells the narrator.

ped·a·gogue 
Noun
A teacher, esp. a strict or pedantic one.

See the lyrics below


Hear the song on Youtube.

"Brian Wilson"

Drove downtown in the rain nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,
just to check out the late-night record shop.
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane;
but when I'm surrounded I just can't stop.
It's a matter of instinct, it's a matter of conditioning,
It's a matter of fact.
You can call me Pavlov's dog
Ring a bell and I'll salivate- how'd you like that?
Dr. Landy tell me you're not just a pedagogue,
cause right now I'm
[Chorus]
Lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did
Well I'm lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did.
So I'm lying here, just staring at the ceiling tiles.
and I'm thinking about what to think about.
Just listening and relistening to Smiley Smile,
and I'm wondering if this is some kind of creative drought
because I am
[Chorus]
And if you want to find me I'll be out in the sandbox,
wondering where the hell all the love has gone.
Playing my guitar and building castles in the sun,
and singing "Fun, Fun, Fun."
[Chorus]
I had a dream that I was three hundred pounds
and though I was very heavy,
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me because I'm
[Chorus]
Drove downtown in the rain nine-thirty on a Tuesday night.
Just to check out the late-night record shop.
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane;
but when I'm surrounded I just can't stop.

The Beatles "The Ballad Of John And Yoko"

All this week, words I learned because of songs.  Today's word is:  Mac

Oh, did I torture my parents with questions about The Beatles.  I didn't understand that my folks wouldn't know every little thing about every little song.

And as I became more accustomed to their later work, I found myself running into things my parents were definitely not quite ready to address, like slang.

But for whatever reason, my folks DID know what a Mac (short for Mackintosh) was.  The "Man In The Mac" was a much clearer vision in my mind, as soon as they explained it was another work for raincoat.

To this day, however, we don't really know the meaning of the acorns tied in a sack.


Hear the song on Youtube.

The Ballad Of John And Yoko

Standing in the dock at Southampton
Trying to get to Holland or France
The man in the mac said, "You've got to go back"
You know they didn't even give us a chance

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Finally made the plane into Paris
Honeymooning down by the Seine
Peter Brown called to say
"You can make it OK
You can get married in Gibraltar, near Spain"

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton
Talking in our beds for a week
The newspapers said, "Say what you doing in bed?"
I said, "We're only trying to get us some peace"

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Saving up your money for a rainy day
Giving all your clothes to charity
Last night the wife said
"Oh boy, when you're dead
You don't take nothing with you
But your soul, think!"

Made a lightning trip to Vienna
Cating chocolate cake in a bag
The newspapers said, "She's gone to his head
They look just like two gurus in drag"

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Caught an early plane back to London
Fifty acorns tied in a sack
The men from the press said, "We wish you success
It's good to have the both of you back"

Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me

Til Tuesday "Believed You Were Lucky"

All this week, words I learned because of songs.  Today's word is:  Acquiesce

At my old radio station, we had a 45 of this Til Tuesday song, and the lyrics were right on the paper sleeve.  My old roommate/co-worker would always comment that he was impressed with a songwriter like Aimee Mann, who would use "acquiesce" in a pop song.


ac·qui·esce  
Verb
Accept something reluctantly but without protest.

See the lyrics below.



Hear the song on Youtube.

"(Believed You Were) Lucky"
So I guess I'll give it up
Yeah I guess I will
What's the use in pushing
When it's all uphill
I can't be appointed
Keeper of the flame
Without two to carry
It won't burn the same
Oh, it seems obvious to me
But then again
Could be
You just never felt that way
I wish you believed in life
Believed in fate
Believed you were lucky
And worth the wait
'Cause life could be lovely
Life could be so great
It gets so embarrassing
So I acquiesce
And I'll change my mind again
You change your address
Oh, it seems logical to me
But then again
Could be I was simply not that smart
I wish you believed in life
Believed in fate
Believed you were lucky
And worth the wait
'Cause life could be lovely
Life could be so great
There must be some other door that they are saving
Behind which my happiness lies
I won't be wasting my words
To tell you hopes that I had -
We can just leave it alone for now
I wish you believed in life
Believed in fate
Believed you were lucky
And worth the wait
'Cause life could be lovely
Oh life could be fucking great

The Monkees "Sweet Young Thing"

There's a line in Dave Kish's radio station biography, where he writes about learning to read by looking at album covers.  I always thought that was funny, if slightly improbable.

Then, not long ago, I was looking at list of songs by The Monkees, and I saw the title "Sweet Young Thing," a deeper cut off their first album, and it brought back a flash of a memory.

I was obsessed with The Monkees, right about the same time I was learning to read.

And I remember holding an album cover in my hand and sounding out the title to this song:

"Sssweeeet  Ewwwing Thing.  Sweet Eww-ing Thing."

From my "Learning To Read" work in school, I knew the word "Sweet" and I knew the word "Thing" and I knew the word "You."

But I didn't know what "You" with an "NG" on the end was.

Listening to the record, I figured it out . . .

Thus began a long history of learning words and phrases and definitions, via music.

All this week, I'll post about how a love of music has taught me a vocabulary word or two.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Primus "Tommy The Cat"

Here's another Weekend Post:

Fun weekend diversion:  Learn to imitate and recite Tom Waits' speech in this song.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are wonderful to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

Letters To Cleo "Here And Now"

Here's another Weekend Post:

Fun weekend time diversion:  Can you sing the chorus to this song?


Hear the song on Youtube.


Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are wonderful to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

Marshall Tucker Band "Heard It In A Love Song"

The storm was over.   Figuratively and literally.

The Blizzard of 2013 had spun itself out of the area.  The skies were clearing.  The Governor had reopened roads.

And 2 1/2 months of a whirlwind fundraising campaign to Save mvyradio, had culminated with the station signing of 92.7 for the last time, right in the middle of a Blizzard.

I'd spent the night at the radio station, and I was ready to venture out into the new world.

People have asked me, over and over, about my feelings on signing off 92.7.

Honestly, I was okay with it.  Not to say that I was happy about it.  But to be in a stable radio job for 13 years is extremely uncommon in my field.  And to have survived a station sale is even rarer.

I couldn't really begrudge our former owner, Aritaur Communications, for selling 92.7.  By all rights, they should have fired most of the staff years ago, to cut costs.  To their credit, they never did.

And I couldn't really begrudge WBUR for buying the signal.  Someone was going to.  I suppose that it's good that it went to someone who a) didn't want to take the parts of the station that it didn't need, and b) isn't really going to be a competitor, going forward.  It's just business.

So I didn't have much anger, and only a hint of sadness through this process.  And truthfully, most of those feelings were completely drown out by the adrenaline associated with effort of raising over half a million dollars in 60 days.

I walked away from my night of saying goodbye to 92.7, feeling at peace.

Hungry, I went down to The Black Dog in Vineyard Haven, one of the few restaurants open the day after the storm.

Stepping inside, I felt a punch in the gut.

On the overhead speakers, a Classic Rock radio station from Cape Cod was playing "Heard It In A Love Song."

Now, had this been any other business on the Island, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.  But this was The Black Dog.

The folks who run The Black Dog have been superior partners to WMVY over the years.  I don't know how they see us, but I know that I see The Black Dog in much the same way that I see the station---we are long-standing Vineyard institutions that folks who visit the Island feel embody the Island.  Listening to mvyradio, or wearing a Black Dog t-shirt says, "I have a connection to Martha's Vineyard."

No matter what Black Dog location you walk into, they are always playing mvyradio, because it gives the store/bakery/restaurant that Island feel.

But now they were playing someone else.

That hurt.

Not that The Black Dog had chosen to play another station, but that someone, a stalwart friend, was unable to listen.

I won't say I cried---I mean, I was eating a BLT with bacon stacked nearly to the ceiling---but it was the closest I'd come to crying all day and night.

A few days later, I saw Dan, who works for The Black Dog, who told me that the bakery isn't internet-ready, but that they were still playing MVY in their other locations.  We'd be back on their sound system as soon as they were wired up.

I guess this is the new reality.  We're losing some friends who can't come with us into this new technological world, and out of contact for a while with others . . .




Hear the song on Youtube.

Gillian Welch "Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor"

When leaving my house on the Friday morning of the Blizzard, I was kissing my wife and kids goodbye as I do every morning, but I was also explaining to the kids that I would probably be gone overnight, due to the storm.

Before walking about the door, my daughter screamed, "WAIT DADDY!!!"

She disappeared down the hall and moments later re-appeared with a big white ball of fuzz.

"I want you to take this with you, so you have something to remember me by."

Let it be know that the Blizzard Of 2013 is when I knew for certain that my daughter would one day win the Oscar for drama.  And I expect that her acceptance speech will include a mention of her Dad, and the Unicorn pillow she made me take to work.

At the end of the night, I pulled a couple of cushions off the soft chairs from the mvyradio lobby, GM Greg had brought in a blanket and a comforter, and I took the unicorn pillow off the record player, and rested my weary head upon it.  That pile of fluff in the foreground of the On Air studio, was my bed for the night.

I don't know if you've ever had the experience, but it is pretty funny to be the only person at your workplace, and to have your workplace become your home for a day.  I made sure to make myself comfortable, hanging out the next morning in my pajamas.

The only drawback to studio life, was the very, very small coffee pot.  I mean, look at the pot, next to a normal sized mug?!?

Hear the song on Youtube.

Fats Domino "Blueberry Hill"

There are many occurrences in fiction, of the actual joy of being the last man on Earth, from the Twilight Zone, to I Am Legend.  Mutants and broken glasses aside, that is. 

Being the only man on Earth does allow you to indulge, unhindered, into whatever you feel like doing.

I was at mvyradio for the last night on 92.7, which happened right in the middle of Nemo the Blizzard. 

Barbara and Jess live within a mile of the station, so shortly after midnight, they went home.

But I stayed behind.

First, it was going to be near impossible for me to get home, in the thick of the storm.  Much easier to stay put.

Second, if I stayed, then no replacement DJ would have to come in until the storm was over.  I could keep music going, and be live when necessary.

Third, there was a blueberry pie.

Yes, some very, very generous soul was in The Black Dog on Friday morning, and heard us on the stereo, talking about our last day.  They were buying themselves a pie, and they thought to buy one for the mvyradio staff.

Early in the day, Laurel had a small piece.  But by the time the whole gang had left, I realized that no one else had taken a bite.

The pie was mine. 

Through the night, and for breakfast on Saturday, and for lunch, and for an afternoon snack, I cut myself pieces of pie.

Yes, it did seem indulgent.  Decadent.  But on the other hand, I was the last man on Earth.

Who would begrudge me?


Hear the song on Youtube.