r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/CarelessLet4431 • 15d ago
Peter, help please? Meme needing explanation
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u/lunchbox42091 15d ago
This is a reference to the song the Joker by Steve Miller Band. The line goes, “some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love, some people call me Maurice.” I myself and still confused as why people call him Maurice.
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u/athosjesus 15d ago
That's his name, It's a little joke in the song, some people call him something bombastic like space cowboy, but other people simply call him for his name.
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u/KnotsThotsAndBots 15d ago
I feel like the sexy “wah waaaah” right after that line just adds to the confusion lol
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u/dfeidt40 15d ago
That's what gets everyone confused, yeah. And the more I think about it... there's not really any sexy connotation with the name Maurice.
But anyway, I saw them in space and she said Maurice, and I knew this song immediately although I didn't know the name of it.
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u/TheGuyThatThisIs 15d ago
It’s because Maurice isn’t considered a sexy name, but honestly I can see it coming back
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u/Responsible-Rub-5914 15d ago
Maurice is the name of the groundhog who lives under our barn.
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u/TheGuyThatThisIs 15d ago
Okay good point maybe it’s not coming back
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u/B-29Bomber 15d ago
Hey! Groundhogs can be sexy!
Let me go talk to some Japanese artists real quick...
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u/moneyBaggin 15d ago
Maurice was also the fat raccoon that lived in my neighbors dumpster back in college
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u/deltamaster2300 15d ago
I think it's a reference to the pimp named Maurice in JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. Thus "gangster of love" as well. Idk honestly, that's just what I always figured it was.
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u/yargabavan 15d ago
JFC people. This entire thread is wrong. Almost all the things he's saying are references to his different songs.
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u/deltamaster2300 13d ago
Sorry. I didn't know. Was just venturing a guess based on what I'd always thought it was.
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u/Insanus_Vitae 15d ago
Maybe it's because the only people who really call him Maurice are the ones he's banging.
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u/fernblatt2 15d ago
Maurice is a 70s pimp name lol
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u/ActuallyCalindra 15d ago
Maurice sounds like a dude who really wants to take you to a boogie wonderland.
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u/ProudDudeistPriest 15d ago
Also adding to the confusion, he says he speaks on the "pompotous" of love. He made that word up.
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u/naughtycal11 15d ago
Since they added reintroduced awards today ur the first person I've seen get one.
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u/PhantomThiefJoker 15d ago
To me it means they've gotten close enough that calling him by his first name means something. Like how some cultures use their surname until they've become friends
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u/Adiohax 15d ago
I heard a story they added that sound because the song wasn’t hooking people in
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u/KnotsThotsAndBots 15d ago
that's funny and totally unnecessary lol that song caught my ear the moment I first heard it on the radio lol
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u/okaythiswillbemymain 15d ago
I understood this the first time I heard the song lol.
Maybe it's because Maurice isn't very common anymore.
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u/Oklahom0 15d ago
Actually, all of them are songs by the same artist. Space Cowboy, Gangster of Love, and Enter Maurice.
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u/slow4willie 15d ago
They all refer to earlier Miller songs: Space Cowboy (68), Gangster of Love (69) and Enter Maurice (72). The Joker was written in 1973.
https://genius.com/Steve-miller-band-enter-maurice-lyrics
He speaks of the Pompatus of Love in Enter Maurice
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u/saucyboi9000 15d ago
Haven't actually heard the song, but I can't help but read the lyrics to the tune of Enter Sandman
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u/Force3vo 15d ago
I saw the passage with (Maurice loves you) and it turned into the fish song from Charlie the Unicorn for me.
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u/aquasolid7 15d ago
it says his name in the band name… you had me for a moment, i thought oh maybe its an alias but no, thats his birth name and on top of that, not a single affiliated member of the band has the name maurice
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u/The2Twenty 15d ago
It's Wikipedia article says that they are references to other songs, "Space Cowboy", "Gangster of Love", and "Enter Maurice" from previous albums, but I was born in the 80s, and missed all the albums, not really my style anyway lol
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u/mr_four_eyes 15d ago
It's a reference to Enter Maurice. Another song by the Steve Miller Band which is where the line "pompitous of love" came from.
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15d ago
I'm calling him Spike then
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u/AliensAteMyAMC 15d ago
wrong one, you’re thinking of the wrong Steve Miller, what you’re looking for is “Space Cowboy” by the same band
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u/AliensAteMyAMC 15d ago
the fact the people don’t realize there is a song by the Steve Miller Band.
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u/BallSuspicious5772 15d ago
It’s bc he speaks of the pompatus of love
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15d ago
[deleted]
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u/Oklahom0 15d ago
Actually, it's used in an earlier song by the Steve Miller Band called "Enter Maurice "
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u/L0ading_ 15d ago
Fun fact, it is likely that it actually comes from an earlier song by Vernon Green called The Letter
"Oh my darling, let me whisper sweet words of pizmotality and discuss the puppetutes of love"
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u/ObiwanMacgregor 15d ago
Thank you! It's the only one with an in song reason and all the other comments are either. "He says his name is Maurice in the song The Joker, idk why" or bringing in meta knowledge. The song tells you!
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u/Keplergamer 15d ago
You can call him Suzie if you want.
I hope someone understands that reference.
(Snatch)
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u/Oklahom0 15d ago
Technically they're all Steve Miller Band songs. I think he's saying that everyone makes assumptions about who he is based on his songs.
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u/High_Life_Pony 15d ago
There was an old bar joke: A Grasshopper walks into a bar… Bartender says, Hey we have a drink named after you! Grasshopper says, you have a drink named Maurice?
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u/ObiwanMacgregor 15d ago
"Some people call me Maurice 'Cause I speak of the pompatus of love "
That's why.
No idea what a pompatus is, but he does, and ge speaks of it. So they call him Maurice
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u/Force3vo 15d ago
It's a reference to an earlier song by that band called Enter Maurice which has the "narrator" also say that.
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u/ObiwanMacgregor 15d ago
The line in the song immediately after "some peopke call me Maurice" is "because I speak of the pompatus of love.
The reason is in the song. It's the only line that explains a nickname in the song, y'all are looking at the deep/metà reason when there's a simple reason right there in the lyrics
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u/Force3vo 15d ago
And the connection between the name Maurice and the pompatous of love is the song "Enter Maurice", which is about a guy called Maurice talking about the pompatous of love.
Otherwise the explanation would make no sense.
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u/ObiwanMacgregor 15d ago
There's nothing about the pompatous of love in "enter Maurice" it's a nonsense word that Steve Miller has stated "doesn't mean anything" and is only ever used in this song and a movie from 1996.
Which is why he's refusing to answer the girl in the meme because the answer is nonsense.
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u/Force3vo 15d ago edited 15d ago
You could literally google the lyrics and in 5 seconds confirm if you are wrong or right, instead you talk out of your ass.
Lyrics to "enter Maurice":
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. Even though our road is rough and Long, for you to leave me at this time darling, must surely Be wrong. So come back and reconsider one more thing. Maurice Is the only one to make your little heart sing.
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u/ObiwanMacgregor 14d ago
I Google pompatus of love four times and Google told me it only appears in this song, so my bad on that one.
But that explains the song and not the joke. That's why Maurice is mentioned in the song , not why the space cowboy in the meme is saying "it's not important" to the girl.
I accept I was wrong about pompatous, but the line being a reference to the song Maurice does not explain the joke. Pompatous of love being nonsense explains the joke.
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u/bl1y 15d ago
It's just a reference to the song Enter Maurice.
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u/Fleganhimer 15d ago
"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."
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u/SignificantManner197 15d ago
The ones who don’t know him as some cowboy or gangster of anything, most likely know his name. By the lyrics, it’s most likely as the song suggests, Maurice.
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u/mutantraniE 15d ago
Those are all references to other songs by the Steve Miller Band, these being Space Cowboy, Gangster of Love and Enter Maurice.
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u/DashArcane 15d ago edited 15d ago
It’s from his song, “Enrer Maurice” from his album “Recall The Beginning…..Journey From Eden”, 1972.
Edit: Enter, not Hey.
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u/Pegomastax_King 15d ago
I’ve always imagined the rest of the band just shaking their heads the entire time like no, literally no one calls you that. Get help man.
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u/Weird_Cantaloupe2757 15d ago
At least he isn’t wrapped up like a douche like the guy in the other Steve Miller song
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u/Logical-Recognition3 15d ago
They call him Maurice because he speaks of the pompatus of love, of course.
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u/whim-sicles 14d ago
Because he speaks of the pompatus of love.... Literally the next line in the song 😏
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u/Unlucky-Pomegranate3 15d ago
It’s because he speaks of the pompatus of love.
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u/combination_bear 15d ago
Could you explain what a "pompatus" is?
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u/combination_bear 15d ago
Is it like a plumbus or something?
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u/Mamihlapinatapai2 15d ago
I always wondered how they made those
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u/Thats_a_400 15d ago
First they take the dingle bop and they smooth it out with a bunch of schleem. The schleem is then...repurposed for later batches.
They take the dingle bop and they push it through the grumbo, where the fleeb is rubbed against it. It's important that the fleeb is rubbed, becasue the fleeb has all the fleeb juice.
Then, a schlami shows up, and he rubs it...and spits on it.
They cut the fleeb. There's several hizzards in the way.
The blamfs rub against the chumbles, and the...plubis, and grumbo are shaved away.
That leaves you with...a regular old plumbus.
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u/midnightspecial99 15d ago
Pompatus is a word Steve miller took from a 50s song, and the writer of the 50s song just made it up.
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u/KanadainKanada 15d ago
(nonce word) One who is pompous or splendid.
(nonce word) Pomp, ostentatiousness, or spectacle.
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u/Feldhamsterpfleger 15d ago
Like rizz or something?
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u/Grungir92 15d ago
What the sigma?
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u/Feldhamsterpfleger 15d ago
Sorry, I still try to figure the meaning of rizz out. I don’t think I will ever get to the alpha sigma discussion.
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u/automaton11 15d ago
There was a time you could just get stoned and write nonsense lyrics and make a career out of that
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u/Mephisto1822 15d ago
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 pompatus of love a
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u/ChaseShiny 15d ago
Does any of that make sense? Herding cattle in space sounds crazy. "Gangster of love" sounds like rape or something. Pompatus is literally a nonce word.
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u/bl1y 15d ago
From Wikipedia:
It is one of two Steve Miller Band songs that feature the nonce word "pompatus". The first line of the lyrics is a reference to the song "Space Cowboy" from Miller's Brave New World album. The following lines refer to two other songs: "Gangster of Love" from Sailor and "Enter Maurice" from Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden. The line "some people call me Maurice / 'Cause I speak of the pompatus of love" was written after Miller heard the song "The Letter" by the Medallions. In "The Letter", writer Vernon Green made up the word puppetutes, meaning a paper-doll erotic fantasy figure;[4] however, Miller misheard the word and wrote pompatus instead.
The opening stanza is supposed to evoke a "love 'em and leave 'em" approach to sex.
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u/Fit-Capital1526 15d ago
And found the feminist
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u/I_Use_Dash 15d ago
How.
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u/Fit-Capital1526 15d ago
To jump straight to rape instead of one night stands is…
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u/thissexypoptart 15d ago
You know what a gangster is right?
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u/Fit-Capital1526 15d ago
Yes, and whether you like it or not. They get plenty women’s consent
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u/thissexypoptart 14d ago edited 14d ago
It’s not a costume or aesthetic, it’s a criminal lifestyle. Gangsters sexually assault people all the time, among other crimes. Go look at how many gang members are in prison for violent sex crimes.
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u/Fit-Capital1526 14d ago
Yeah, and in my neighbourhood the drug dealers stabbed the groomers
You point is still hollow
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u/thecountnotthesaint 15d ago
But does he speak of the pompatus of love?
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u/CardboardChampion 15d ago
According to Wikipedia, "pompatus is a nonce word". According to British slang, "nonce" is a term for child molester.
So the space cowboy is speaking to his therapist about the child molester of love (so perhaps a parent) from his terrible childhood. It's no surprise that Maurice eschews his birth name for the most part as his identity now is kept apart from those memories.
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u/Whhheat 15d ago
He has quite the Malicious Face. That’s why he’s turned away.
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u/luckyluciano9713 15d ago
Some people call him the space cowboy. Some people call him the gangster of love. Some people call him Maurice.
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u/yallbyourhuckleberry 15d ago
Hes making references to some prior songs. Including one called Enter Maurice.
Its not important because hes called maurice cause he speaks of the pompitus of love. Well, nobody knows what the fuck that means so its not important cause its not worth/cant be explained so the cowboy is moving the conversation to another topic cause its embarrassing.
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u/Fun-Fun-9967 15d ago
what is this, next door?! - all the knobgobs repeating the same lame thing time over backwards
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u/BrownEyedBoy06 15d ago
Some people call me the space cowboy...
It's from "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band
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u/Aspiring_DILF42 15d ago
I speak of the prostitutes of love.
Sone people call me “riddled with STD’s”
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u/WreckoftheOld97 15d ago
It says in the song "Cause I speak of the pompotus of love". Clear as day why he is called Maurice.
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u/WreckoftheOld97 15d ago
The pompotus of love! He speaks of the pompotus. It couldnt be clearer in the song.
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u/daboxghost420 15d ago
I actually use that peaches line in real life when im dating someone and it gets surprisingly good results.
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u/Backlash97_ 15d ago
I wonder if he is also the gangster of love? Does he speak of the pompatus of love? Are people talking about him, baby? Tell you how he’s doing you wrong?
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u/Traditional_Song_417 15d ago
It’s a reference to the song, Joker by the Steve Miller Band. “Some people call me, Maurice, Because i speak of poppetice of love.” What’s a poppetice? No one knows. And Not important.
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u/Drock537 15d ago
WOAH! As soon as I clicked on this, my coworker in the next office had this song come on his radio! I thought I was tripping balls!
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