Miller was born to Dr. George "Sonny" Miller, a pathologist, jazz enthusiast and amateur recording engineer, and Bertha, a jazz-influenced singer. In 1950, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. His first guitar chords were taught to him by the legendary Les Paul, pioneer of the electric guitar and also Miller's godfather. While at St. Mark's School of Texas, Miller formed his first band, The Marksmen. Miller taught classmate Royce Boz Scaggs some guitar chords so he could join the band; Scaggs became better known by his nickname, Boz. Miller attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison during the 1960s, where he formed The Ardells. Scaggs joined the Ardells the next year. Ben Sidran was added to the Ardells as a keyboardist the following year. Miller was only sixteen when he started college, and dropped out six credit hours shy of a literature degree. Les Paul encouraged young Miller to utilize his prodigal talents, and much of Miller's success has been attributed to Paul's tutelage during his childhood and teenage years.
Prior to forming the Steve Miller Band, Miller was in a band with Barry Goldberg called the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band. They formed in 1965, and released one single, before Miller left the band.
In 1968, Miller formed the Steve Miller Band, with Miller handling vocals, and released an album, Children of the Future, the first in a series of discs rooted solidly in the psychedelic blues style that dominated the San Francisco music scene at the time. Scaggs would leave the band after a couple of albums. Sailor, Brave New World, Your Saving Grace and Number 5 followed. These albums performed respectably on the album charts but failed to yield a hit. This first period in Steve Miller's music formed part of double album compilation "Anthology" which includes a guest appearance on drums by the then Beatle Paul McCartney on the song "My Dark Hour".
1973's The Joker marked the start of the second phase of Miller's career: more pop-oriented and simplistic, the album featured a number one hit in the U.S. in the title track as well as several other popular tunes. In fact, "The Joker" hit Number One on the UK singles chart in September 1990 after it was used on a television commercial.
Miller followed up The Joker with Fly Like an Eagle in 1976 and Book of Dreams in 1977. This pair of albums represented the peak of Miller's commercial career, both reaching the top echelons of the album charts and spawning a seemingly-endless series of hit singles, including "Rock'n Me", "Take the Money and Run", "Jet Airliner" and "Jungle Love". While critics lambasted Miller for abandoning his more ambitious approach and socially-aware lyrics for simple pop-rock and derivative blues tunes, fans gravitated towards the catchy, melodic songs in great numbers, and the Steve Miller Band co-headlined a major stadium tour with the Eagles in 1977.
On the heels of this massive success, Miller took a long hiatus from recording and touring, emerging in 1981 with Circle of Love, an ambitious album possibly intended to appease critics of his new style. Sales were disappointing, however, and in 1982 he returned to the pop formula with another hit album, Abracadabra. This was Miller's last great commercial success; a series of collections, live albums and attempts to find a new style appeared sporadically, but after 1993 Miller gave up producing records altogether. However, he collaborated with Paul McCartney on the former Beatle's 1997 Grammy-nominated album, Flaming Pie.
The Joker
Steve Miller Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Some call me the gangster of love
Some people call me Maurice
'Cause I speak of the pompatus of love a
People talk about me baby
Say I'm doin' you wrong, doin' you wrong
Well, don't you worry, baby, don't worry
'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
Ooh, whoo, ooh, whoo
You're the cutest thing that I ever did see
I really love your peaches
Wanna shake your tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Ooh wee 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
Ooh, whoo, ooh, whoo
People keep talkin' about me baby
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
I really love your peaches
Wanna shake your tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Come on baby now, I'll show you a good time
The Steve Miller Band's song "The Joker" is a classic rock song that has become one of the most recognizable songs in popular music. The song is about a man who goes by several aliases and personas, including the "Space Cowboy", the "Gangster of Love", and "Maurice". The lyrics seem to be about embracing oneself and enjoying life to the fullest, regardless of what people might think or say about you.
The lyric "some people call me Maurice, 'cause I speak of the pompatus of love" has become one of the most debated - and misunderstood - lyrics in rock music. There is no clear consensus on what the "pompatus of love" actually means. Some people believe it is a reference to an archaic term for a male sexual organ, while others think it refers to a slang term used by sailors to describe the sound of the ocean or the movement of a ship. Still, others think it is a nonsense phrase invented by the band for the sake of the song.
Regardless of the meaning of the lyrics, the popularity of "The Joker" has endured, and the song remains a staple on classic rock radio stations around the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Some people call me the space cowboy, yeah
People give me different names, like the guy who adventures in space.
Some call me the gangster of love
Some call me an expert in love, like a gangster.
Some people call me Maurice
Some people even call me by the name Maurice.
'Cause I speak of the pompatus of love a
It's because I talk about the mystery and allure of love, like a secret code or word.
People talk about me baby
People gossip about me, baby.
Say I'm doin' you wrong, doin' you wrong
They accuse me of not treating you right, baby.
Well, don't you worry, baby, don't worry
Don't be stressed out, baby, don't worry.
'Cause I'm right here, right here, right here, right here at home
I'm here, baby, always here, always at home.
'Cause I'm a picker
I'm a musician who plays guitar.
I'm a grinner
I'm someone who smiles a lot.
I'm a lover
I'm someone who's in love with you, baby.
And I'm a sinner
But I'm also someone who's made mistakes in the past.
I play my music in the sun
I play my music outside in the sunshine.
I'm a joker
I'm someone who likes to joke around, baby.
I'm a smoker
I'm a person who likes to smoke cigarettes on occasion.
I'm a midnight toker
I also like to smoke marijuana in the middle of the night.
I get my lovin' on the run
I'm always on the move looking for affection, baby.
You're the cutest thing that I ever did see
You're the most attractive person I've ever seen, baby.
I really love your peaches
I really like your body, baby.
Wanna shake your tree
I want to engage in sexual activity with you, baby.
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
We're very affectionate to each other, baby.
Ooh wee baby, I'll sure show you a good time
I'll make sure you have a good time, baby.
I sure don't want to hurt no one
I don't want to hurt anyone, baby.
People keep talkin' about me baby
People keep gossiping about me, baby.
Say I'm doin' you wrong
They say I'm not treating you right, baby.
Well don't you worry, don't worry, no don't worry mama
Don't worry, baby, don't worry at all.
'Cause I'm right here at home
I'm always here, always at home, baby.
Come on baby now, I'll show you a good time
Let's have some fun together, baby.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Ahmet Ertegun, Eddie Curtis, Steve Miller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@klyvemurray
@@theodoreritola9758
The fuckwit "producer" known as Mark Ronson has fucking autotuned
John Lennon's vocals!!
Let's get a local house painter to touch up the Mona Lisa!!
Or better still..
Get some studio musicians to re-record the entire Beatles catalogue.
After all, their tracks were recorded on shitty analogue tape!!
Maybe Mark Ronson could adjust the tempo on some of the
'slower' tracks...FFS!!
.
@dheyvao_silva
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
People talk about 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 sure don't want to hurt no one
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
Ooh, whoo, ooh, whoo
You're the cutest thing that I ever did see
I really love your peaches
Wanna shake your tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Ooh wee 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 get my lovin' on the run
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
Ooh, whoo, ooh, whoo
People keep talkin' about me baby
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
I really love your peaches
Wanna shake your tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Come on baby now, I'll show you a good time
@tintin_bs5826
Thanks NYT, for picking such a well known song for one of your categories.
@MrDoubleG16
purp squad
@Feodoric
💪💪💪
@brenamagdalena11
Right? For once, I actually got purple on my first try. Came here because I haven't listened to this song in forever. Love it.
@MrLala12321
First time I got a purple connection first haha
@shannonemert
I just finished and I had to look this song up. Memories come pouring in.
@ashleycalmell1563
whose here cuz connections lol <3
@kimberlyreid2485
🙋♀️hi, it’s me.
@NoctiiN
not me
@itzzachygaming9939
I have never heard of this song in my life