# Are there any songs with cell phones in them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805 "2010-08-20T00:05:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/1 "2010-08-20T00:05:21Z")
Here at work we were just talking about the titles of old songs, and the song “Here’s a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares” came up. The title presupposes the availability of pay phones. Since I’m old and don’t listen to new music any more, I’m curious. Are there recent songs with cell phones in them? Songs with twittering or texting or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/2 "2010-08-20T00:22:50Z")
There’s the recent Lady Gaga with Beyonce “Telephone”, which is clearly about cell phones. There were a ton of rap songs back in the 90’s about how them ladies see you rockin’ that cell. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/3 "2010-08-20T01:02:26Z")
_Quality Time_ by Dave Frishberg, recorded by John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey, in which the back-and-forth about the need for a romantic escape is continually interrupted by that damn ring tone. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/4 "2010-08-20T04:15:02Z")
Roger McGuinn had a song called “Car Phone” that came out in 1991 [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vr91v1588U) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/5 "2010-08-20T07:04:19Z")
The Backstreet Boys’ _The Call_, from 2000. you can kill me now. ---
**Author:** ![Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/6 "2010-08-20T11:52:44Z")
Beyonce and GaGa did ‘Videophone’ too, and there’s a line in Destiny’s Child ‘Independent Women’ that goes: “only ring your celly when I’m feeling lonely, when it’s all over please get up and leave” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/7 "2010-08-20T13:06:47Z")
The AV Club had a list of songs recently with obsolete (or “will be obsolete”) technology mentioned (e.g. beepers, answering machines, etc.): > **[My pager’s still blowin’ up: 25 songs about outdated (and soon-to-be...](https://www.avclub.com/my-pager-s-still-blowin-up-25-songs-about-outdated-a-1798221520)** > > 1. A Tribe Called Quest, “Skypager” (1991)Some songs are made to last forever, with lyrics that resonate just as loudly a hundred years after they were written. But just as today’s plasma TV is tomorrow’s Goodwill cast-off, songs based on technology... ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/8 "2010-08-20T14:13:36Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > There’s the recent Lady Gaga with Beyonce “Telephone”, which is clearly about cell phones. Which also mentions texting. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/9 "2010-08-20T15:06:05Z")
Ian Anderson, “Calliandra Shade (The Cappuccino Song)” _Electric afternoon and shrill cellphones are mating…_ ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/10 "2010-08-20T16:55:39Z")
Harmar Superstar’s song “DUI” is about dialing under the influence after a night of drinking. _Sittin’ alone in my room at home, Girl come on pick up the phone, Keep the spot next to ya warm, I know I got my own ringtone._ (Not quite the same thing, but his song “Power Lunch” includes the line, “Deeper, deeper, I can feel your beeper,” which is followed by the sound of a beeper or cell phone on vibrate.) ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/11 "2010-08-20T17:14:30Z")
_Smell Yo Dick_ by **Riskay** references texting and camera phones. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/12 "2010-08-20T17:16:23Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > There were a ton of rap songs back in the 90’s about how them ladies see you rockin’ that cell. 🙂 For example: \*[Ain’t No Future in Your Frontin’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj31LWPjFoc#t=2m33s) \*by **MC Breed** _I put my name ‘Breed’, on everything I own And when I get my Jeep I’m puttin’ ‘Breed’ on the chrome Shine it up good, kickin’ through my neighborhood **Motorola phone** , fat rims, and a Kenwood_ ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/13 "2010-08-20T17:30:56Z")
1989, Beastie Boys, “High Plains Drifter,” _Paul’s Boutique_: “Long distance from my girl, and I’m talking on the cellular. She said that she was sorry, and I said, ‘Yeah, the hell you were.’” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/14 "2010-08-20T17:41:04Z")
Alicia Keys’ [“Put It In A Love Song”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8afv17Ff0_8) has a reference to texting me on my cellphone. Yourlips Yourlips has a song called “Text” - the lyrics start with “Do you want to text me, on your Blackberry?” and the whole song is about texting. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/15 "2010-08-20T18:13:24Z")
The song [_Paper Planes_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewRjZoRtu0Y) has the lyrics: “Hit me on my burner prepaid wireless” A burner being a prepaid cell phone that drug dealers and other criminal types tend to use because of how difficult they are to track, if not impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/16 "2010-08-20T19:33:43Z")
There’s also this song called “Car Phone” by Sheeler and Sheeler (not the same song as in post #4), which is a parody of C. W. McCall’s “Convoy”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PF-iAV9YOqY/hqdefault.jpg "Car Phone!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF-iAV9YOqY) ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/17 "2010-08-20T19:41:43Z")
There are heaps but the first that came to mind is Missy Elliott and Jay-Z’s (highly amazing) song Wake Up, where Missy raps “if you ain’t got a cellular phone, it’s alright”. It’s fun to watch the cellphone in music go from being a status symbol to a common source of annoyance, like in Gaga’s Telephone. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/18 "2010-08-20T19:56:51Z")
The earliest instance I can think of is the KLF’s 3am eternal (about 1:10). [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEOESuiYcA) Look at that sumbitch. It’s a brick! ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/19 "2010-08-20T20:05:39Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > The earliest instance I can think of is the KLF’s 3am eternal (about 1:10). > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEOESuiYcA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEOESuiYcA) > > Look at that sumbitch. It’s a brick! Crap! You got my cite by 2 months. _3AM Eternal_ was released in May. _Paul’s Boutique_ was released in July. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805/20 "2010-08-20T22:50:28Z")
Willie Nile has a song called [“Cell Phones Ringing in the Pockets of the Dead”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB38yqy1osc) and it features ringing cell phones. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-with-cell-phones-in-them/550805.md?page=2)