# Hello? Songs about phones/phone calls **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263 "2019-07-18T17:14:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/161 "2019-09-09T13:58:19Z")
Paul Evans’ [Hello, This is Joanie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRfS10Ae46o), is a story song about a guy trying leaving messages on his girlfriend’s phone after they had had a spat, and she had left in anger. In the video, the actress playing Joanie is Susan Paul, who was once married to the odious songwriter [Joseph Brooks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Brooks_(songwriter)). Susan Paul appeared on the cover–but not inside–of a Playboy magazine in the early 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/162 "2019-09-09T14:24:17Z")
Okay, if no one else is going to do it, I will: The ultimate phone song, in more ways than one.... :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/163 "2019-09-09T15:02:29Z")
Nobody’s mentioned Eric Carmen’s All By Myself??? Living alone I think of all the friends I’ve known But when I dial the telephone Nobody’s home ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/164 "2019-09-27T14:21:11Z")
Heard this on Willie’s Roadhouse this morning: [Lonesome 7-7203, by Hawkshaw Hawkins](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkYvAsohBhc) > [@](#): > > Had our number changed today, although I hated to > But each time the phone would ring > They’d want to speak to you > And it hurts to tell them, you’re not here with me > Maybe now, the telephone will let me be > > It’s not in the book now, so you’d better write it down > Just in case your love for me, should ever come around > You might want to call, and break the news to me > Just call lonesome 7-7203 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/165 "2019-09-27T14:55:19Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Smooth Operator - Sade. > (d+r) > [@LLCoolL](#): > > Is this a joke? Cuz **Smooth Operator** is \*not \*about a telephone operator… Erm, yes, it’s a joke. Hence the d+r. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/166 "2019-09-27T19:08:42Z")
ELO’s _Yours Truly, 2095_ does not feature a call per se, but the protagonist is missing a woman and lamenting falling for a robot that looks like her. The robot has a lot of features: > [@](#): > > She is the latest in technology, > Almost mythology, but she has a heart of stone, > She has an IQ of 1, 001, > She has a jump suit on, and she’s also a telephone. ---
**Author:** ![shstrang98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@shstrang98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shstrang98)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/167 "2019-10-01T02:16:40Z")
Answering Machine Rupert Holmes ---
**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:** [October 1, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/168 "2019-10-01T04:19:34Z")
“Tulsa Telephone Book” by Tom T. Hall: All of the Tulsa operators know my voice now And they gotta know how long I’ve been alone If you meet a girl named Shirley with some ribbons in her hair Would you tell her that she’s wanted on the phone? ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/169 "2019-10-01T05:10:33Z")
[“Rings” by Cymarron:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0IylrQhhCk) > [@](#): > > Ring, ring, telephone ring, somebody said > Baby, what ya doin’, I’ve been wonderin’ where you been. > … > > Just come on home, baby, we’ll laugh and sing > We’ll make love, let the telephone ring ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/170 "2019-10-01T05:32:10Z")
[Area Codes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvrKzmkdBTI) ---
**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/171 "2019-10-01T08:56:00Z")
“A Apolitical Blues” – Little Feat _Well my telephone was ringing and they told me it was chairman mao well my telephone was ringing and they told me it was chairman mao you can tell him anything 'cause i just don’t wanna talk to him now_ “Maybe the Last Time” – James Brown & the Famous Flames _…When you’re all alone You wanna talk on the telephone now You wanna give your heart a little ease And just about the time you get comfortable Your operator says, “Signal when you’re through, please” Oh I, oh I, I don’t know…_ “Does Everyone Stare” – The Police _…I break into a cold sweat reaching for the phone I let it ring twice before I chicken out and decide you’re not at home…_ “Can’t Stand Losing You” – The Police _I called you so many times today And I guess it’s all true what your girlfriends say That you don’t ever want to see me again And your brother’s gonna kill me and he’s six feet ten …_ “Confusion the Waitress” – Underworld _She said you can do anything you want She said you can be with anyone She said you can go anywhere you want She said she said you can say anything you need She said you can be anywhere you feel She said just pick up the phone She said don’t go dark on me again She said she said the silence in the silence I see you my confidence She said She said loophole how are you She said oh no once again the superstar She said he loves you but can you name me his children She said oh the god you lost again She said the colour of your boyfriend She said get out of bed and answer the phone …_ “Janine” – Soul Coughing contains samples from NYC party-line sex-chat numbers and a recording of Mike Doughty’s (ex-)girlfriend singing an improvised version of “Lemon Tree” into an answering machine from a payphone in Sheridan Square ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263/172 "2019-10-01T20:37:01Z")
Well, Credence (CCR) had this song Suzy Q, and in the middle of the song, the singer’s voice sounds like he’s singing into a telephone… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-songs-about-phones-phone-calls/837263.md?page=8)