In the days before Skype and IMs, human communication over great distances was transmitted in a charmingly antiquated manner. In this week’s featured Sheet Music, the singer reassures his far away beloved that “I think I’ve found a way/We can spoon each day.” “Shut your eyes and make believe” was transmitted from the pens of lyricist Will Dillon and composer/publisher Harry Von Tilzer. The pair collaborated on another telephone song, “All alone,” about a caller whose plea for information from a telephone operator suggests Chuck Berry’s agitated phone call in “Memphis” decades later.
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There is also that haunting tear jerker about where the telephone still lines don’t reach: Charles K. Harris’s “Hello Central Give me Heaven.”
(And then there’s Cocteau’s “La Voix humaine,” whose premise Bob Newhart turned into his stand-up comedy routine.)
Thanks for the comment Jerry! We have sheet music for “Hello Central” in the collection – I just might feature it next week!