 The title phrase was taken from two songs by  Steve Miller (X) (qv); the mysterious word "pompatus" was  originally spelled "pompitous" in the printed lyrics. But it  originally comes from the Medallions 1954 song "The Letter",  written by Vernon Green when he was 14. Green explained in the 1990s  that the word actually began with "puppet" and was a term hed made  up for "a secret paper