" 'cause i can't read the number that you just gave me"
As someone whose writing far too heavily leans on parenthetical remarks, I perhaps am not in the right. Jim Croce's "Operator (That's Just the Way it Feels)" is burdened in its title with six unneeded words.
The fall of MTV is saddest to me because I miss the saddest part in each of my favorite videos. A few seconds into one of those three- or four-minute excuses to watch until the next commercial, small white font appears on the lower, left-hand corner of the screen letting you know the artist's name, the song title, the album name and the record company. Inclusion of the record company's name is akin to drink specials from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. at a bar following a noon college football game. OK, I guess, but rather unnecessary.
MTV (and later other music video outlets albeit in different fonts) ran the same script right near the conclusion of the song. Hated that saddest part. Video almost over. This is where I learned of the word fat associated with the name of this particular slim Jim song.
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It's not my favorite song nor do I think it's the best song, but I just don't think there could be a better song.
"Operator" is timeless other than the line about a guy named "Ray" because we all know no one has been named "Ray" in at least 30 years.
There are some things to keep in mind:
1. There is no way Oppa-rate-or could have used the information the Croce Monster gave him/her regarding the woman to dig up a phone number. No first name, no last name. No identifying tattoos or scars.
2. Had this song been recorded 39 years later, Croce could have just Facebook messaged her even IF she had unfriended him. It's unlikely she would have blocked him but females have been wont to do such nefarious onliney things.
3. Croce did get the number to their new pad in Los Angeles as mentioned in the bolded lyric at the top of this post.
4. The song leaves out the part where Croce mentions his best, old ex-friend Ray's last name. The Operator tracked down the number because of the information Croce supplied about the man his woman knew well and sometimes hated.
Doubting Thomases point to the chorus. They contend that the repeated use of "give me the number if you can find it" proves Croce never received the number his dime intended to provide. That's small-time thinking. It's the chorus of the song, peoples. By the second verse, it's clear Croce had the number. That discovery adds another layer of depth to the song. He has the number. Does he make the call?
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Most people remember Jim Croce from "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and that's a shame. Character songs are cool and all but the songs about the no-named characters are the one's with the names we remember.
The man's collection (which really only included two years of solid song making) deserves to be mentioned alongside the all-time greats. He died before he turned 31 in a plane crash in September 1973. You read that right. If you watched that video for the first time and didn't know much about him, how old would you have guessed JC to be in that orange shirt? 45? 42? 53? Try 29.
Speaking of that orange shirt, how fashionable is Jim Croce in the video ... by today's standards? I know plenty of 2011 guys who would rob, steal or change their name to "Rob" for that outfit. I think Trent is pretty much the worst name.
Maury Muehleisen (real name) died in the same plane crash and accompanies Croce in this song although his look between 2:07 and 2:11 of the video makes me think he might have written this song about Croce. #molestereyes
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Lying to one's self through song is a hallmark of modern music. While intrigue - the better looking, younger sister to mystery - is sexy, obvious is often more helpful. When the wall comes down and the songwriter *nod, nod, wink, wink* lets us know that his spoken words are complete bullshit, it makes us feel better as a listener. (i.e. Yeah, she was beautiful, but she don't mean a thing to me.) We like the way they lie.
However unlikely the scenario that Croce actually got the phone number, the story inside surprisingly is accurate and literal.
I've overcome the blow, I've learned to take it well --
I only wish my words could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real, but that's not the way it feels.
No, no, no, no -- that's not the way it feels.
A Jim Croce has moved on and the moment where he and this woman were no longer is not going to be a life-altering/defining moment for him but B it still hurts and nothing that he tells himself will make that love any less meaningful.
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The world is smaller today. That makes the music of yesterday so much larger. I'm certainly not the first to point it out but the music prior to the Seattle Seahawks arrival in the NFL is just better. Nothing that has been released in the 40 years since this song comes off sounding as real as this recording.
That's just the way it feels.
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