# "Chuck E's In Love" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300 "2008-10-17T01:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/1 "2008-10-17T01:08:30Z")
In the song _Chuck E’s In Love_ by Rickie Lee Jones. from the late 70s it contains the lines How come he don’t come and p.i.p. with me Down at the meter no more? What exactly is a “P.I.P”? Also what is meant by “meter”? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/2 "2008-10-17T01:29:17Z")
“PLP” as in “Public Leaning Post.” Hanging out nt the street corner. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/3 "2008-10-17T01:32:19Z")
(I have the liner notes around here somewhere.) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/4 "2008-10-17T01:35:50Z")
I’m not sure if it’s PIP or PLP, I just went off the lyrics I got when I Google’d around. She seems to be using whatever that word is as a verb. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/5 "2008-10-17T02:03:25Z")
I’m sure. I read it on the album back in '79. Same spring that Zappa’s “Dancing Fool” was a hit. To “PLP” was to hang out at the “public leaning post.” If I can find it in my vinyl any time soon, I can check to see if my memory that “the Meter” was the name of the theatre or diner in her downtown. They used to print all this stuff on the back of the album or on the paper sleeve for the record. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/6 "2008-10-17T04:55:04Z")
1. I miss album covers. 2. That’s a great tune. 3. Hey Opal, come PLP with _me_ sometime; christ, I’ll even comb my hair. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/7 "2008-10-17T08:42:39Z")
I just checked my copy of the LP. There are production notes and lyrics printed on the back (and it says “p.l.p.”), but there’s no explanation of any of the lyrics. Nothing about p.l.p. or the meter. The paper slip cover has nothing on it relevant to the album; it’s solid gray with a small order form you could send in to purchase the Warner Bros “Limo” double-LP sampler album for $2. [posted to the strains of “Last Chance Texaco”, my favorite cut off that LP] ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/8 "2008-10-17T11:37:55Z")
Then where the heck did I pick up what p.l.p. meant? Maybe an article in one of the magazines at the time… (And it does say “at the meter.” I’ve been mishearing that as “at the Lido” for thrity years now. Hrmmm.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/9 "2008-10-17T12:04:07Z")
[http://content.perspicuity.com/?q=node/186](http://content.perspicuity.com/?q=node/186) > [@](#): > > “Chuck E.’s in Love” is a song by Ricky Lee Jones. > > After careful analysis of the lyrics, I have concluded that this is a love song about the American architect and designer, Charles Eames (1907-78), as told by his wife, Ray. > > As evidence, I present you with the following: > > First, in 1941, Mr. Eames won the Museum of Modern Art’s Organic Design Competition for his molded plywood chairs. These chairs were not manufactured due to the difficulty in shaping plywood, but this is precisely what inspires Ray (I speculate) to begin the song: “How come he don’t come and p.i.p. with me down at the meter no more?” Here, p.i.p. clearly stands for “produce in plywood.” ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/10 "2008-10-17T12:35:02Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > 1. That’s a great tune. If you like this tune, and especially if you like Rikki Lee Jones (and Tom Waits), you _really_ need to hear something from Chuck E. himself - [Extremely Cool](http://www.amazon.com/Extremely-Cool-Chuck-E-Weiss/dp/B00000I04N/ref=ntt_mus_ep_wlb_dpi/105-8286314-0368413). You’ll thank me. bebops off to “do ya know what I Idi Amin Amin, do you know what I Idi Amin…”🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/11 "2008-10-17T13:13:06Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Then where the heck did I pick up what p.l.p. meant? Maybe an article in one of the magazines at the time… > > (And it does say “at the meter.” I’ve been mishearing that as “at the Lido” for thrity years now. Hrmmm.) [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Leaning_Post) agrees with you, if that means anything. > [@](#): > > # The acronym “P.L.P.” in the same track is a slang acronym for “Public Leaning Post”, referring to people (typically friends) physically leaning against one another. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/12 "2008-10-17T13:52:36Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Also what is meant by “meter”? You know those gas meters you fnd outside houses and other buildings? Well, that’s where we’ll all go, when she comes 'round the mountain. At least, that was what I thought when I was a kid (“And we’ll all go out to meter when she comes.”) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/13 "2008-10-17T13:59:20Z")
GuanoLad reminisces upon his youth… _Goes up to friend_. “Are you a PLP?” “What’s a PLP?” “A Polite Little Person.” “Oh, then yes, I am a PLP.” “Are you? You’re a Public Leaning Post? Great!” _Leans on friend_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/14 "2008-10-17T14:11:59Z")
> [@](#): > > “Are you? You’re a Public Leaning Post? Great!” Leans on friend. _We all need Somebody To Leeeee-ean On_ ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/15 "2008-10-17T14:16:31Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > GuanoLad reminisces upon his youth… > _Goes up to friend_. “Are you a PLP?” > > “What’s a PLP?” > > “A Polite Little Person.” > > “Oh, then yes, I am a PLP.” > > “Are you? You’re a Public Leaning Post? Great!” _Leans on friend_. _Has fleetingly vague flashback._ Do you live in the NW of England? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/16 "2008-10-17T20:33:22Z")
I was looking at her website [Rickie Lee Jone’s website](http://www.rickieleejones.com/) but so far I can’t find anything, nor could I find a place to email her ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_Clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Shot\_Clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_Clock)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/17 "2008-10-17T20:58:22Z")
You down wit’ PLP? Yeah you know me! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/18 "2008-10-17T23:20:02Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > _Has fleetingly vague flashback._ > > Do you live in the NW of England? No, I grew up in New Zealand. I believe we shared a lot of silly kiddie stuff from the UK, though (I used to read British comics). ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/19 "2008-10-18T11:16:37Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > No, I grew up in New Zealand. I believe we shared a lot of silly kiddie stuff from the UK, though (I used to read British comics). Hmmm…I definitely remember that “You’re a Public Leaning Post?” rejoinder, but I can’t see it coming from a comic, and although I was familiar with “Chuck E’s In Love” - heck, I even liked it! ( Okay, no shame in that, I know!) - but I wasn’t aware I was analysing the lyric’s, and even if I had, I didn’t have the knowledge of the song I’ve gained from this thread! One of life’s mysteries, I guess? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300/20 "2008-10-18T21:06:57Z")
PLP was “public leaning post” when I was a kid, too (on Long Island). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-es-in-love/468300.md?page=2)